Röhm to launch acrylics, PC film and sheet business in Q2 2024

POLYVANTIS will be a new industry leading global player in the acrylics and polycarbonate film and sheet industry, formed as a result of the merger of Rohm’s Acrylic Products business unit and SABIC’s Functional Forms business, said the company.

POLYVANTIS will offer products such as films, sheets, pipes & rods and will serve a multitude of segments, including building & construction, transportation & aviation, electrical & electronics, automotive and home & garden. POLYVANTIS’ global organization with sales of ca. $700m will have a workforce of about 1,500 employees and 16 production sites across the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

In December 2022, Rohm signed an agreement to acquire SABIC’s Functional Forms Division for polycarbonate film and sheet products globally. The carve-out of Acrylic Products business from Rohm and of Functional Forms business from SABIC, and closing of the deal with SABIC is expected around Q2‘24, subject to obtaining customary regulatory approvals.

“For the first time, customers will be able to obtain superior products, including PLEXIGLAS® / ACRYLITE®, LEXAN™ films and sheets from a single source. This merger will allow the two businesses to achieve more together than they could ever do alone, and we are committed to accelerate growth further. POLYVANTIS will combine the innovative strength and technological expertise of both business units and create holistic solutions for customers worldwide,” says Ronald Ayles, Managing Partner at the financial sponsor Advent International.

Long-term license agreements have been concluded with both Rohm and SABIC for the respective brands in their segment. The PLEXIGLAS® / ACRYLITE® molding compounds business will remain at Rohm as the polycarbonate LEXAN™ resin business will remain with SABIC.

We remind, OCI Global (Euronext: OCI), the world’s third largest nitrogen fertilizer and ammonia producer, is supplying Rohm, a leading manufacturer of methacrylates, with bio-ammonia for the production of methyl methacrylate (MMA), an important precursor for PLEXIGLAS® - the world’s most popular brand of acrylic glass.

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Lukoil and China National Chemical Engineering & Construction Corporation Seven (CC7) have signed a cooperation agreement on creation of a gas chemical facility in the city of Budennovsk in Russia’s Stavropol Region, the Russian oil major reported, said the company.

The document provides for the development of project documentation in cooperation with Russian companies. Moreover, an option to use an incentive mechanism is currently being examined in collaboration with the Stavropol region authorities.

The project will allow to capitalize on the natural gas produced at Lukoil Group fields in the North Caspian by manufacturing carbamide, a chemical fertilizer that is much in demand in the world market.
CC7 is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China National Chemical Engineering Corporation (CNCEC), one of the largest companies in China with great expertise in creating chemical facilities, which conducts operations in over 80 countries.

We remind, Romania's Petrotel Lukoil refinery, owned by Russia's Lukoil, will shut for one month from Wednesday for planned maintenance works, online news website Profit.ro reported. Lukoil's Romanian unit has a relatively small market share compared to bigger refineries in the country. The refinery uses alternative fuel supplies and is not affected by a ban on Russian imports.

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Repsol Butano entered into an agreement with ABB to upgrade its Distributed Control Systems at 12 of the energy company’s butane factories across Spain, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The 18 month-long migration project was executed in a systematic manner, with one plant being updated every month, ensuring that there was no operational downtime or loss of productivity.

The latest 800xA 6.1.1 platform aids in the optimization of services and database connections across Repsol’s twelve butane factories. Completely based on virtual machines, the new system also enables standardization of control libraries for all the updated facilities. Additionally, virtualization helps to improve server reliability and availability, while lowering operational costs for the customer.

“This upgrade will allow Repsol to modernize and streamline its day-to-day operations across all butane plants,” said Roberto Rivero, Project Manager at ABB Energy Industries Spain. “It will also increase quality, productivity and security, while improving energy and cost efficiency. Repsol has also signed up for ABB Care service program to maintain and further optimize their systems operation over the years to come”.

