ALPLA starts production at the new plant in Lanseria near Johannesburg

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ALPLA Group opened a state-of-the-art production site in Lanseria near Johannesburg, said the company.

In the new headquarters for Sub-Saharan Africa, the internationally active plastic packaging specialist is merging five previous locations in South Africa under one roof. All ALPLA technologies, processes and materials are combined in the Lanseria plant and the first apprenticeship programme of ALPLA in Africa will start at the beginning of 2023.

35,000 square metres of covered production, administration and storage space, another 12,500 for future expansion, and 30,000 square metres of roof area equipped with solar panels: with the new plant in Lanseria, ALPLA is setting the course for further growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. After around two years of construction and relocation, the international packaging company celebrated the opening of the ultra-modern location on 12 October in the presence of the South African Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Barbara Creecy, the Premier of the Gauteng province Panyaza Lesufi, Austrian Ambassador-Designate to South Africa Romana Konigsbrun and many other high-ranking guests.

‘All of Sub-Saharan Africa is on the upswing, the markets have enormous potential. Our investment in South Africa is a clear commitment to the continent. In this way, we are increasing our competitiveness and guaranteeing the long-term regional supply of safe, affordable and sustainable packaging solutions,’ explains ALPLA CEO Philipp Lehner. ‘Here in Lanseria we concentrate our expertise, optimise production processes, use state-of-the-art equipment and create energy-efficient operations,’ adds Mike Resnicek, Managing Director Sub-Saharan Africa at ALPLA. The plant has one of the largest solar installations on a privately owned manufacturing building in South Africa.

As per MRC, ALPLA Group (Hard, Austria) is boosting the presence of its pharma division in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) with the acquisition of the Polish company APON. APON produces plastic packaging for the pharma industry at its site in Zyrardow near Warsaw. The acquisition continues the growth and expansion course of the ALPLApharma business division established in 2019.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- TotalEnergies, a global multi-energy company and Indaver, a leader in sustainable waste management and advanced recycling in Europe, announced a commercial agreement for the supply of petrochemical feedstock generated from recycling of mixed polyolefins waste, said the company.

Under this agreement, TotalEnergies will purchase the petrochemical feedstock produced at Indaver’s first Plastics2Chemicals plant (P2C). Indaver will supply and transform post-consumer mixed plastic waste into a petrochemical feedstock at its plant in Antwerp using its proprietary depolymerization technology. Currently under construction, the plant is expected to become operational by 2024.

TotalEnergies will process this petrochemical feedstock into high-quality circular polymers at its plants in Antwerp. With properties and quality identical to virgin polymers, the recycled polymers will be suitable for a wide range of high demanding applications including food-grade packaging.

"“We are delighted to support the development of advanced plastic recycling through this new offtake agreement. A collaboration throughout the value chain is critical to develop a more circular and sustainable economy. This partnership contributes to our ambition of producing 30% circular polymers by 2030.”, said Valerie Goff, Senior Vice President Renewable Fuels & Chemicals.

“We are very pleased with this agreement. Our companies share the same vision of a true circular economy for recycled end-of-life plastics” declared Paul De Bruycker, CEO of the Indaver Group. “Indaver’s Plastics-to-Chemicals (P2C) depolymerisation technology allows to recycle end-of-life plastics such as polyolefins and polystyrene by converting them into a petrochemical feedstock that can be used for the production of high-demand packaging materials. With P2C, we significantly expand the possibilities for recycling of end-of-life plastics waste that could previously not be recycled or only be used for conversion into low-value applications” Mr De Bruycker added.

We remind, the Flemish government recently awarded TotalEnergies the contract to install 1,500 electric vehicle charging points in Antwerp. In the heart of Europe and in Belgium's most populous city, the company is reinforcing its commitment to offering and developing sustainable mobility, with the aim of becoming Belgium's leading company in the public charging market by 2024.

TotalEnergies is a global multi-energy company that produces and markets energies: oil and biofuels, natural gas and green gases, renewables and electricity. Our more than 100,000 employees are committed to energy that is ever more affordable, cleaner, more reliable and accessible to as many people as possible.

