We’d like to extend a warm welcome to all the new subscribers after visiting us at K2025. It was a true pleasure to meet so many people who shared their stories, challenges, and projects with us - moments of real dialogue that remind us why we love what we do.
At FAP, every new connection starts with a conversation, and every conversation begins with one essential value: Transparency.
Transparency is a daily choice that shapes how we work and how we relate to people. It’s the foundation of trust - the invisible link that makes every partnership stronger. When communication is open and sincere, when questions are answered clearly and expectations are aligned, collaboration stops being a transaction and becomes a shared journey.
In our relationship with customers and partners, transparency means being clear from the very beginning: about what’s possible, what’s not, and what we’re still exploring together. We talk about deadlines, limits, opportunities, and solutions with the same honesty we expect in return. Because we believe that good technology starts with good communication - and that progress can only happen when both sides see the full picture.
Within our team, transparency is what connects ideas, people, and responsibilities. We keep each other informed, involved, and aware of the bigger vision. We share feedback, successes, and difficulties, because that’s how we learn and grow.
At FAP, we see transparency as a form of respect. It means telling things as they are, not as they sound better. It means keeping our promises, but also admitting when we need time to rethink or improve. And it means showing, with clarity and sincerity, how much we care about the people who choose to work with us.
In previous months, we introduced the following:
Warm regards, the FAP team
This year’s exhibition was not only a meeting point for those who already had clear ideas and ongoing projects, but also a place of new encounters, where meaningful collaborations started to take shape.
Many of these are already turning into synergies between companies and partners, proving that innovation today is possible only when expertise and technology meet across multiple fronts.
At FAP, we design and build foam extrusion lines, lamination, winding, and cutting machines that adapt to different materials and applications.
During the K2025, we had the chance to discuss our most advanced twin-screw counter-rotating extrusion technology, developed to process both virgin and recycled raw materials, enabling the production of high-performance and sustainable foams such as polypropylene foam or polyethyene foam with high PCR content.
That’s why we’re proud to collaborate with leading material producers such as Borealis, Ravago, Sabic, and others – companies that share our belief that progress is built through partnership.
Because when you combine technological know-how, material innovation, and genuine collaboration, you gain a real competitive advantage.
While we welcomed our partners and new contacts at K2025, it’s useful to take a step back and look at the broader industry in which we all operate - to understand how our reality fits, and what the outlook is for everyone.
Focus on tailor-made, flexible solutions
Instead of “one-size-fits-all,” we project machines that are configurable and adaptable to many materials (virgin, recycled, light-weight,etc), multiple formats (large or custom widths), and various end-uses (packaging, technical films, converting).
Collaboration as a competitive edge
Through our partnerships and by working directly with customers in co-design mode, we integrate material and machine technology in one motion. This gives our clients a head start and provides us with a distinctive edge in innovation.
Technology-led but value-driven
Our twin-screw extrusion lines, custom lamination, and large-format winding and cutting machines are advanced solutions - but the story isn’t just about the machines themselves. It’s about what our customers achieve with them: stable ana sustainable production, reduced cost per kilogram, lower waste, and access to new markets.
Sustainability and circularity built in
As the market demands more recycled content, eco-friendly foams, and energy-efficient machinery, we ensure our lines support PCR materials, reduce energy consumption, and allow flexible widths and converting formats that optimise yield and minimise scrap.
And since many of you took part in our Values Corner, we’re happy to reveal the most voted values that guided our community this year:
Innovation – the engine of change
Collaboration, Reliability, Passion – because nothing meaningful is built alone
Experience, Integrity, Sustainability – because true values grow over time
Each note you left in our box was more than a word – it was a piece of who you are.
Together, they painted a clear picture: behind every technology, there are people who believe in something bigger.
We still have two more values to share in November and December, but one thing is already certain:
Real innovation starts when values meet.
We are proud to announce our collaboration with Ravago on the development of Foamed RAVAPURA® LDPE, a breakthrough material containing over 70% certified post-consumer recycled (PCR) content.
The trials were carried out on FAP’s twin-screw counter-rotating foam extrusion line, installed at our Italian Foam Centre - where new materials and processes come to life before reaching industrial scale.
