Book excerpt: Fillers are playing an increasingly important role in polymer applications, a trend that will increase with the rise in the cost of oil and hence polymer feedstocks. Increasingly though, fillers are seen as high performance additives, not just cost lowering diluents, and this is the focus of the conference, which has papers from both users and producers of performance enhancing fillers. Prominent among the topics covered are important growth areas such as; nanofillers, fire retardant fillers and natural fibre based composites. Papers dealing with the latest developments in additives to control the crucial area of filler to polymer adhesion are also featured prominently.