NEWS Ascend invests in Circular Polymers
Ascend Performance Materials has acquired a majority stake in US-based Circular Polymers, which recycles PA6, PA66, PET and PP from carpet waste. Ascend says the move — which sees the recycler renamed Circular Polymers by Ascend — will provide it with a consistent supply of high quality post-consumer recycled material for use in sustainable products such as the ReDefyne PA com- pounds it launched at the K show in October. “Circular Polymers by Ascend provides materials that offer strong perfor-
ECJ rules on TiO2 regulation
The European Court of Justice has ruled to annul parts of the European Commission’s Delegated Regulation 2020/217 covering harmonised classification and labelling of TiO2
as a carcinogenic
substance by inhalation. In its judgement, the
court ruled that the requirement under existing EU law to base the classification of a carcino- genic substance on reliable and acceptable studies was not satisfied. It also ruled the Regulation infringed the criteria that classification of a sub- stance as carcinogenic can only apply to a substance that has the intrinsic property to cause cancer.
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Above: Ascend President and CEO Phil McDivitt
mance with a considerably smaller environmental footprint compared to other technologies like pyrolysis,” said Ascend President and
CEO Phil McDivitt. “The quality of material that comes out of Circular Polymers is extremely high and consistent.” The US is a major consumer of carpet and Circular Polymers claims to have used its proprietary technology to redirect more than 38,000 tonnes of carpet waste from landfill since its formation in 2018. Founder David Bender remains with the business as CEO. McDivitt expects to see
the recycling business expand through Ascend’s investment. “We would expect that Circular will
expand both its existing footprint in Callifornia as well as in other parts of the US,” he said. “ReDefyne is a global grade and we would expect to serve our custom- ers on a global basis.” Ascend has made a number of significant acquisitions in the Americas, Europe and Asia over the past five years, including the acquisition of Italian compounder Poliblend in 2020. “One of the reasons we acquired Poliblend was for its ability to take PCR and reformulate that back into compounds,” McDivitt said. �
www.ascendmaterials.com
Above: Shell’s 1.6m tonne PE plant in Pennsylvania is now in operation Shell starts up US PE plant
Operations have com- menced at the Shell Polymers Monaca (SPM) facility in Pennsylvania,, the first major PE manufacturing complex to be located in the north-eastern US shale region with a nameplate output of 1.6m tonnes/yr. Strategically located with an estimated 70% of the US PE market within 700 miles,
COMPOUNDING WORLD | December 2022
SPM sits on 384 acres of land adjacent to the Ohio River in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. The plant is expected to ramp up to full production by the second half of 2023. Huibert Vigeveno, Shell
Downstream Director, said: “With great market access, innovative offers and connected infrastructure,
Shell Polymers Monaca is well positioned and ready to serve customers with high-quality, competitive products.” SPM is targeting custom-
ers that manufacture commodity and specialty films, pipes, blow-moulded containers, and injection- moulded parts. �
www.shell.com
www.compoundingworld.com
IMAGE: ASCEND PERFORMANCE MATERIALS
IMAGE: SHELL
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