Page 43 - Plastics News February 2023

BUSINESS NEWS

Sumika partners with Hexagon, enabling 60% Constantia Flexibles
plastic carbon reduction for new vehicles by Announces Joint
digitizing sustainable compounds for engineers Venture in India

Constantia Flexibles, a leading
producer of flexible packag-
ing worldwide, signed a joint
venture (JV) agreement for
its Indian business and opera-
tions with Premji Invest and SB
Packagings. The combination
will help Constantia Flexibles
achieve its ambition to grow
further and create value in the
Indian market.
am very pleased to partner with
I SB Packagings and Premji Invest,”
Digitised mechanical and environmental performance of recycled short says Pim Vervaat, CEO of Constan-
glass-fibre reinforced PP compounds supports the transition to more tia Flexibles. “I have the greatest
sustainable vehicles respect for SB Packagings’ achieve-
exagon’s Manufacturing Intel- components are recovered and recy- ments and look forward to the
Hligence division and Sumika cled compared to polyamides (PA), of joint venture, supported by Premji
Polymer Compounds Europe (SPC which up to 70% are utilised in waste- Invest, to grow the combined busi-
Europe), a leading manufacturer of to-energy initiatives or finish up in ness profitably.”
thermoplastic compounds, have part- landfill, but there remains substantial The JV is pursuing organic as well
nered to digitise the performance of room for improvement. These new as inorganic growth in higher add-
new sustainable automotive-grade Sumika recycled PP compounds are ed value market segments in India,
polypropylene (PP) compounds, ena- designed for the circular economy, continuing its strong growth trajec-
tory in the hygiene segment whilst
bling engineers to design components contributing to plastic waste reduc- further developing the more sus-
that are more recyclable and offer a tion at vehicle end-of-life. tainable mono-material EcoLam
lower carbon footprint for future ve- Plastics can contribute up to 20% of product range. With the new part-
hicles. ners, Constantia Flexibles is able to
the total weight of a car, and their ap-
Sumika Polymer Compounds’ short plication is escalating with the contin- strengthen its business in the re-
glass-fibre polypropylene (GF-PP) uing replacement of metals. The auto- gion and various market segments.
THERMOFIL HP and recycled poly- motive industry’s shift to eMobility has As SB Packagings is a leading player
propylene (GF-rPP) THERMOFIL increased the need for lightweighting in the hygiene segment, the new
CIRCLE materials benefit from sus- components to maximise the energy partnership will help extend Con-
stantia Flexibles’ portfolio.
tainable manufacturing and recycling efficiency of vehicles and mitigate the
processes and offer carmakers per- considerable weight of battery packs, The closing of the joint venture
formance equivalent to incumbent but their environmental performance agreement is expected to be com-
engineering plastics, but with an up throughout the lifecycle must also be pleted by the end of March, pend-
ing regulatory approvals.
to 60% lower carbon footprint. A considered by product development
growing proportion of today’s PP teams.

PLASTICS NEWS 45
February 2023