By combining Ravago’s expertise in recycled raw materials with FAP’s advanced foam extrusion technology, this joint project proves that sustainability and performance can go hand in hand.
The result: a lightweight, stable, and eco-efficient LDPE foam with reduced environmental impact and excellent mechanical properties.
At FAP, we believe in collaboration as a catalyst for innovation - turning ideas into tangible results for a more sustainable industry.
This October we chose to talk about Passion - and the timing couldn’t be better. In a few days we’ll be at K2025 in Düsseldorf, Hall 16 Booth D68, the most important exhibition for the plastics and machinery industry. And the fact that the tenth value we are sharing in our journey is Passion, right in the month of the fair, is no coincidence.
In 2025, FAP chose to tell its story through a symbolic and visual journey: the 12 values of our Manifesto, the heartbeat of who we are. Each month we highlight one value, represented by an original illustration in true FAP style - technical yet imaginative, and uniquely ours. October is Passion, and it will also take shape inside our stand at K2025, designed not only to present tecnical solutions in Extrusion, Winding, Laminating, Cutting and Welding, but to reflect our way of being: an invitation to dialogue, to discover new perspectives and to build new opportunities.
Why passion? Because without it, technology alone is not enough.
Passion is what makes us dedicate time and energy to every detail of a project. It’s what pushes us to run one more test, to explore a new material, to design a solution that didn’t exist before. It’s what keeps us focused not only on machines, but on the people who will use them - operators, engineers, entrepreneurs - each with their own challenges and expectations.
It means:
At Hall 16 Booth D68, our booth will reflect not just our technical expertise, but the passion that inspires it. Because what makes each solution unique is not only the technology, but the people who stand behind it.
In previous months, we introduced other core values of our daily approach:
Flexibility, Our ability to adapt to the needs of each project and each client.
Listening, The attention we give to those who work with us and rely on us.
Integrity, The transparency and consistency that guide our words and actions.
Efficiency, Getting things done with clarity, speed, and purpose.
Reliability, How we build, how we respond, and how we follow through.
Collaboration, We believe in co-creating value.
Innovation, Only has value when it generates Real Impact.
Growth begins by looking inward.
Experience is the compass that guides us when the road isn’t mapped.
Discover Our Tailor-Made Technologies for Your ProductionFrom October 8 to 15, we’ll be in Düsseldorf at K2025, the world’s leading plastics and rubber trade fair.
You’ll find us at Hall 16 / Booth 16D68 – and we’d love to meet you.
Industry is evolving, markets are moving fast, and challenges are becoming increasingly complex. In this context, a "one-size-fits-all" technology is no longer sufficient. At FAP, we always start with one thing: the customer's project.
For over 38 years, we have been designing and building tailor-made machines for the extrusion, winding, lamination, cutting, welding and other converting solutions. Now led by the second generation, FAP continues a journey started in 1987, establishing itself as a reliable partner for both Italian and international customers. From large industrial groups to specialized manufacturers, our clients share one common need: they are not just looking for a machine. They are looking for a solution - and for someone who truly listens.
At FAP, solutions start from a real need - or rather, from a challenge. In recent years, over 70% of our projects have been completely customized. Customers come to us with unique requests, unconventional materials, and often out-of-standard production goals. Whether it’s a twin-screw extruder for foam materials, a lamination line for a patented thermoplastic material, a high-precision cutter for different plastic flexible materials, or a winder designed for high-density or ultra-light rolls, each machine is developed as part of a true collaboration.
One of the biggest issues in the market today is the lack of flexibility. Many manufacturers only offer what is already in their catalogue. Customization is often limited and expensive. FAP chooses a different path. We walk alongside the customer from day one. Together, we define the problem, explore options, and co-design the solution. This shared approach leads to smarter decisions and machines that not only tackle challenges but open new business opportunities. Our team of mechanical, electrical and software engineers work with great attention to every detail to ensure that the final machine truly reflects the customer’s production and business goals. This is what makes every FAP machine unique.
• A complete extrusion line with a double winding unit, developed together with the customer to produce ultra-thin expanded polypropylene with CO₂, combining energy efficiency with extreme film control precision.