Indaver is a European player in the waste industry with plants and operations in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Indaver manages and treats industrial and household waste in specialist facilities for the industry, waste collectors and governments.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- German chemical distribution group Bodo Moller Chemie has expanded its business in the Iberian Peninsula with the acquisition of General Adhesivos, an adhesives specialist located not far from the industrial centers of Tarragona and Barcelona in Spain, said Chemanager-online.

The takeover also gives Bodo Moller Chemie a second laboratory, which offers mechanical plastic analysis and process simulations, adding to its existing adhesive competence center in Poland.

“This merger is an essential component for us to demonstrate our own expertise on the Iberian Peninsula. Moreover, we expand our overall know-how through the team and the laboratory of General Adhesivos, pursuing a pan-European approach and a general organic growth strategy in this way solely through the two laboratories in Poland and Spain,” said Frank Haug, Bodo Moller Chemie’s chairman.

The company based in Offenbach, near Frankfurt, added that the combined company “constitutes a significant heavyweight in the adhesive market,” noting that both firms have been working for manufacturers such as Huntsman, Henkel, 3M and Medmix for many years.

In December 2020, Bodo Moller Chemie opened an office in Madrid in order to expand its footprint and meet demand in Spain and Portugal, especially for polyurethane-based products used in the coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers industry.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Synpet Technologies wants to build a plastic waste recycling plant in Genk, it announced in a press release. The unit is expected to be operational in 2024 and employ around 70 people, said Chemicalrecycling.

Synpet has been working on its plastic waste recycling process since 2014. All waste containing carbon is targeted, including dirty non-recyclable plastics.

Concretely, the plastic is transformed into synthetic naphtha (normally a derivative of petroleum), which can be used to produce new plastic materials. Additionally, the process also produces natural gas, biochar, and liquid organic fertilizer.

In 2016, Synpet set up a small pilot plant in Istanbul. The company now wants to build a commercial factory in Belgium.

The plant will be located in Genk and will have the capacity to process some 180,000 tonnes of plastic per year. This is an investment of 90 million euros, the financing of which is almost complete. Depending on permit applications and construction work, the plant is expected to be operational by the end of 2024.

In addition, Synpet is already considering a second factory in Belgium. Finally, Synpet also plans to eventually transfer its research and development site from Turkey to Belgium. This would create additional jobs in Genk.

We remind, Indaver has started building a new facility for recycling end-of-life plastics into valuable basic chemicals for the industry. This Plastics2Chemicals facility will recycle approximately 65,000 tonnes of end-of-life plastics and will thus become the first and largest fully-industrial plant on an EU scale. The foundation stone was laid in September 2022. Start-up is scheduled for early 2024 with an initial capacity of 26,000 tonnes. This will be scaled up to run at full capacity from 2027 onwards. The new facility will provide direct employment for approximately 50 people.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The European Commission has approved the proposed USD11 billion acquisition of Dupont's mobility and materials business by U.S. chemicals company Celanese Corp (CE.N), on the condition that the latter divests a plastics-producing business, said Reuters.

Celanese announced the deal in February but had to offer remedies to address EU antitrust concerns. The combined entity would have been the largest producer of thermoplastic copolyester (TPC) in the European Economic Area and globally, with only a few alternative suppliers remaining. The product is primarily used by automakers.

The EU approval is conditional on Celanese divesting its global TPC business, including its production facility in Italy and certain brands. Celanese has proposed selling the business to Italian engineering plastics producer Taro Plast S.p.a.

“The commitments offered by Celanese, divesting a stand-alone business, fully remove our competition concerns as they ensure that a player will remain in the market,” the Commission’s competition policy head Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.

We remind, in February 18, 2022 DuPont announced it has entered into a definitive agreement with Celanese Corporation to divest a majority of the Mobility & Materials segment including the Engineering Polymers business line and select product lines within the Performance Resins and Advanced Solutions business lines for USD11.0 billion in cash, subject to customary transaction adjustments in accordance with the definitive agreement, which represents an enterprise value multiple of ~14x 2021 operating EBITDA.
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