BRASKEM
Plans to acquire Dutch recycler ER Plastics / Manufacture of infrastructure products
 Products made from recycled mixed plastics for infrastructure applications (Photo: ER Plastics) |
With the setting-up of an unnamed joint venture, polyolefins group Braskem (São Paulo, Brazil; www.braskem.com) will become involved for the first time in the mechanical recycling of plastics – especially of previously non-recyclable LDPE fractions from the collection of household waste.
Its partner is holding company Terra Circular Industries (Sittard, the Netherlands), owned by Turkish chemical engineer Ali Hakan Güven, who wants to incorporate Dutch recycling company ER Plastics (Weert; www.erpbv.com) into the JV. Güven owns the rights to the Silicopolymer (SP) technology developed by him, which ER Plastics uses to produce, among other things, plastic road plates and mats. The two parties did not reveal the financial details.
The agreement that has now been reached provides for a situation in which Braskem subsidiary, Braskem Netherlands, will become the majority owner of the JV after complying with several conditions that have not been described in detail. Whether the Belgium-based marketing company Plastic Mat Pallet (Hasselt; www.plasticmp.com) will also be part of the deal is not clear.
Related: Braskem partners with Danish Plastix to market recycled plastics waste from fishing nets
ER Plastics operates shredder and extrusion plants with a capacity for processing 23,000 t/y of mixed plastics. After the addition of fillers and other additives, the material is compressed in the patented process into pallets and mats for building and infrastructure applications.
Güven, who has been specialising in plastics waste for many years, developed the SP technology in Turkey, among other things with two pilot lines from the company, Ekopolimer, which was founded in Ankara. There, up to 14,000 t of waste was processed annually. In a further development of the process, the option of using waste drink cartons as raw material for the products was also considered, but this evidently did not make it to production-line maturity.
Until now, Braskem – unlike competitors such as Borealis and LyondellBasell – has only been active in chemical recycling and then only via a minority stake in the US company, Nexus Circular (Atlanta, Georgia; www.nexuscircular.com – see Plasteurope.com of 14.02.2022).
Its partner is holding company Terra Circular Industries (Sittard, the Netherlands), owned by Turkish chemical engineer Ali Hakan Güven, who wants to incorporate Dutch recycling company ER Plastics (Weert; www.erpbv.com) into the JV. Güven owns the rights to the Silicopolymer (SP) technology developed by him, which ER Plastics uses to produce, among other things, plastic road plates and mats. The two parties did not reveal the financial details.
The agreement that has now been reached provides for a situation in which Braskem subsidiary, Braskem Netherlands, will become the majority owner of the JV after complying with several conditions that have not been described in detail. Whether the Belgium-based marketing company Plastic Mat Pallet (Hasselt; www.plasticmp.com) will also be part of the deal is not clear.
Related: Braskem partners with Danish Plastix to market recycled plastics waste from fishing nets
ER Plastics operates shredder and extrusion plants with a capacity for processing 23,000 t/y of mixed plastics. After the addition of fillers and other additives, the material is compressed in the patented process into pallets and mats for building and infrastructure applications.
Güven, who has been specialising in plastics waste for many years, developed the SP technology in Turkey, among other things with two pilot lines from the company, Ekopolimer, which was founded in Ankara. There, up to 14,000 t of waste was processed annually. In a further development of the process, the option of using waste drink cartons as raw material for the products was also considered, but this evidently did not make it to production-line maturity.
Until now, Braskem – unlike competitors such as Borealis and LyondellBasell – has only been active in chemical recycling and then only via a minority stake in the US company, Nexus Circular (Atlanta, Georgia; www.nexuscircular.com – see Plasteurope.com of 14.02.2022).
17.05.2022 Plasteurope.com [250288-0]
Published on 17.05.2022
German version of this article...