Page 40 - Plastics News December 2016

Company News
Evonik plans to expand
production facilities in
Birmingham
Evonik plans to expand production facilities in
Birmingham (Alabama, USA) and Darmstadt (Germany).
This will create additional capacity for the production of
biodegradable United Kingdom, site with waste
polymers
marketed
globally
under the
brand names
RESOMER® and
RESOMER®
SELECT. These being applied to the Smartwater bottles. The liner
poly-lactic-
glycolic-acid (PLGA) copolymers are primarily used
to manufacture bioresorbable medical devices and
controlled-release formulations for parenteral drug
delivery. According to reports the expansion will
involve construction of a new building adjacent to
Evonik’s existing facility in Birmingham. Besides greater
production capacity, the project will also result in new
production clean rooms and a laboratory for polymer
contract research projects. Commissioning is slated for
late 2018. Paul Spencer, Head of Biomaterials at Evonik’s
Health Care Business Line, said,
"We expect the global demand for biodegradable
polymers to continue to grow in the coming years. With
this in mind, we are currently investing to increase the
capacity of our production facilities in order to serve our
global customer base." The expanded plant in Birmingham
is the second investment to serve the growing market
demand after the inauguration of the new manufacturing
site in Darmstadt two years ago. The Darmstadt unit
capacity will also be increased with the opening of a
new production line. Moreover, Evonik will open an
applied technology laboratory in Darmstadt at the end of
the year to support its customers in the medical device
field. Its first facility of this kind was completed in 2015
in Shanghai (China). At these laboratories, customers
receive prompt support for product development and
training in the use of Evonik products.
• December 2016 • Plastics News 40
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Coca-Cola bottler launches
label recycling program
Anew initiative from Coca-Cola European Partners
(CCEP) will recycle some 70 metric tons of
waste each year from the production of Glacéau
Smartwater bottle labels. The new waste-saving
initiative at Coca-Cola's Morpeth,
management company Viridor,
labelling and packaging solutions
company Avery Dennison, and
plastic processor PET UK. During
the production process, self-
adhesive labels are carried on
a transparent PET liner before
then previously went into the waste stream. Now,
rather than becoming waste, these liners can now be
retained and used to make new products including
PET staple fiber, strapping or thermoformable sheets,
which can then be used to make trays. The initiative
is expected to reduce the carbon footprint of CCEP’s
Morpeth factory by approximately 80-100 tonnes of
CO2 per year, which equates to approximately 15
homes’ electricity use over a year. CCEP’s Morpeth
factory is the sole site in the U.K. to produce Glacéau
Smartwater, which first launched in 2014. Last month,
the factory announced a £14 million ($17.7 million)
investment to support the Smartwater brand, with a
new high-speed fully automated bottling line, more
than doubling production capability to 56,000 bottles
per hour compared to the previous line’s capability
of 18,200 bottles per hour. This year, the site expects
to produce around 90 million bottles. Jane Buckley,
operations director of CCEP, Morpeth, said: “With
the recent site investment in Morpeth considerably
increasing production capabilities, it is more important
than ever for CCEP to reflect on its waste management
as a business.
“This initiative will be an effective step in recycling more
of our waste, and working towards our commitment
to reducing the carbon footprint of the drink in the
consumer’s hand.