Sasol starts ethylene maintenance

(plastemart) -- A planned maintenance outage of Sasol's ethylene unit to commence on September 24 will last through the middle of November. The outage is to allow for a large-scale turnaround, that will result in increased traffic in Westlake as well as some flaring during the beginning and end of the turnaround. Flaring is necessary to provide a safe means for clearing the unit. Following the turnaround, flaring will be necessary to bring the unit back to production capability. To minimize impact to the community, Sasol has scheduled the heaviest flaring during the daytime hours and will utilize a ground-flare, which significantly reduces noise and light impact.

MRC

LyondellBasell to extend polypropylene production in Italy

ROTTERDAM (LyondellBasell) -- With growing customer requirements for high-performance, specialty polypropylene (PP) products, LyondellBasell announced today that it plans to extend production and technology capabilities at its Spherizone PP process technology plant in Brindisi, Italy.

Scheduled for completion in 2012, an upgraded process design and capacity expansion will include the use of additional co-monomers such as hexene to manufacture products with the properties required by pipe, sophisticated film and healthcare applications. Plant capacity is expected to be increased by 50 KT, extending total capacity to 235 KT per year.

According to Anton de Vries, LyondellBasell's senior vice president, Olefins and Polyolefins, Europe, Asia and International, ⌠This project will enable LyondellBasell to better support the growing demand for higher-value, specialty PP grades.

MRC

Plastic injection moulder adds two 850-ton Cincinnati presses

(MarketWatch) -- First American Plastic Molding Enterprise, a leading plastic injection molding company, has added two 850-ton Cincinnati presses to its line up, one at its 39,000 sq. ft. facility in South Beloit, Illinois, and the second press at its 22,000 sq. ft. facility in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

Currently, First American houses a total of 24 horizontal presses ranging in size from 40 to 850 tons. They also have a 150-ton multi-station rotary dial vertical clamp press that was recently brought on line.

MRC

DSM announces two key management changes

(DSM) -- Royal DSM N.V., the global Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company headquartered in the Netherlands, today announces two key management changes.

Mr. Anton Robek (1959), most recently President and CEO of DSM Melamine, will be appointed as Senior Vice President of DSM's Emerging Business Area (EBA) DSM Bio-based Products & Services with effect from 1 January 2011. In this role he will build on the success of this EBA, formerly named DSM White Biotechnology, and drive its further commercialization as outlined in the strategy: DSM in motion: driving focused growth'. Anton Robek will report to Mr. Rob van Leen, DSM's Chief Innovation Officer.

Mr. Volkert Claassen (1953), currently Vice President DSM White Biotechnology, has been appointed Vice President Strategy & Growth Options of the DSM Innovation Center and Vice President Strategy & Partnerships of DSM Bio-based Products & Services. Volkert Claassen has very successfully built the EBA DSM White Biotechnology into a launching platform for products and services in the areas of biofuels and biochemicals. His track record and extensive network in the biotechnology industry give DSM an excellent position to take this enlarged EBA to the next level.

MRC

MBA Polymers wins Energy and Environmental award

(prw) -- Dr Michael Biddle, founder and president of MBA Polymers, will receive the Energy and Environment award at the The Economist magazine's Innovation Awards ceremony, to be held on 21 October at the Science Museum, London.


Biddle founded Michael Biddle & Associates (MB&A) in his garage in 1992 to demonstrate that it was possible to recycle plastics from complex waste streams. MB&A was expanded to a pilot line in Berkeley, California and renamed MBA Polymers in 1994.

MBA Polymers now has headquarters and a research centre in Richmond, California, and recovers materials from sources including computers, electronics, domestic appliances and automobiles.

MRC