New plastics recycling facility to be fueled with non-recyclable plastics waste

MOSCOW (MRC) -- UK-based Pennon Group (Exeter; www.pennon-group.co.uk) has announced a project to power its new GBP 65m (EUR 73m) plastics recycling plant using electricity produced from plastics waste, said the Plasteurope.

The company says this move will create true circular economy energy park at its site in Avonmouth near Bristol, which is the biggest multi-polymer plant in the UK.

Once operational, the new facility will divert 320,000 t/y of non-recyclable plastics waste away from landfill. In its first year of operation, the plant will produce 60,000 t/y of recycled plastics using 81,000 t/y of feedstock made from 1.6 bn bottles, pots, tubs and trays. By the third year of operation, this figure is set to rise to 89,000 t/y of feedstock producing 63,000 t/y of recycled plastics.

Chris Loughlin, the group's CEO, said that by using non-recyclable waste to create low carbon electricity, the company is creating a resource and energy-efficient waste management solution. There is a clear ambition from both UK consumers and politicians to improve recycling rates and reduce the amount of waste which is sent to export. Our research shows that 80% of people believe the UK should find a way to deal with its own recycling without having to ship it to other countries.

By its own account, Pennon is one of the UK's largest environmental infrastructure groups. It owns water and wastewater company South West Water (Exeter; www.southwestwater.co.uk) and recycling company Viridor (Taunton / UK; www.viridor.co.uk), which is a member of the UK Plastics Pact launched by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap, Banbury / UK; www.wrap.org.uk) and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF, Cowes / UK; www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org) in 2018.. The group has a workforce of 5,000 and in 2018 posted sales of GBP 1.48 bn.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Haitian's (Ningbo, Zhejiang / China; www.haitian.com) US subsidiary Absolute Haitian (Worcester, Massachusetts / USA) has expanded its North American operations with the opening of a new production unit in Moncks Corner, South Carolina / USA near Charleston, said Plasteurope.

A grand opening celebration with a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on 30 May 2019, including a tour of the new facility for customers, suppliers, public officials and other guests.

The new 11,000 mA? facility provides additional capacity to support Haitian Internationala€™s product lines for injection moulders in the US and Canada. It complements existing facilities in the US, in Massachusetts, Ohio and Illinois plus warehousing in southern California. The proximity to Charleston's port allows the company to easily supply customers in the US states of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.

The facilitya€™s drive-in dock enables flatbed trucks to move fully loaded onto the floor for more convenient unloading. a€?All of these features position us well to reduce lead times on delivery and enhance support to our customers,a€? said Mike Ortolano, co-owner of Absolute Haitian. a€?The expansion of the automotive sector, presence of white goods manufacturing and fast regional growth in the southeast were major considerations,a€? added co-owner Nate Smith.

Absolute Haitian is the exclusive sales and service partner in the US and Canada for Haitian, which is the worlda€™s largest supplier of plastics injection moulding machinery, shipping more than 35,000 machines in 2017. Ita€™s products are sold in more than 130 countries. In 2018, the injection moulding machinery manufacturer's revenues rose by 6.5% to about RMB 10.9 bn (EUR 1.43 bn).
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Westlake Chemical company’s WLK unit - Royal Building Products - has completed the acquisition of DaVinci Roofscapes, L.L.C., according to MarketScreener.

DaVinci has a leadership position as a supplier of premium composite siding and roofing. The company operates from Lenexa, KA. Moreover, it has a solid reputation for addressing customer needs with superior product quality, technology and operating excellence.

Notably, its products will continue to be sold under the DaVinci brand. The buyout complements Royal Building’s existing premium products such as Celect, Zuri and Cedar Renditions.

"We are very excited about the addition of DaVinci, which brings an impressive business with a strong leadership position in the composite roofing industry," said Scott Szwejbka, vice president - exteriors. "DaVinci has an outstanding reputation for meeting customer needs with superior technology, product quality, and operating excellence. We are pleased to welcome this talented team into the Westlake family."

As MRC informed previously, Westlake Chemical Corporation has recently announced that it will expand capacities for the production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) at three of its chemical facilities. Two of the plants are located in Germany (Burghausen, Gendorf) and one is located in Geismar, Louisiana. The expansions in Burghausen and Geismar are expected to be completed in 2019. The Gendorf expansions are expected to be completed in 2020 and 2021.

Westlake Chemical Corporation is an international manufacturer and supplier of petrochemicals, polymers and building products with headquarters in Houston, Texas. The company's range of products includes: ethylene, polyethylene, styrene, propylene, chlor-alkali and derivative products, PVC suspension and specialty resins, PVC Compounds, and PVC building products including siding, pipe, fittings and specialty components, windows, fence, deck and film.

Royal Building Products, a Westlake Chemical company (NYSE: WLK), manufactures and distributes leading materials for the home remodeling, building and construction markets. For nearly 50 years, the company’s commitment to quality, innovation and customer relationships has attracted the loyalty of a growing number of building professionals, homeowners, architects, engineers and distributors to its products. With operations throughout Canada and the United States, Royal Building Products offers the renovation, remodeling and new construction industries a broad range of innovative products including siding, trim, accessories, soffit, rainware, mouldings and decking.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lanzhou Petrochemical has brought on-stream its No. 4 cracker following a maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the company has completd turnaround at the cracker on June 12, 2019. The cracker was shut for maintenance on April 27, 2019.

Located in Lanzhou, Gansu province of China, the No. 4 cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 460,000 mt/year and a propylene production capacity of 230,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, in April 2019, LyondellBasell (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) announced that PetroChina will use the LyondellBasell Hostalen "Advanced Cascade Process" (Hostalen ACP) technology to produce 1,100,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) capacity.

PetroChina Company Limited, is a Chinese oil and gas company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It is China's biggest oil producer.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sahara International Petrochemical Co (Sipchem) signed a hydrogen supply agreement with Saudi Aramco Shell Refinery Company (SASREF), said Refiningandpetrochemicalsme.

The agreement is to supply SASREF with the hydrogen gas that is required in SASREF’s future production operations starting in 2020 for an initial term of twenty years.

Al-Saadoon, expressed his delight at the new agreement, indicated that this agreement is a result of the ongoing collaboration between the companies after signing the supply agreement for CO2 in 2017. Both companies will continue to jointly explore growth and site integration opportunities.

This agreement aligns with the Saudi 2030 Vision and the continuation efforts to utilise all available resources through effective partnerships to maximise the added value of the company's products and enhance its revenues.

According to Sipchem’s CEO, Abdullah Al-Saadoon, both companies will continue to “jointly explore growth” and potential site integration in the future.

As MRC informed earlier, Sahara Petrochemicals has announced that its current CEO, Salah Mohammed Bahmdan, will head up the new group that will be formed from its merger with Saudi International Petrochemical (Sipchem).
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