Page 22 - Plastics News May 2018

CompAny news

Polystyvert, Total partner to Plastic Omnium Auto Exteriors'

recycle post-consumer polystyrene new plant at Chakan

ontreal-based startup rench auto component supplier, Plastic Omnium’s
Mcompany is partnering FAuto Exteriors division is expanding its Pune-based
with Total SA's Polymers manufacturing operations by moving into a greenfield
Business unit , a styrene and PS plant near Chakan. According to the company, the new
producer ,to develop a solution- facility will be almost three-and--half times bigger
based technology to recycle (about 36,000 square metres) than its existing plant
polystyrene. Polystyvert and in Chakan. The new facility is understood to become
operational from October 2018. The investments
Total said that they will combine earmarked and other details remain undisclosed at
Polystyvert's technology with the moment. The company says that at its peak,
Total's expertise in industrial-scale dissolution and the upcoming plant will employ up to 400 people.
polymerization to recycle household PS. Polystyvert's Meanwhile, the company has also formally inaugurated
system involves dissolving PS present in scrap, then its all-new technical centre in Pune and its fourth plant
transporting the solution to a facility that would drive in Gujarat, which makes fuel tanks, last week, all
off the solvent to recover clean PS resin. The approach thanks to the recent India visit of its global chairman
is especially attractive for expanded PS foam since the and CEO, Laurent Burelle. The new technical centre,
solution would be much more economical to transport. which currently employs about 50-60 engineers, has
Polystyvert claims the resultant PS recyclate would be been operating since January last year.
cleaner than PS resin recovered by mechanical means, According to the company, the Pune-based technical
now the main route for recycling PS. "In 2017, Total centre is purely a captive unit, dedicated to support
performed three successful test runs with post-consumer Plastic Omnium’s global programs. It plans to expand
recyclates incorporated in virgin polymer via dissolution the headcount to 150 engineers by 2022. With the
and polymerization," said Jean Viallefont, Total's vice advent of the incoming BS VI emission norms and critical
president of polymers in Europe. safety mandates, automakers are focusing on ways to
reduce weight of the vehicles. Plastic Omnium’s Auto
Working with Polystyvert to tackle household post- Exteriors division designs and develops lightweight
consumer waste is the next logical step for Total." The and safe plastic fenders, bumpers and the tailgates.
use of solvents to recover PS has been posited for at least According to the company, it is one of the leading
20 years. A liquid chemical called d-limonene derived
from citrus fruit peels has received the most attention,
it was the subject of a U.S. patent filed in 1992 by
Claudia Iovino., who became president of a startup called
International Foam Solutions Inc. in Delray Beach, Florida.
However, Polystyvert's system uses cymene as the solvent.
Cymene occurs naturally in cumin and thyme spices and
can be made by industrial processes. For instance, It can
be a byproduct of sulfite wood pulping and it can be made
from oil-based petrochemicals. Moreoover a Polystyvert manufacturers and suppliers of the plastic (passenger
demonstration plant will be operating in Montreal in car) tailgates globally. Conventionally the tailgates
June with capacity to recover 275 pounds of PS per hour. are made using sheet metal and this is where it claims
Cymene was chosen as the solvent because it is not very to save about 15-20 percent of the weight alone in
hazardous and is stable enough to withstand numerous this area. The company says it is currently witnessing
distillations in the PS recovery step. These attributes offer a strong demand for lightweight components by the
economic and technical advantages. carmakers in the domestic market.

Plastics News May 2018 22