NEWS


US grants available for PVC recycling projects


The US-based Vinyl Institute, which represents PVC manufacturers, has launched a grant pro- gramme to encourage recycling of the material. The programme, called


Viability, will provide up to US$1 million per year for the next three years from four US-based resin manu- facturers: Formosa, Oxy, Shintech, and Westlake. “Each year, more than 1.1 billion pounds of vinyl material is recycled in the


US and Canada,” said Ned Monroe, president and CEO of the Vinyl Institute. “However, post-consumer material accounts for less than a fifth of that total.” He said the scheme should help the industry reach its goal of increasing post-consumer recycling volume to 160 million pounds by 2025. Grants are available to


organisations such as trade associations, material recovery facilities and


recyclers – in amounts up to US$500,000. Funds can be used for everything from equipment and process investments to research and development or educational programmes. The first round of applica- tions is due on 1 March 2023. “It is our responsibility to identify pathways to grow PVC recycling,” according to Monroe. “We are eager to identify worthy vinyl recy- cling programmes.” � www.vinylinfo.org


Strohm triples TCP production


Dutch thermoplastic composite pipe (TCP) producer Strohm has expanded its production plant in Ijmuiden, near Amsterdam. The company says it will now triple its production capacity to 140km of normalised pipe per year. The expansion is Strohm’s “biggest capital investment” since setting up the facility in 2012, it said. The plant now has a


dedicated production line for research and develop- ment; an extrusion line for liner, coating, and weight


Italy 2022 machine


growth flat Italy expects to see a 1% growth in plastic machin- ery production in 2022. Amaplast, which


represents machinery manufacturers, says the figure – which amounts to sales of €4.5 billion (US$5bn) – “consolidates the recovery seen during the previous year”. In 2022, exports – which


represent about 70% of production – are expected to grow by around 2% (to €3bn), domestic sales by 1% and imports by 5%. In the first nine months


of 2022, the main growth markets were Asia (espe- cially India), South America (especially Colombia) and Europe.


However, Amaplast sees “low or negative growth” in 2023 – with an expected downturn of “a few percentage points”. “Companies will have to


IMAGE: STROHM


coating materials; and two large lines using composite tape winding and propri- etary melt fusion technology. “With the new production line, we can now produce


heavier, longer, and stiffer products for the industry,” said Hubert Brinkhuis, operations director at Strohm. � www.strohm.eu


make significant effort to innovate in order to improve the technological attributes of their machin- ery and stay abreast of increasingly specialised demand,” said Dario Previero, president of Amaplast. � www.amaplast.org


Maag buys gear pump manufacturer Witte


Maag has acquired Witte Pumps & Technology, a German developer and manufacturer of gear pumps and aftermarket parts. Following the purchase, Maag will integrate Witte’s gear pump operations


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with its own to create a combined Gear Pumps business unit. “The acquisition of Witte represents a major step in making Maag the go-to partner for our customers’ most critical and demanding gear pump needs,”


PIPE & PROFILE EXTRUSION | January/February 2023


said Ueli Thürig, president of Maag. He said the move would extend the


group’s product portfolio and geo- graphical coverage. � www.maag.com � www.witte-pumps.com


www.pipeandprofile.com


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