• A lamination line designed to bond high-density thermoplastic material with nonwoven fabric, for a highly technical application in the construction sector.
• A tailor-made cutting machine "not available on the market," capable of precise work on barrier film and other flexible films, where the client needed a completely out-of-standard solution.
"What started as an ambitious idea has become a fully customized lamination line – the very first for our start-up. Together with FAP, we reworked the project multiple times, refining every detail until we reached the right solution. The result? A brand-new production process, built from scratch. What we appreciated most was their ability to stay by our side at every step, combining flexibility with true technical know-how."
The FAP offering includes versatile and modular solutions for:
• Extrusion lines for foam film, tubes and profiles, with counter-rotating twin-screw technology for materials like EPE, EPP, EPS, combined with polyolefins such as LDPE + MLLDPE, PP + TPE, PS + HIPS, PP + EVA. One extruder, infinite product diversification possibilities.
• High-efficiency extrusion heads, designed for the production of physically expanded closed-cell polymer foams. They provide consistent structure, excellent cell uniformity and superior quality. Compatibility with gases such as Isobutane, n-Butane, Propane/Butane and CO₂ allows for more efficient, sustainable, and economical production.
• Automatic and semi-automatic winders, designed for ultra-low-density or high densities foams, and bubble films, with various levels of automation.
• Lamination lines, now more in demand than ever, suitable for a variety of sectors for the production of barrier films, multilayer foam materials and special applications. Dedicated for lamination of foam, EVA, bubble film with materials such as HDPE, LDPE, metallized films, paper + HDPE, aluminium + LDPE, metallized lavsan, waterproof polymeric films, nonwoven fabric and others.
• Cutting machines for different flexible plastic materials and thicknesses.
• Bag-making machines for foam and bubble film, flexible, high-productivity and built to last.
Behind every technology there are people, visions and shared choices. Our approach to innovation comes from this awareness: working together, in open dialogue with those who share the same goals. We shared this story during the international webinar "Advancing Foam Sustainability", organized with Borealis, one of the world’s leading suppliers of sustainable polyolefin solutions. On that occasion, we showcased how our latest CO₂ foam technology, combined with HMS PP Daploy™ from Borealis and Royce Global functional additives, is revolutionizing foam production, improving both sustainability and industrial efficiency.
A few months later, we were invited to the Borealis Innovation Headquarters in Linz for two days of technical exchange and co-design. It was a concrete opportunity to further develop counter-rotating twin-screw extruders, a technology that FAP continues to evolve in close synergy with its customers, to meet increasingly complex production challenges. These technical networking moments are more than just visibility opportunities: they are real growth milestones for us, where knowledge is exchanged, ideas are challenged and solutions take shape from different perspectives - but united by one goal: building the future of industry.
New European rules are reshaping the packaging industry: by 2030, all packaging must be recyclable, contain post-consumer recycled (PCR) material, and move towards reuse and refill. For producers, this is not just compliance – it’s a transformation.
So we recently joined forces with Ravago, Sabic and Borealis to test PCR LDPE granules on a small-scale FAP twin-screw foam extruder, exploring formulations with high recycled content. The results? High quality foam, reliable performance, even at low densities. For us, these trials are not only a way to support our customers, but also a message to all foam packaging producers: by staying closely connected with raw material suppliers, we make our technology available to process even the most demanding new materials shaped by environmental requirements. Because anticipating change together is the best way to turn compliance into competitiveness.
But this year, there’s more than just technical solutions.
Inside our booth, we’re creating something unexpected and emotional.
It’s not about automation or technical features. It’s about what makes us human.
At FAP, we believe that our values are the real roots of everything we do. Each month of this year, we highlight one core value - Listening, Integrity, Efficiency, Innovation - and show how it drives our daily work, from engineering to after-sales service.
At K2025, we’ll celebrate these principles with a dedicated Values Corner – a space to pause, reflect, and reconnect with what matters most.
Because in today’s world, where automation, high-speed production, and streamlined processes dominate, we need to remember what keeps companies and people grounded.
Like the roots of a tree, values are invisible but essential: they support growth, give direction, and connect us to something meaningful - even as everything around us accelerates.
With more than 3,000 exhibitors at K2025, it’s easy to get lost in the noise of machines and innovation.
