Borealis presents pilot projects enhancing the use of polyolefins recyclates

01.11.2010

Borealis’ first pilot projects to enhance the use of recycled polyolefins highlights a shopping cart and basket made from recycled PP with Borealis’ enhanced PP for recycling.

At K2010, Borealis, a leading provider of chemical and innovative plastics solutions, presents the company's first pilot projects to enhance the use of recycled polyolefins. The project highlights a shopping cart and shopping basket made from a combination of recycled polypropylene (PP) with Borealis' enhanced polypropylene (PP) grades for recycling, achieving the same superior material characteristics while significantly reducing the carbon footprint of the applications.

The development of the company's first pro-recyclates grades PP4R 500 and PP4R 100 is another milestone in Borealis' strategy to investigate different options to support the recycling of its advanced polyolefins solutions.

The shopping carts are made of a combination of 67% high impact PP4R 500 PP and 33% recycled PP material. The shopping baskets are made of 75% recycled PP and 25% PP4R 100. Both grades are enhanced grades developed by Borealis to meet the requirements for use in a combination with recycled material.

The environmental benefits of both pilot applications are significant. The use of recycled PP delivers a 15% improvement in the carbon footprint of the shopping cart and a 30% decrease for the shopping basket. Both pilots were manufactured with the support of Italian moulder Sistemi 2000, who see a demand for this kind of solution by supermarket chains in Italy. In both cases the recycled PP material was produced from mixed PP post-consumer waste.

"Developing outlets for recycled polyolefins is essential for the future of both polyolefin and the recycling industries," says Gerd Löbbert, Borealis Executive Vice President for Polyolefins. "With this pilot project, we are investigating the development of sustainable and innovative solutions that enable the combination of recycled PP with our advanced polypropylene material."

"We see many synergies between advanced polyolefin solutions and quality recyclables," Thierry Chevrier, Borealis Vice President for the Moulding Business Unit, continues. "Our solutions and technical expertise are complementary to the use of recyclates to meet performance and aesthetic requirements for many applications."

"I am very pleased about this agreement," says Sergio Lupi, President of Revolution Gruppo Sistemi 2000. "The fact that Borealis, a leading polyolefins producer world-wide, is engaging in the re-use of plastics that have come to the end of their lifetime means that recycling is changing into a wide practice, expanding to every sector. Since the beginning, our philosophy has always been to embrace recycling, waste reduction and care for the environment; we are really satisfied, that these values are globally shared."

For further information please contact:

Lena Lehner
External Communications Manager
Vienna, Austria
+43 1 22 400 602
lena.lehner@borealisgroup.com

Borealis Business Unit Moulding

Borealis moulding business specialises in supplying advanced polyolefin plastics for injection and blow moulding processing technologies. Through leading technologies such as Borstar and BNT (Borealis Nucleation Technology) and a product portfolio for a wide range of applications such as bottles, thin wall packaging, caps and closures, transport packaging, houseware and healthcare, we have established over 50 years a leading position on the moulding market across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. We believe that customer-driven innovation is the only way to achieve and sustain progress.

About Borealis and Borouge

Borealis is a leading provider of chemical and innovative plastics solutions that create value for society. With sales of EUR 4.7 billion in 2009, customers in over 120 countries, and 5,200 employees worldwide, Borealis is owned 64% by the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) of Abu Dhabi and 36% by OMV, the leading energy group in the European growth belt. Borealis is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and has production locations, innovation centres and customer service centres across Europe and the Americas.

Through Borouge, a joint venture between Borealis and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), one of the world's major oil and gas companies, the company's footprint reaches out to the Middle East, Asia Pacific, the Indian sub-continent and Africa.. Established in 1998, Borouge employs approximately 1,600 people, has customers in more than 50 countries and its headquarters are in Abu Dhabi in the UAE and Singapore.

Building on Borealis' unique Borstar® technology and their experience in polyolefins of more than 50 years, Borealis and Borouge provide innovative, value creating plastics solutions for the infrastructure (pipe systems and power and communication cables), automotive and advanced packaging markets. In addition, Borealis offers a wide range of base chemicals from melamine and plant nutrients to phenol and acetone.

Today, Borealis and Borouge have a manufacturing capacity of over 5.4 million tonnes of polyolefins (polyethylene and polypropylene) per year of which 26% are the result of a recently completed capacity expansion in Abu Dhabi. An additional 2.5 million tonnes per year is scheduled for completion by the end of 2013, creating the world's largest integrated polyolefins plant. The companies continue to invest to ensure that their customers throughout the value chain, around the world, can always rely on superior products and security of supply.

Borouge and Borealis are committed to the principles of Responsible Care® and proactively contribute to addressing the world's water and sanitation challenges through their Water for the World™ initiative.

For more information visit:
Borealis: www.borealisgroup.com
Borouge: www.borouge.com
Water for the World: www.waterfortheworld.net

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