Despite a very tight schedule, ABB completed the migration project on time. The complete commissioning of each factory took four days, which involved close collaboration between Repsol and ABB project engineer team in Spain.

The upgraded system has been in operation for more than six months. During this period the system has improved the visualization and control management of process enabling continuous improvement of operational efficiency.

We remind, Repsol and Signode have developed a ready-to-use strap for high tenacity applications made of a polypropylene (PP) compound with 30% recycled content. The Spanish petrochemical and the U.S.-based transit-packaging provider claim the solution is a market first.

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Smurfit Kappa, global leader in sustainable packaging, fully supports the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation’s (PPWR) as part of Europe’s Green Deal objectives, said Polymerupdate.

The European Parliament’s vote on the PPWR legislation yesterday is a significant step towards a circular economy, following the EU Commission’s proposal last year. Back in 2020, the EU Council already welcomed the intention for all packaging to be reusable or recyclable by 2030.

The European cardboard industry has already had, for decades, the best recycling system of all packaging materials. Total cardboard production in the EU is 32 million tonnes per year out of which 90% is recycled . A box can be recycled up to 25 times making it the most recycled packaging material in Europe.

The European cardboard industry is a frontrunner in delivering Europe’s green transition with a product that is 100% recyclable, renewable and biodegradable.

Saverio Mayer, CEO of Smurfit Kappa Europe, said: “The EU Parliament has made a historical decision on a landmark legislation leading Europe towards a truly circular economy. It took a pragmatic approach on the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation eyeing a significant reduction of nonrecycled packaging waste.

“The Parliament has recognised that reuse and recycling of packaging are complementary and the robust recycling systems that have existed for decades are cornerstones of EU policies for environmental sustainability.

We remind, the total volume of packaging waste in the EU increased from 66 million metric tons (MMt) in 2009 to 84 MMt in 2021, according to the parliament. Each EU citizen generated 188.7 kilograms of packaging waste in 2021, a figure that is expected to increase to 209 kilograms in 2030 without additional measures.

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Recycling works: plastic packaging specialist ALPLA operates state-of-the-art plants worldwide under the brand ALPLArecycling for the production of rPET (recycled PET) and rHDPE (recycled HDPE), said the company.

Calculation of the product carbon footprint by the independent consultancy c7-consult now provides new data for a total of four plants in Mexico and Germany. Carbon reductions of up to 87 per cent compared to virgin materials confirm the climate protection effect of recycled plastics and the ecological importance of regional bottle-to-bottle loops.

ALPLA processes used plastic packaging into recyclate. The recycled material produced in Mexico and Germany causes up to 87 percent less CO2 emissions than virgin material.

ALPLA is focusing on the circular economy: the global packaging specialist invests more than 50 million euros annually in recycling and uses state-of-the-art technologies to produce recycled material. With an installed and projected output capacity of 350,000 tonnes per year, the company is one of the world’s leading plastics recyclers. Analyses performed by the life cycle assessment specialist c7-consult now confirm efficient production at a total of four additional sites in Mexico and Germany. There, ALPLArecycling produces rPET and rHDPE, which produces up to 87 per cent fewer carbon emissions than virgin materials.

‘The figures confirm our path. We produce climate-friendly recycling solutions with a regional focus and convert the material into new packaging, thereby promoting the bottle-to-bottle loop. In this way, we ensure there are safe, affordable and sustainable packaging solutions all over the world,’ emphasises Georg Lasser, Director of Business Development, Procurement and Sales, Recycling, at ALPLA.

We remind, Alpla, together with its partners Ecohelp SRL (Romania) and United Polymer Trading AG (Switzerland), have started production at their joint recycling plant in Targu Mures, Romania. The plant, located adjacent to the existing Ecohelp site in Targu Mures, has an annual capacity of around 18,000 tonnes of post-consumer-recycled PET (rPET) per year and aims to supply the southeast European market with food-grade rPET. The project has led to the creation of around 20 new jobs. The joint venture partners will host the official opening ceremony on 4 May 2023.

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