That’s why we invite you to slow down and meet us.
Not just to explore high-performance foam extrusion technology for example, but to have a real, valuable conversation.
Let’s talk about your production challenges, your goals, and how we can support you create your next big success - with technology that fits your process, and a team that’s here for you.
Because your project deserves more than a standard solution.
It deserves our expertise - and our attention.
📍 We’re already scheduling meetings for K2025.
If you’d like to reserve a time slot, get in touch with us.
We’ll be there.
Will you?
It’s not a title. Not a number of years. It’s what you do when things get complicated.
At FAP, when we talk about experience, we don’t just mean our history - we mean everything we’ve learned by facing new challenges every day.
Experience is when you truly listen to a customer and understand what they need, even if they’re struggling to explain it.
It’s when, faced with a problem, you don’t stop - you change perspective. And you find a way forward.
We’ve designed and built hundreds and hundreds of machines. But what really matters isn’t the number - it’s the details.
Every customer has taught us something. Every project has made us better. Every mistake has made us stronger.
You won’t find that kind of knowledge in a manual.
It lives in the hands that weld, in the eyes that review a drawing, in the voice that advises a customer like a colleague.
It’s what makes our work faster, more effective - and more human.
We can’t foresee everything. But we can face anything.
Our approach is simple: understand, analyze, solve.
We do it alongside our clients, in open dialogue.
And we do it internally, supporting one another, sharing knowledge, and offering our experience to those who have less.
Because for us, experience also means generosity - the ability to pass on what you’ve learned.
Every FAP machine is different, because every need is different.
And often, behind a request, there’s something the customer can’t quite express: a new production need, a non-standard material, a space or time constraint.
Not as a ready-made solution, but as a way of adapting.
Of creating something that works - really works.
Of turning a problem into an opportunity.
In previous months, we introduced other core values of our daily approach:
Flexibility, Our ability to adapt to the needs of each project and each client.
Listening, The attention we give to those who work with us and rely on us.
Integrity, The transparency and consistency that guide our words and actions.
Efficiency, Getting things done with clarity, speed, and purpose.
Reliability, How we build, how we respond, and how we follow through.
Collaboration, We believe in co-creating value.
Innovation, Only has value when it generates Real Impact.
Growth begins by looking inward.
If you’re looking for a partner who doesn’t just give you an answer - but the answer that works - we’re here.
With experience you can see, feel, and rely on.
In a world that changes every day, staying still is not an option.
That’s why at FAP, we’ve chosen to grow – together.
Growth, for us, is not a destination. It’s a daily choice.
It’s what pushes us to ask better questions, embrace new challenges, and become better - as people, as professionals, and as a team.
At FAP, we believe that real growth happens when learning becomes part of your culture. That’s why we invest in training: from technical updates to language support, from safety to commercial skills.
Every course is a tool - not only to perform better, but to think differently.
And when our team evolves, the value we deliver to our clients evolves too.
But growth isn’t just about acquiring knowledge. Sometimes it means stopping to look inward.
We’ve taken the time to question our processes, improve our workflow, and face inefficiencies head-on.
This requires courage and collaboration. And it’s through these internal reflections that we’ve built a stronger, more agile organization - one that works with clarity, shared vision, and trust.
There’s also a more subtle kind of growth. The kind that doesn’t show up on spreadsheets but is felt in the everyday atmosphere.
At FAP, we take care of our environment - not only the physical one, but the emotional one too.
Respect, listening, space for ideas: these are the conditions where people can truly thrive.
Because no machine can do what people do when they feel valued and heard.
And then there’s the growth that challenges us. The unexpected project. The client request that seems impossible. The moment when time is short, specs are unclear, and the pressure is high.
We’ve learned to welcome those moments.
They’re the ones that push us to stretch, to create, and to build something that didn’t exist before.
Still, we never want to grow for the sake of it. Growth without meaning is just movement.
What we want is growth with purpose – rooted in our values, aligned with who we are.
We want to grow in competence, but also in relationships.
To grow in results, but never lose our human side.
To grow without losing the essence that has always made FAP… FAP.
In previous months, we introduced other core values of our daily approach:
Flexibility, Our ability to adapt to the needs of each project and each client.
