MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR, Russia’s largest integrated petrochemicals company and a leader in sustainable development, is introducing the Vivilen brand that will see recycled materials incorporated into its production process, said the company on its site.
The brand manufactures polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) utilising partners’ capacities. In the future, the product line will be expanded with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and other products.
New polymer grades were developed by SIBUR’s R&D Polylab facility and tested by processing companies. SIBUR has already started to supply new solutions on an industrial scale and is going to ramp up its output going forward into 2H 2021.
Promoting circular economy and developing polymer recycling are essential focus areas of SIBUR’s Sustainable Development Strategy.
Secondary polymers have a great recycling potential and can be reused up to ten times or more. When used to manufacture end products, they help reduce the environmental footprint: by 2050, recycling of the world’s polymer waste will cut down GHG emissions by 1.6 bt.
Vivilen (vivo is Latin for “to live”) is an innovative brand that meets the circular economy principles and breathes new life into polymers. The Vivilen products combine high-quality primary feedstock and recycled products. The new brand will bring together solutions for blow moulding, injection moulding and production of heat shrink film. It can be used to manufacture plastic containers for household chemicals and housekeeping needs, cosmetics and other goods packaging, FMCG products (for example, clothes hangers). At this stage, the average share of recycled polymers in the Vivilen solutions will account for some 25% of the end product depending on its type.
Sergey Komyshan, SIBUR’s Management Board member and Executive Director commented on the event: “Vivilen is unique for the Russian market as it follows the environmental trend and satisfies the growing demand for the use of recycled materials coming from processing companies and end consumers. Through Vivilen, our partners embracing innovation will not just get granules with new properties, but a full-fledged platform to respond to the public demand for green solutions and achieve their own sustainable development goals. The platform encompasses joint R&D, materials for end consumers that describe the advantages of these solutions, and feedstock quality guaranteed by SIBUR.”
As MRC informed earlier, in April 2021, SIBUR approved its Policy on Circular Economy and Climate Impact Mitigation at the meeting of its Board of Directors. The Policy sets out the main principles, strategic goals and objectives of SIBUR in these areas and outlines the key activities at each stage of product life cycle to achieve the above objectives. The petrochemical industry is well positioned to develop circular economy due to the unique properties of polymers, including recyclability and reusability. This enables reducing the use of primary feedstock and cutting greenhouse gas emissions, while the development and improvement of polymer waste recycling helps build on these effects.
We remind that SIBUR increased sales of PP and PE last year amid growing utilization of the ZapSibNeftekhim complex. This led to an increase in the company's revenue in the olefins and polyolefins segment by 77.1% to Rb187.3 bn. This growth was mainly due to an increase in sales of polypropylene and polyethylene as a result of increased utilization of the ZapSibNeftekhim complex and was partially offset by a decrease in prices for these types of products.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.
SIBUR is the largest vertically integrated gas processing and petrochemical company in Russia, uniting a number of production sites in various regions of the Russian Federation. The company sells products to consumers in the fuel and energy complex, automotive, construction, consumer goods, chemical and other industries in more than 80 countries around the world.
MRC