NEWS
NEWS IN BRIEF...
Anitmicrobial polymer producer Parx Plastics said it has signed a Master Service Agreement with PepsiCo to develop a system to provide high level microbiological reduction in high perfor- mance plastics. It said the companies have already carried out testing and sample production.
www.parxmaterials.com
Solvay said its new high molecular weight (HMW) HALS stabiliser capacity at its Willow Island site in the US came online last month. The specialty HMW HALS products join the existing Cynergy and Cyxtra HALS the company produces for PO resins at the site.
www.solvay.com
Chemicals group Italmatch has acquired ICL’s RecoPhos Project Technol- ogy, including all IP and related assets. It said it aims to develop a route to elemental phosphorous for use in flame retardants, oil additives and pharma- ceuticals from waste feedstocks such as sewage sludge ash.
www.italmatch.com
LyondellBasell sales down 11%; Schulman integration on track
LyondellBasell announced 2019 full-year sales of $34.7bn, down 11% on last year’s result, with EBITDA down 17% to $5.6bn. The company also said the integration activities related to its acquisition of com- pounding group A Schul- man in 2018 are on sched- ule, with $130m in forward annual run-rate synergies achieved as of the end of 2019.
“During 2019 LyondellBa- sell continued to exhibit strong cash generation and remained committed to our
disciplined capital allocation strategy,” said CEO Bob Patel. The Schlulman acquisition, he added, “demonstrated our capability to derive value from M&A”. The Schlulman business is now part of LyondellBa- sell’s Advanced Polymer Solutions (APS) segment, one of six within the company. APS comprises the Compounding & Solutions line, including PP compounds, engineered plastics, masterbatches, engineered composites, colours and powders; and
Advanced Polymers, which consists of Catalloy and polybutene-1. In 2019, APS saw its
EBITDA increase by $24m over 2018, despite a $47m increase in transaction and integration costs related to the acquisition. Compound- ing & Solutions’ results increased by $105m due to new product lines from the acquisition. Advanced Polymers was $40m down, attributed to lower volumes from the automotive and industrial roofing sectors. �
www.lyondellbasell.com
SCS to trial Pyrowave process
Styrenics Circular Solutions (SCS), an industry initiative established to increase the circularity of styrenic polymers that counts Ineos Styrolution, Total, Trinseo and Versalis among its members, has signed an NDA to evaluate Pyrowave’s catalytic microwave depolymerisation technology for chemically recycling PS. Canada-based Pyrowave claims to have developed its technology over the past ten years and tailored it to PS, which is relatively easy to convert back to its building blocks.
Dr Norbert Niessner, Global Head of R&D
at Ineos Styrolution and chair of the SCS Technology Working Group, said that SCS members “see great potential” in the technology. “The small, flexible microwave units enable a decentralised approach as they can be installed next to existing local sorting facilities, where the waste feedstock can be found,” he said. �
www.pyrowave.com �
www.styrenics-circular-solutions.com
Recycling target in the bag
US plastic bag manufacturers and recyclers have renamed their coalition the Amer- ican Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance (ARPBA) and signed a commitment to target 95% of plastic retail bags being reused or recycled by 2025. ARPBA claims the current rate of reuse of plastic grocery bags is 78% with 12%
US plastic bag manufacturers pledge to lift reuse and recycling rates
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recycled, making a 90% current reuse or recycled rate. Alliance members say they will also increase the minimum amount of recycled content in their products to 10% by 2021, 15% by 2023 and 20% by 2025. �
www.bagalliance.org
COMPOUNDING WORLD | February 2020
www.compoundingworld.com
IMAGE: AMI/C SMITH
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