NEWS
Dow buys equity stake in chemical recycling
Dow has taken an equity stake in Xycle, a Nether- lands-based chemical recycling company. Funds from Dow and other investors – including ING and Vopak – will support the construction of Xycle’s first commercial-scale chemical recycling plant, in the Port of Rotterdam. The facility is expected to be operational by Q4 2026, with a projected plastic waste processing capacity of 21,000 tonnes/year. Dow will receive feed- stock from the facility and
use it to manufacture new circular plastics, which it says are in high demand. Xycle’s technology uses low-temperature pyrolysis to convert hard-to-recycle plastic waste into pyrolysis oil, which can be used as cracker feedstock for new plastic production. It can be used to manufacture virgin-quality plastics for applications such as food- grade packaging, medical and automotive components. “The performance and
efficiency of Xycle’s technol- ogy complements our
diverse global portfolio of recycling solutions,” said Stephanie Kalil, commercial VP at Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics EMEA. The modular layout of
Xycle’s facilities allows production to scale up or down depending on demand. In the future, Xycle plans to develop more advanced recycling facilities globally, using larger reactor sizes to increase single plant capacity to 100,000 tonnes/ year. �
www.dow.com �
www.xyclegroup.com
Sealed Air posts sales loss
US-based packaging giant Sealed Air saw sales decline in 2024.
Sales dipped by 2% to US$5.4 billion – with the food segment rising 2% as the protective segment fell by 8%. Net sales fell by US$61m, around 1%, on a constant dollar basis, said the company. Volumes actually rose by US$35m, or less than 1%.
Lower prices had an unfavourable impact of US$119m, or 2%, it said. Profit, expressed as adjusted EBITDA, was just over US$1.1 billion, almost identical to the 2023 result. “In the fourth quarter, we completed the reorganisa- tion into two market-fo- cused businesses – food and protective – and had a strong finish to the year,”
said Dustin Semach, president and CEO of Sealed Air.
At a constant dollar rate, the company expects 2025 to range between US$5.1bn (a dip of 3%) and US$5.5bn (a rise of 4%) in 2025. Adjusted EBITDA is expect- ed to be between US$1bn (a fall of 1$%) and around US$1.2bn (up 8%). �
www.sealedair.com
IN BRIEF...
Peruvian packaging major Oben is to establish a new production facility in Mexico. It has ordered “the world’s first 12m BOPP line” – which has a speed of 700 m/min and an output of 94,000 tonnes/ year – from Brueckner.
www.obengroup.com
www.brueckner.com
Plastics mergers and acquisitions stayed at a high level in January 2025, according to PMCF. It says 36 deals were announced – the ninth consecutive month with more than 30 deals recorded. Although transaction volumes were lower than for January 2024, they surpassed the 2024 monthly average.
https://pmcf.com
Kiefel has appointed new leaders for three divisions. Sven Engelmann, VP of technology, is responsible for the technological development of Kiefel’s portfolio. Bengt Schmidt, VP of packaging, will build global sales in this area. And Bernd Stein, VP of engineering, will optimise machine and tool solutions.
www.kiefel.com
PRE’s latest figures show slower capacity growth
Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) says the total installed plastics recycling capacity in EU27+3 countries was 13.2 million tonnes in 2023 – a 6% growth on the previous year. This is the lowest growth since 2017, it said – as, until now, capacities had doubled in five years with an average growth of 17%. “The challenges faced by the EU’s
8 FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION | March 2025
plastic recycling sector in 2022 have been confirmed by the latest figures,” said Ton Emans, president of PRE. Polyolefin films retain the highest
overall capacity, followed by PET and rigid polyolefins – accounting for more than 75% of overall European capacity. At the country level, Germany has the highest installed plastics recycling capacity, with up to 2.5m tonnes,
followed by Spain with around 2m tonnes. The figures show an overall slow- down in recycling, which PRE ascribes to higher production and energy costs for European companies, a lack of demand for EU-recycled plastics, and the increase in imports of virgin and recycled plastic from outside the EU.
www.plasticsrecyclers.eu
www.filmandsheet.com
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