NEWS
NEWS IN BRIEF...
ExxonMobil has started detailed engineering work on a potential project to expand polypropylene manufacturing capacity by up to 450,000 tonnes/year on the US Gulf Coast. A final decision on the investment, which is intended to make advanced PP products for automotive, appliance, and packaging applications, is expected later this year.
www.exxonmobil.com
Borealis and its Borouge subsidiary officially opened a newly expanded high voltage electrical testing facility at the Borealis Innovation Centre in Stenungsund, Sweden, last month. Around €4m has been invested at the centre, which offers AC and DC simulation testing for commercial cable materials in the medium, high and extra-high voltage ranges.
www.borealisgroup.com
The US Federal Trade Commission has granted LyondellBasell early termination of the waiting period under the Hart- Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act with respect to its pending $2.25bn acquisition of A Schulman, announced on 15 February. This satisfies a condition for closing, which remains subject to approval by Schulman shareholders and other regulatory clearances. It is expected to close in 2H 2018.
www.lyondellbasell.com www.aschulman.com
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Huber invests to expand Martinal ATH capacity
The Fire Retardant Additives (FRA) business unit of Huber Engineered Materials (HEM) is expanding capacity for its Martinal LEO range of fine precipitated alumina trihydrate (ATH) at the Martinswerk plant in Bergheim, Germany. The move is the single largest investment at the site in 40 years and will increase capacity by 20%. Martin Schulting, Manag-
ing Director of the FRA business unit in the EMEA region, said the expansion will support growing demand in Europe and Asia
The Huber Martinswerk plant at Bergheim in Germany
for halogen-free flame retardants. The first capacity will become available in 2H 2019, with completion in early 2020. The company is currently
expanding fine precipitated ATH capacity at its facility at Bauxite, in Arkansas in the US. This new capacity is due online in Q3. �
www.hubermaterials.com
Luxus launches recyclability test
Luxus, a UK-based technical plastics recycling and compounding company, has launched a rapid analysis service for coloured plastics that tests for ‘end-of-life’ recyclability. The test service, the company said, “enables producers to discover for the first time if the plastic packaging or products they make can be detected via near-infrared (NIR) sorting”. NIR cannot detect black and many coloured plastics because the pigments strongly absorb infrared radiation. The test relies on a new spectrophotometer capable of reading solar reflectance in the NIR spectrum. The machine is also being used in the €1.47m two-year NIRsort project, which is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme. Luxus and its partners, Polykemi of Sweden and Ireland’s One51, aim to develop a new range of infra-red reflecting (IRR) colourants that will be adapted beyond packaging to applica- tions in electrical appliances and automotive. �
www.luxus.co.uk
DINP avoids EU reprotoxic label
The Risk Assessment Committee (RAC) of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has ruled that di-isononyl phthalate (DINP) does not warrant classification for Category 1B or 2 reprotoxic effects to either fertility or development under the EU’s Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) regulation.
COMPOUNDING WORLD | April 2018 Denmark originally proposed the classifi-
cation to ECHA in 2015. Following a stringent hazard assessment, the RAC has concluded that there is no need for classification due to lack of evidence of adverse effects. �
http://echa.europa.eu �
www.europeanplasticisers.eu
www.compoundingworld.com
PHOTO: HUBER MATERIALS
PHOTO: LUXUS
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