Hexpol to launch ‘Mixing 5.0’ initiative in early 2027

Malmo, Sweden – Hexpol is targeting spring 2027 for the start-up of a technology-led initiative to modernise and automate its rubber compounding processes and operations in Europe.

Called Mixing 5.0, the project will leverage investments in equipment, digital systems and the group’s in-house process technologies, the Swedish compounder said in its 2025 annual report issued 10 April.

The programme, explained Hexpol, is “a strategic step into a new era of automated, data-driven and safe production,” combining engineering systems with “proprietary process intelligence.”

In particular, the initiative is intended to improve consistency and operational control: applying automation to enable “higher precision and shorter lead times,” while also improving workplace safety via "better control of “critical operations.”

Being developed across R&D, engineering, production and sales, in cooperation with equipment suppliers, Mixing 5.0 is to address both customer requirements and the group’s own targets around efficiency, resource-use and product quality.

The platform is expected to deliver “energy-efficient, stable and scalable rubber compounding,” continued Hexpol – without providing details of the investment levels or targeted site locations.

The initiative is also linked to Hexpol’s broader materials strategy, including its Hexgreen concept, which focuses on increasing the share of recycled and renewable content in its rubber compounds.

Mixing 5.0 will consolidate Hexpol's position in the market for advanced rubber compounds while also supporting its longer-term sustainability goals, the Swedish group concluded.