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WEEE recycling test successfully completed
INDUSTRY
News
WEEE recycling test successfully completed A full-scale trial has been completed to examine the technical viability of treating mixed waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) materials with high plastics content in an integrated metal smelter. Integrated metal smelters enable the simultaneous recovery of a large range of elements from WEEE, including precious and base metals. The results show that integrated metal smelters are a suitable way
of recycling WEEE materials because precious metals can be recovered and recycled, and the plastic content can serve as an energy source and reducing agent. Two-thirds of the energy content of the plastics was used to replace consumption of coke and fuel oil, and around a third was recovered as increased steam production. Carried out in the context of the implementation of the EU WEEE Directives, the trial proved that WEEE materials containing plastics
with flame retardants can be recycled and recovered without having to separate them from the waste mix prior to their treatment. The trial also demonstrated that the treatment of mixed WEEE materials in an integrated metals smelter does not affect the operational or environmental performance of the smelter. The findings are included in a technical report entitled Using metal-rich WEEE plastics as feedstock/fuel
substitute for an integrated metals smelter, produced by PlasticsEurope in association with Umicore and the European Flame Retardants Association (EFRA), who all worked together to perform the tests. Contact: PlasticsEurope Website: www.plasticseurope.org Umicore Website: www.umicore.com EFRA Website: www.cefic-efra.com
Akzo Nobel sells Akcros additives business Akzo Nobel has announced the divestiture of its Akcros Chemicals PVC additives business to GIL Investments, a UK-based private investment firm. The company’s sites in Eccles, UK, and New Brunswick in the USA will be transferred to
the new owner. Production will also continue at Akzo Nobel sites in Greiz, Germany, and Itupeva, Brazil, under tolling arrangements. GIL will support Akcros in its growth strategy, providing the financing for strategic investments and developing the business in line
with the management team plan, according to Akcros. “Transferring the bulk of the PVC additives activities to a new owner is the best way forward for the business, which will continue to operate under its current name,” says Leif Darner, member of Akzo
Nobel’s Board of Management responsible for Chemicals. Contact: Akzo Nobel Website: www.akzonobel.com Akcros Chemicals Website: www.akcros.com GIL Investments Website: www.gilinvestments.com
M&G Group opens world’s largest PET plant The M&G Group has opened the world’s largest polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant near Ipojuca, Pernambuco (Suape Port) in north eastern Brazil. The facility has an annual operational capacity of approximately 450 kilotons (990 million lbs) and uses EasyUP™, M&G’s new proprietary solid stating (SSP) technology. Around 2000 people were involved with the
construction of the new plant, which has taken about two years. The company says that the plant is part of a major commitment by M&G to expand the use of PET-based resins for enhanced packaging applications in Brazil and other countries in South America. "This is an exciting time for M&G and we are delighted that once again the largest PET plant in the world carries the M&G logo,"
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commented Marco Ghisolfo, chief executive officer of M&G’s Polymers Business Unit. “We are also delighted with the technical innovations at the heart of our new PET plant. The employment in Suape of M&G’s new proprietary EasyUP SSP technology, when combined with our innovative ActiTUF™ barrier technology and our unique resin delivery system (BicoPET™), will bring enhanced barrier PET
resins to the markets in Brazil, neighbouring countries and outside the region,” added Ghisolfi. “We believe our industry has still a very large untapped growth potential and we are sure that with technology at the core of our strategy, M&G will be at the forefront in developing new market opportunities for PET.” Contact: M&G Group Website: www.mgpolymers.com
Plastics Additives & Compounding May/June 2007
News
WEEE recycling test successfully completed A full-scale trial has been completed to examine the technical viability of treating mixed waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) materials with high plastics content in an integrated metal smelter. Integrated metal smelters enable the simultaneous recovery of a large range of elements from WEEE, including precious and base metals. The results show that integrated metal smelters are a suitable way
of recycling WEEE materials because precious metals can be recovered and recycled, and the plastic content can serve as an energy source and reducing agent. Two-thirds of the energy content of the plastics was used to replace consumption of coke and fuel oil, and around a third was recovered as increased steam production. Carried out in the context of the implementation of the EU WEEE Directives, the trial proved that WEEE materials containing plastics
with flame retardants can be recycled and recovered without having to separate them from the waste mix prior to their treatment. The trial also demonstrated that the treatment of mixed WEEE materials in an integrated metals smelter does not affect the operational or environmental performance of the smelter. The findings are included in a technical report entitled Using metal-rich WEEE plastics as feedstock/fuel
substitute for an integrated metals smelter, produced by PlasticsEurope in association with Umicore and the European Flame Retardants Association (EFRA), who all worked together to perform the tests. Contact: PlasticsEurope Website: www.plasticseurope.org Umicore Website: www.umicore.com EFRA Website: www.cefic-efra.com
Akzo Nobel sells Akcros additives business Akzo Nobel has announced the divestiture of its Akcros Chemicals PVC additives business to GIL Investments, a UK-based private investment firm. The company’s sites in Eccles, UK, and New Brunswick in the USA will be transferred to
the new owner. Production will also continue at Akzo Nobel sites in Greiz, Germany, and Itupeva, Brazil, under tolling arrangements. GIL will support Akcros in its growth strategy, providing the financing for strategic investments and developing the business in line
with the management team plan, according to Akcros. “Transferring the bulk of the PVC additives activities to a new owner is the best way forward for the business, which will continue to operate under its current name,” says Leif Darner, member of Akzo
Nobel’s Board of Management responsible for Chemicals. Contact: Akzo Nobel Website: www.akzonobel.com Akcros Chemicals Website: www.akcros.com GIL Investments Website: www.gilinvestments.com
M&G Group opens world’s largest PET plant The M&G Group has opened the world’s largest polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant near Ipojuca, Pernambuco (Suape Port) in north eastern Brazil. The facility has an annual operational capacity of approximately 450 kilotons (990 million lbs) and uses EasyUP™, M&G’s new proprietary solid stating (SSP) technology. Around 2000 people were involved with the
construction of the new plant, which has taken about two years. The company says that the plant is part of a major commitment by M&G to expand the use of PET-based resins for enhanced packaging applications in Brazil and other countries in South America. "This is an exciting time for M&G and we are delighted that once again the largest PET plant in the world carries the M&G logo,"
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commented Marco Ghisolfo, chief executive officer of M&G’s Polymers Business Unit. “We are also delighted with the technical innovations at the heart of our new PET plant. The employment in Suape of M&G’s new proprietary EasyUP SSP technology, when combined with our innovative ActiTUF™ barrier technology and our unique resin delivery system (BicoPET™), will bring enhanced barrier PET
resins to the markets in Brazil, neighbouring countries and outside the region,” added Ghisolfi. “We believe our industry has still a very large untapped growth potential and we are sure that with technology at the core of our strategy, M&G will be at the forefront in developing new market opportunities for PET.” Contact: M&G Group Website: www.mgpolymers.com
Plastics Additives & Compounding May/June 2007