Listening, The attention we give to those who work with us and rely on us.
Integrity, The transparency and consistency that guide our words and actions.
Efficiency, Getting things done with clarity, speed, and purpose.
Reliability, How we build, how we respond, and how we follow through.
Collaboration, We believe in co-creating value.
Innovation, Only has value when it generates Real Impact.
We don’t have all the answers. But we’re not afraid to learn.
If you’re looking for a partner who sees every project as a chance to evolve -
we’re ready.
Physically foamed polypropylene or polypropylene foam (further on EPP) is an excellent material for civil engineering, automotive and food industries. EPP is a much more “crystalline” material compared to the more amorphous low-density polyethylene foam (LDPE foam), allowing this material to replace a large number of rigid foams on the market.
Due to its excellent physical and mechanical characteristics, the possibility of use in environments with high operating temperatures (up to +130 degrees Celsius), much greater environmental friendliness in contrast to cross-linked polymers and many other types of insulating materials, this type of insulating materials is increasingly attracting the interest of consumers.
Unfortunately, today we see that manufacturers of physically foamed polymers are reluctant to launch EPP into their productions, since they do not have the technology knowledge for producing this product. Additionally, extrusion lines (in the most cases single screw) used to produce polyethylene foam for packaging are not capable to produce a high-quality polypropylene foam material.
Here in FAP we contribute to the development of EPP in the global market. In addition to our foam machineries, we provide training for foam polymers producers, providing a full range of services for calculating production indicators, launching the production of EPP and EPE, preparing all technological and technical documentation.
There is no point in comparing non-crosslinked physically foamed polyethylene (EPE) with physically foamed polypropylene (EPP), since these materials are completely different in performance characteristics.
But we will look at some comparative characteristics of EPP and physically cross-linked polyethylene foam (further on XLPE), since the last one is closer in performance characteristics to EPP.
It can be seen that in terms of the comparative characteristics of thermal conductivity, elastic modulus and application temperature, EPP is superior to XLPE. Does this mean that EPP can replace XLPE in all applications? Of course not.
XLPE has excellent shock-absorbing properties, are much more elastic materials, have the same low thermal conductivity and a number of other qualities that differ from non-cross-linked polypropylene foam, which are necessary in some industries.
Global Goal
One of the main tasks of the global community today is to create a closed-cycle industry and introduce easily recyclable materials into our daily lives.
Physically and chemically cross-linked foams (XLPE) are very difficult and expensive to recycle, and the process is poorly organized. As EPP can be recycled by a rather simple granulation process and can be reused a large number of times. This fact creates closed-cycle production or closed-loop manufacturing, where all waste generated during the production process does not end up in landfills, but is very easily recycled internally in companies and used more times in the same foam manufacturing with different persantages. In addition, the production process of EPP is simpler and more efficient compared to the production of XLPE.
Due to its superior characteristics described above, physically foamed polypropylene (EPP) is set to become a leading material in the following areas:
Insulation in construction:
Insulation in the car interior:
Food industry:
We have already talked about the possibilities and advantages of using EPP in single-use tableware and the reflection of thermal insulation in the “warm floor” design in our articles and posts. In this article we will consider exclusively those qualities of physically foamed polypropylene (EPP) that are necessary for using insulation under high loads and in environments with high operating temperatures.
The issue of sound insulation always concerns the floor of the room in building. In the most countries there is a strictly established standard (the permissible number of decibels transmitted through floor structures). To meet this standard, when building or renovating constructions, it is important to ensure that the floor is insulated as much as possible from airborne and impact noise.
In the construction of the so-called “floating floor”, a variety of insulating materials are used from chemically and physically cross-linked polyethylene foam to polypropylene foam, foam rubber, stone wool, as well as non-cross-linked polyethylene foam.
Physically foamed polypropylene (EPP) is the best way to soundproof a floor under a cement screed.
Below are the results of the durability test "12 months under a load of 2000 N/m2", which shows the change in the thickness of sound insulation from foamed polypropylene (EPP) and cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) over 12 months.
