Materials manufacturer Covestro is expanding its production capacity for thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) films from its Platilon range, as well as the associated infrastructure and logistics. To this end, the company says it is investing a low double-digit million-euro amount in its German center of excellence in Bomlitz, Lower Saxony, Germany. This is the base for Epurex Films, a wholly owned subsidiary of Covestro, and houses application development and production facilities for the semi-finished products.
Covestro states that the new capacity is intended to meet the growing global demand for multilayer TPU films, used extensively in automotive interiors among other applications. “With this capacity expansion, we are strengthening our Bomlitz site and our position as a leading supplier of technical specialty films,” said Dr Klaus Schäfer, CTO at Covestro. “At the same time, we are investing in promising technologies and applications and creating new jobs.”
According to Aleta Richards, global head of the company’s Specialty Films segment, the expansion offers opportunities to respond even better to individual customer needs and offer more sustainable products: “For some time now, we have also been developing customer-specific solutions with films made from alternative raw materials, as we are also seeing increasing demand in this area. The development and production of partially bio-based products is therefore to become a new focus at the Bomlitz site.”
