PVC producers jointly promote green initiatives

(Thai-ASEAN News Network) -- A group of PVC producers in five Southeast Asian countries has teamed up to promote green initiatives and a sustainable approach to technological development, in hopes of preventing environmental conflicts.

Twelve polyvinyl chloride producers from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand formed the ASEAN Vinyl Council, which aims to address environmental issues related to the industry, such as emission standards for chemical waste, to help minimize the impact on the environment and local communities.

AVC's general manager, Namsak Chunhajutha, said the council will provide support for businesses that wish to better connect with local communities and promote public understanding of investment projects.

Namsak revealed that the consumption of PVC raw materials among Southeast Asian nations currently stands at an average of 1.4 million tons a year, while the output is 2.1 million tons.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) has recently begun a scoping project with the aim of enabling retailers and brands to use recycled polypropylene plastic in food packaging.

Using recycled polypropylene instead of virgin plastics, for food packaging also presents significant environmental benefits which can be enjoyed by retailers, brands and consumers.

With developments in infrastructure, HDPE and PET bottles are now widely recycled back into new plastic bottles and in some cases, into food grade packaging too. As polypropylene makes up a significant proportion of plastic packaging in the household bin, developing a process to enable it to be recycled is an important next step towards sustainable packaging.

MRC

(Sibur) -- At the Tobolsk-Polymer Project site a distillation deethanizer column of length 61 metres, diameter 6.26 metres and weight of around 800 tonnes was delivered and set up on its foundation.

After erection, the column was centered, aligned and fixed on its foundation with anchor bolts.

A depropanizer column was the first to be installed in early October.

The production capacity of the Tobolsk-Polymer project is 500 thousand tonnes of polypropylene per annum. The total cost of the project is about 60 billion rubles.

The completion of construction works is expected for the third quarter of 2012.

MRC

(PRNewswire-Asia) -- China Ruitai International Holdings Co., Ltd., a manufacturer and distributor of cellulose ether additives for use in the production of pharmaceuticals, construction materials, PVC products, foods and beverages and cosmetics, announced its financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2010.

Q III highlighted the following: revenue grew 9.8% to $11.2 million; gross profit up 8.2% to $3.6 million and net income was $1.9 million, EPS of $0.07.

China Ruitai is one of the largest manufactures of non-ionic cellulose ether products in China with 8,500 tons of annual capacity. The Company's organic products are used as a thickener, stabilizer and binding agent for a wide variety of products used every day in a number of industries.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Formosa Plastics is considering expanding its US olefins capacity as a result of cost advantages for feedstock natural gas, but the company on Tuesday said a final decision had yet to be made.

The company has two crackers in Point Comfort, Texas, with a combined ethylene capacity of 1.5m tonnes/year.

Despite the cost advantage derived from natural gas, Formosa expressed concerns about increased regulation in the US, citing the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) greenhouse gas (GHG) emission rules scheduled to take effect in January 2011.

"The decision to move forward [with the expansion] may depend, in part, on the granting of a 2-year postponement of the US EPA's uncertain greenhouse gas permitting, Rice said in an e-mail.

Formosa is one of several business groups in the US calling for a delay by the EPA.

MRC