From the diagramm above we read that the stabilization of the thickness of physically foamed polypropylene (EPP) occurred at the end of the third month, and the loss of thickness at the end of 1 year was 10-11% of the original. Stabilization of the thickness of the crosslinked polyethylene foam (XLPE) occurred at the end of the fifth month, but the overall thickness loss was 20%.
Thus, after a year, the impact noise reduction rates for physically foamed polypropylene (EPP) decrease by approximately 4%, for cross-linked foamed polyethylene (XLPE) by 10%.
Decreasing impact noise reduction results in increased sound transmission through the floor in the room.
Another useful property of EPP, it can be used at high ambient temperatures, where the vast majority of polymer materials are not able to maintain their physical properties. Insulating a sauna is one of the most common ways to use insulation made from physically foamed polypropylene (EPP). This can also be the insulation of a metal roof in countries with large differences in average annual temperatures (Italy, Spain, Egypt, etc.), when in summer the temperature of a metal roof can reach +90-95 °C.
Below are the shrinkage test results of physical polypropylene foam (EPP) and cross-linked polyethylene foam (XLPE) under various temperature conditions for 48 hours.
Please note that after the use temperature exceeds 105 °C for a long time of use, XLPE begins to deform quite severely.
As for physically foamed polypropylene (EPP), it can be used in conditions of constant high temperatures up to 125-130 °C, which gives this type of insulation additional advantages.
The production of this unique material is safe and environmentally friendly, which is one of the most important factors. Due to its molecular structure and a number of other qualities, EPP is quite easy to produce using carbon dioxide as a foaming agent, which creates additional value for this product.
We are confident that expanding the use of non-cross-linked Polypropylene Foam on the market replacing a number of difficult-to-recycle materials will allow to make our planet much better.
We believe that innovation only has value when it generates Real Impact.
Our Research and Development is driven by a clear goal: to make our Machines Smarter, more Efficient, and Ready to face the challenges of modern production.
From materials to mechanics, from automation to user experience, every improvement is the result of Listening, Analysis, and Creativity.
Together, we explore new possibilities, identify shifts in the market, and develop ideas that turn into solutions.
We are often invited to industry events to share how the power of collaboration leads to progress.
This shared vision turns technical challenges into opportunities, and every project into a path for learning and growth.
Suppliers, clients, collaborators, and partners - all contribute to driving us forward.
At FAP, innovation is also a mindset.
We encourage every team member to question the status quo, experiment with new approaches, and keep learning.
From engineering to after-sales, every department is invited to bring ideas to the table.
Innovation: The Seventh Pillar of FAP’s Identity
In previous months, we introduced four other core values of our daily approach:
Flexibility, our ability to adapt to the needs of each project and each client.
Listening, the attention we give to those who work with us and rely on us.
Integrity, the transparency and consistency that guide our words and actions.
Efficiency, Getting things done with clarity, speed, and purpose.
Reliability, How we build, how we respond, and how we follow through.
Collaboration, We believe in co-creating value.
Looking for a partner who will understand your needs and turn your ideas into a high-performance solution?
Because when people work together, unique solutions - and lasting results - are born.
At FAP, we understand that the extrusion of gas-filled polymers is a critical process requiring precision and the right equipment. However, the lamination of physically foamed materials is equally important. This process involves bonding foamed polymers either to themselves (to increase thickness) or to other materials like reflective foil, PET, and HDPE, enhancing the final product's physical and mechanical properties. Our Laminator models has been specifically developed to ensure optimal lamination results, guaranteeing both flexibility and high performance in this delicate phase.
Though lamination might seem simple, it has many nuances that can affect the final product's quality, productivity, workplace safety, and production costs. What technical features of the equipment can be both an advantage and a significant drawback? Here’s what manufacturers and / or "converters" should consider when selecting equipment for laminating physically foamed polymers and bubble wrap:
For nearly four decades, FAP’s closed-cell foam polymer lamination technology has been trusted in Europe, North, and South America. Continuous improvement by our team of engineers and technologists, combined with a deep understanding of critical processes like "degassing" of physically foamed polymers and adhesion changes under complex esters and antistatic agents, allows us to create unique and high-quality lamination lines.
FAP Srl is a member of AMAPLAST Italian Plastics and Rubber processing machinery and
moulds manufacturers’ association.
