NEWS
SABIC to invest in Chinese PC compounding plant
Under the auspices of the Saudi Ministry of Energy, SABIC has signed a potential investment agreement with the provincial Fujian government in China to build a new thermoplastics compounding plant in the city of Zhangzhou. The group said the new investment underscores its efforts to meet the requirements for differentiated solutions from customers in China where it already operates a Technology Centre in Shanghai and compounding plants in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Chongqing. The new plant will primarily produce pelletised Lexan polycarbonate and Cycoloy PC/ABS blends, and will include colour development capabilities and advanced equipment.
New flexibles recycling project
SABIC’s Chinese plants include the Shanghai Technology Centre “This investment
agreement marks another significant milestone for SABIC’s growth in China and reflects our continued confidence in investing in the country,” said Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, SABIC CEO. He said that by creating
synergy with upstream and downstream partners, the
project aims to strengthen SABIC’s supply capability in compounding products to serve the local market with innovative and high-quality materials. The group will continue to collaborate with its existing global and local partners and customers to pursue growth in China, he said. �
www.sabic.com
Whisky waste’s surprising use
Scientists from UK start-up Ripcell are working with researchers from the University of Aberdeen to demonstrate the feasibility of recovering high-value compounds such as lactic acid from whisky distillery waste streams.
“The idea of utilising
wastewater from a traditional industry like whisky production for the recovery of bio-based chemicals is highly innovative,” said Dr Alan McCue, senior lecturer at the University of Aberdeen. “It’s great to see
Scottish heritage being linked to sustainable chemical production.” The method could be
worth up to £90m in chemical markets, according to the company. �
www.abdn.ac.uk �
https://ripcell.co.uk
The Institute for Plastics Processing (IKV) in Industry and Craft at RWTH Aachen University in Germany has initiated the research project Loopcycling – Advanced mechanical recycling of flexible polyethylenes. The project hopes to push the boundaries of mechanical recycling and achieve the best possible recyclate by combining the most suitable industrial processes to enable use in contact-sensitive films. Based on existing technologies, the processes will initially be optimised using common polyolefin sorting fractions from the household collection of packaging waste. A transfer to well-designed mono- materials including upscaling is conducted in parallel with the results being used to derive future design-for-recycling standards. IKV is coordinating the
project, carrying out compounding trials and reprocessing tests in its pilot plants and laboratories and contributing its expertise in recyclate characterisation. �
www.ikv-aachen.de
New report on plastics demand in US
The Plastics Industry Association in the US has launched the first Plastics Demand Estimate Report, which serves as an indicator for the entire plastics industry supply chain in the US. The
www.compoundingworld.com
report will now be released monthly and be made available to members. “While demand will continue to vary
monthly, the year-over-year change in plastics demand at current prices and
real demand, adjusted for inflation, has been more aligned in recent periods compared to 2021 and 2022,” said Perc Pineda, Chief Economist. �
www.plasticsindustry.org
September 2024 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 5
IMAGE: SABIC
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