Exhibitor Interview: Cabot Corporation
20 February 2020 by User Not Found

 

In our first Exhibitor Interview series we caught up with Sebastian Heitkamp, Global Segment Marketing Manager at Cabot about standing out from the competition, the new TECHBLAK™ 85 masterbatch series and what they are looking forward to at Compounding World Expo this year. 


Cabot Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals and performance materials company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Cabot is the world’s leading manufacturer of black masterbatch and conductive compounds solutions.
What do you think is currently the biggest challenge facing your industry?
One of the biggest challenges facing the compounding industry is responding to the evolving discussion of the circular economy as well as upcoming packaging legislation. As an industry, we’re collectively looking at ways to improve the sustainability of the plastics economy by adopting technologies to enhance the sortability of black plastics, increasing the amount of recycled content in packaging and educate consumers on the circular economy of plastics. We continue to keep an eye on changes to the automotive industry, including the demand for vehicle light weighting and EMI shielding, as well as a downtrend in new vehicle manufacturing. 


What do you think sets your company apart from your competitors?

Cabot is uniquely positioned in the industry as the only backward integrated supplier of black masterbatch globally. This puts us at a competitive advantage because it enables us to control our supply chain, from raw material to formulation. We think with a formulation mindset and have deep expertise in this space, which allows us to tailor our solutions to meet very specific customer needs, including conductive solutions. Also, we benefit from the breadth of our global network. Our facilities in Europe, Asia and North America make it possible for us to supply customers in every region.  


Are there any new technology developments that your company is working on at the moment?
Cabot recently launched several new developments. We’re excited about our recent formulations in advanced carbons, specifically carbon nanostructures (CNS), which is helping us advance our solutions for EMI shielding and opening up new functionality in several applications. 

We also recently announced the new TECHBLAK™ 85 masterbatch series, which includes formulations based on post-industrial and reclaimed carbon as well as recycled polymers tailored for compounding, injection molding and non-critical film applications for use in industrial, packaging and consumer markets. These products are enabling customers to integrate higher recycled content into their formulations and differentiate on sustainability. 

We are consistently innovating in collaboration with customers as well as internally, to advance solutions to industry challenges. We look forward to sharing more news as additional products become available. 


What are you most looking forward to at this years’ show? You attended the launch show in 2018, what did you gain from the experience?

Similar to the previous shows in Essen and Cleveland, we look forward to engaging not only with key suppliers as well as customers, but also with specifiers. We enjoy this show because it combines the recycling and compounding worlds together, and with this there is a strong link between raw materials and end applications, and a great opportunity to discuss sustainability. Having this discussion across both sides is something we’re looking forward to. 

Cabot will be exhibiting at Compounding World Expo in Essen, Germany, 3 - 4 June at stand A628.

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