Sarnia plastics recycler wants your black plastic trays and containers

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sarnia, Ont.-based ReVital Polymers Inc. is fighting back against what can only be called a fake news story about black post-consumer plastic, as per Canplastics.

Contrary to recent media reports published throughout the GTA, black post-consumer plastic can be recycled – and ReVital wants as much of the material as it can get.

ReVital describes itself as Canada’s first recycling plant that combines a Container Recovery Facility and a Plastics Recovery Facility under one roof. The process of transforming incoming mixed plastic bales into recycled plastic pellets takes less than 25 minutes to complete. ReVital plans to expand the range of materials it accepts from recycling programs next year. Clients in the household goods, construction and automotive sectors purchase ReVital’s recycled plastic pellets to make a range of new products.

"No one I know thinks it’s right to use a plastic product or package once and then send it to the landfill," said Keith Bechard, ReVital’s chief commercial officer. “In Ontario alone, about 1,405 tonnes of black plastics are generated annually. That would fill more than 70 transport trucks parked end-to-end stretching for 1.7 kilometers. That is a significant amount of valuable material and that’s why we invested in the technology to recover black plastics."

Bechard said recent Toronto media reports claiming that black plastic trays and containers are unrecyclable have caused great confusion for the public, not just in Ontario but across Canada. “The Toronto media reports were specific to that community’s recycling program and their recycling service provider,” he said. “The City and their service provider’s limitations are not reflective of the rest of the recycling industry in Ontario and Canada."

In fact, municipalities across the province of Ontario and beyond – including Ottawa, Kingston, Durham, and Windsor – have been shipping mixed plastics to ReVital’s 188,000-square-foot plastics recycling operation since it opened in February 2017.

Bechard said the market for black recycled plastics is strong. “In fact, we turn most of these high value materials into customized and highly engineered resins that are tailored to specific customer end-use applications,” he said. “This customized approach ensures ReVital improves recovery rates for end-of-life products and packaging, extends material value and utility, and allows our automotive and consumer household product customers to manufacture new products that incorporate recycled content."
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Jacobs increases profile in the KSA with Expertise Contracting MOU

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Jacobs and Expertise Contracting Company Limited have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to offer plant maintenance and turnaround solutions to key clients in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

With increased cost pressures on operators in the region, Jacobs’ and Expertise’s complementary capabilities provide alternate maintenance and turnaround execution models and innovative solutions to reduce costs and maximize facility up-time.

Expanding their complete engineering, EPCM, and PMC footprint in the region, Jacobs brings global best practices in maintenance, turnarounds, reliability, and asset management to the KSA, developed through more than 60 years of providing complete solutions to top-tier global clients.

"This partnership reflects our commitment to provide innovative end-to-end services to our clients in Saudi Arabia," said Jacobs Senior Vice President and General Manager David Zelinski. "With cultures aligned on safety and long-term customer satisfaction, Jacobs and Expertise are ready to lead existing and new clients in the transformation of maintenance and turnarounds delivery in the region."

Founded in 2004 and based in Al Jubail, Expertise Contracting is one of Saudi Arabia’s leading and fastest growing industrial support solutions providers. With 4,000 craft personnel and a state-of-the-art, 3,000-piece equipment fleet, Expertise delivers comprehensive maintenance, turnaround, and industrial solutions in Al Jubail and across the region.

"Our partnership with Jacobs aligns with our aspirations to serve the industry in a broader and more comprehensive way," said Expertise President Fares S. Al Shammari. "It transforms Jacobs and Expertise, combining global knowledge, experience and exemplary resources in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 to enrich local content and promote knowledge transfer."

Jacobs and Expertise will combine their experience across multiple industrial sectors including upstream and downstream oil and gas, petrochemicals, specialty chemicals, mining and minerals, power, water, aerospace and advanced infrastructure.

As MRC wrote before, in December 2017, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. was awarded a contract by Canada Kuwait Petrochemical Corporation (CKPC) to provide front-end engineering design (FEED) services for a proposed greenfield, integrated propane dehydrogenation and polypropylene facility located in Sturgeon County, Alberta, Canada.
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Elastron expands in North America, opens new US headquarter in Georgia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Elastron has recently announced that it will open a North American headquarters in Gainesville, GA, USA, as per GV.

Headquartered near Istanbul, Turkey, Elastron began expanding into the North American market in 2012.

The company said it has seen enough demand to justify a local manufacturing facility. Elastron has been producing TPEs for more than 35 years with exports to over 55 countries worldwide.

The new facility will be approximately 2,800 m2 and will include production, a technical laboratory, a warehouse, and offices. The start of the commercial production is scheduled for Q3 2018. In the next two to three years, Elastron USA is expected to create 20 to 25 new jobs, and within the next three to five years, grow to 60 to 80 employees. The company said its initial investment is USD 10 million. It also said it is committed to investing additional amounts as market demand increases and justifies expansion of production capacity.

