German plastics additives manufacturer Baerlocher (Unterschleißheim; www.baerlocher.de) has stopped producing Pb-based stabilisers in all of its facilities located in the EU 28 countries, switching instead to the calcium-based alternative. The company’s European plants are located in Germany, France, Italy and the UK. “The termination of the production of lead-based PVC stabilisers in our plants in Europe is a major milestone for our company,” said group CEO Arne Schulle.

The company said the move goes beyond the European PVC industry’s voluntary commitment contained in VinylPlus (www.vinylplus.eu), which requests that firms stop all production of lead-based stabilisers in the EU after 31 December 2015. Baerlocher added that it is also promoting the shift towards more sustainable PVC stabilisers beyond Europe, pointing out that the planned expansion of its facility in Changzhou / China will focus solely on Ca-based stabilisers (see Plasteurope.com of 02.05.2016).