Expanded polystyrene (EPS) and expanded polypropylene (EPP) are known for tremendous potential for light weight design. New demands were raised up by the industry during the last few years, such as process combination, functionalization, and new material development [1]. First, the combination of automated tape laying technology and in-situ steam chest molding will boost the development of sandwich structures with organic face sheet and a bead foam core. Automatized unidirectional tape laying provides high flexibility for face sheet design, including geometry and fiber orientation. After in-situ foaming with a bead foam as a core material, sandwich structures with tailored organic face sheets and bead foam core can be achieved. With optimized face sheet design, high mechanical properties can be reached. Second, we present a novel approach for polymer bead foams with improved flame retardancy properties, by surface pre-modification of single beads and subsequent steam-chest molding. Since a good fusion of beads is necessary in order to achieve favourable mechanical properties, the effect of incorporated functional components on both the welding strength and the flame retardant properties was investigated. Third, in order to provide higher service temperature, novel core materials made from expanded polybutylene terephthalate beads (E-PBT) will be presented [3]. Chemical modification by chain extender overcomes the process difficulties for E-PBT bead foam production. At 85 °C, E-PBT foam provides 30 % better compression properties at 50% compression compared with EPP with density of 155 g/l. Furthermore, water absorption test and chemical resistance test will reveal the potential for practical applications. Reference [1] Winterling, H., Sonntag, N., Kunststoffe 101, 10 (2011):18-21. [2] Altstädt, V., Mühlbacher, M. und Beck, J., Lightweight Design 7,4 (2014): 56-62 [3] Köppl, T., Raps, D., and Altstädt, V., Journal of Cellular Plastics 50, 5 (2014): 475-487.