The facility will produce a broad range of TPEs including TPV, TPO, SBS, and SEBS. Elastron USA will serve all major market segments including automotive, industrial, construction, medical, consumer, and electrical. The new facility will enable Elastron USA to provide its North American customers with locally manufactured products, improve its service and supply its European and Chinese customers that have operations in North America with equivalent products.

Market research has clearly identified that US consumers are looking for a supplier with improved customer service, flexibility and willingness to collaborate with customers on development programmes, said Metin Mizrakli, chairman and CEO of Elastron. "We are very excited about expanding our global production capabilities to the North American market," Mizrakli said. "We are fully committed to supplying our customers with high quality thermoplastic elastomers and an unmatched level of technical support and customer service."

Georgia’s business-friendly environment and economic development efforts to attract investment from Turkey led Elastron’s search to consider Georgia. After an exhaustive site selection process, Elastron USA selected Gainesville for its new North American headquarters.

"It’s an honour when a company chooses to locate its North American headquarters in Georgia," said Georgia Governor Nathan Deal. "Our pro-business environment has been a magnet for innovative companies for many years. I am thrilled that Elastron will call Gainesville home. Not only is it a win-win for Hall County, but for the entire state." Gainesville-Hall County is a unique manufacturing environment with more than 300 good-producing firms and 33% of the workforce employed in these businesses. The community offers access to both top executive and management level talent to run the business as well as the skills for the manufacturing floor, competitive cost of living and doing business, full-time existing industry support programme through the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce, and close proximity to a global metropolitan region being less than 50 miles from Atlanta.

The ability to easily serve customers in the North American market for engineering, production, sales and service makes Gainesville-Hall County the ideal location for Elastron USA’s headquarters, said Tim Evans, Vice President of Economic Development for the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce.

"Elastron is a family-owned business known for being very customer-focused and for providing great service in the thermoplastics industry," Evans said. "Elastron USA will be a welcome addition to the growing community of international businesses that have their sales, service, engineering and manufacturing headquarters in Gainesville-Hall County."
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Canadian vehicle sales fall for third consecutive month: Scotiabank

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Vehicle sales in Canada fell by 0.8 per cent year-over-year (y/y) in May for a third consecutive y/y decline, a new report from Scotiabank said, as per Canplastics.

But the bank estimates that purchases rose to an annualized 2.05 million units last month, after edging below the two-million mark in April.

"For the third month in a row, the Detroit Three automakers drove the headline sales figures into negative territory with volumes falling by 4.5 per cent y/y compared to ongoing strength for the remaining automakers,” Scotiabank said in its latest Auto News Flash. “Behind this decline is the continuing industry-wide weakness in car sales, which fell by 9.4% y/y. On the other hand, truck sales increased by 4% y/y strengthening from a 2.2% y/y gain the previous month."

In the U.S., meanwhile, new vehicle sales ticked up by 0.7% y/y in May to an annualized 16.8 million units, outperforming an expected year-on-year decline. "But May’s figures mark only the second time since September 2017 that sales fall under 17 million units," Scotiabank said.

Results in the U.S. were mixed across companies, Scotiabank said. "In contrast to Canada, two of the Big Three automakers posted double-digit annual increases which were offset by lower volumes at a couple of major foreign firms," it said.

Purchases of SUVs, crossovers, and pickups continue to move higher in the U.S., posting an 8.3% y/y increase to an annualized pace of 11.6 million units sold, the ninth consecutive month in excess of 11 million. “In contrast, car sales declined by 13 per cent y/y," Scotiabank said. “The transition towards larger vehicles is set to continue, though rising gasoline prices may slow the pace of the change."
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Lanxess to build new prepolymers production facility in Brazil

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lanxess’s Urethane Systems business unit will make an investment on prepolymer production that is expected to be in the single-digit million euros, but the exact figure has not been disclosed, as per Chemicals-technology.

The new facility is expected to become operational in the first half of next year. Once the new facility becomes operational, the existing prepolymer production facility at the Rio Claro site will be terminated, and Lanxess will manage its entire polyurethane business for South America from Porto Feliz.

Urethane Systems business unit head Dr Markus Eckert said: "South America is an important cornerstone of our global network and we are committed to the Brazilian and South American markets. "Our investment will enable us to sustainably offer local customer-specific technical service, excellent product quality, and fast and reliable product supply."

"Our new investment will enable us to sustainably offer local customer-specific technical service, excellent product quality, and fast and reliable product supply."

Lanxess Urethane Systems business unit is a systems provider to the global polyurethane (PU) market and has its expertise in cast elastomers, coatings, adhesives and sealants.

Its portfolio includes conventional and low free isocyanate prepolymers, and special aqueous polyurethane dispersions (PUDs).

Additionally, Lanxess Urethane Systems business unit offers catalysts and curing agents for cast elastomers, as well as technologies for coatings, adhesives and sealants.

The business unit also focuses on solvent-free, monomer-free, and easy-to-use blocked systems.

Lanxess Urethane Systems has production facilities and application development centres in Brazil, India, China, Australia, Italy, the UK, and US.
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