—PVC Targeted As Hazardous Waste “” The Center for Biological Diversity is urging EPA to classify polyvinyl chloride as hazardous waste and to develop regulations for its safe disposal. A petition the activist group filed with EPA contends that discarded PVC plastic is “one of the most hazardous consumer products ever created.” PVC should be regulated under the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act, the federal law governing the disposal of solid and hazardous waste, the group says. “It’s time for EPA to do its job and prevent plastic trash from poisoning our environment,” says Emily Jeffers, an attorney at the San Francisco-based center.
by Glenn Hess | September 01, 2014
PVC is usually made by combining chlorine with ethylene obtained from fossil fuel. Ineos will substitute some tall oil for fossil-derived naphtha to produce ethylene in one of its crackers in Cologne, Germany. The firm has an agreement to source the tall oil from the Finnish paper firm UPM. The two crackers have a combined annual output of 1.3 million metric tons (t) of ethylene, which Ineos converts into more than 4 million t of PVC, polyethylene, and other products.
by Alex Scott | February 12, 2020
—Westlake to buy another PVC construction products firm “” Moving further downstream into polyvinyl chloride (PVC) goods, Westlake Chemical will buy the North American building product business of Australia’s Boral for $2.15 billion. The Boral unit has about $1 billion per year in sales of roofing, siding, trim, shutters, windows, and decorative stone. Westlake already makes about $1.4 billion worth of PVC building products annually. That business secures much of its raw material from Westlake’s PVC resin business, the second-largest PVC producer in the world, behind Japan’s Shin-Etsu Chemical. /business/mergers-&-acquisitions/Westlake-buy-another-PVC-construction/99/i24 20210626 Concentrates 99 24 /magazine/99/09924.html Westlake to buy another PVC construction products firm Mergers & Acquisitions, polyvinyl chloride con bus Alexander H. Tullo business mergers-&-acquisitions Westlake will buy building product firm Chemical & Engineering News Westlake to buy another PVC construction products firm Westlake to buy another PVC construction products firm
by Alexander H. Tullo | June 26, 2021
—Westlake Expands In Europe With PVC Buy “” Westlake Chemical has agreed to purchase the German polyvinyl chloride maker Vinnolit for about $665 million from the private equity firm Advent International. Vinnolit produces specialty vinyls and also makes the precursors chlorine and vinyl chloride. With sales last year of $1.2 billion, it operates plants in Germany and the U.K. Westlake CEO Albert Chao says the acquisition will diversify Westlake globally and add specialty PVC to its portfolio. /articles/92/i22/Westlake-Expands-Europe-PVC-Buy.html 20140602 Concentrates 92 22 /magazine/92/09222.html Westlake Expands In Europe With PVC Buy PVC, Europe, mergers and acquisitions, shale con bus Alexander H. Tullo business Westlake Expands In Europe With PVC Buy Chemical & Engineering News Westlake Expands In Europe With PVC Buy Westlake Expands In Europe With PVC Buy
by Alexander H. Tullo | June 02, 2014
—Westlake Expanding PVC Production “” Westlake Chemical will spend $90 million on polyvinyl chloride-related investments at its Calvert City, Ky., plant. The company is expanding chlorine and caustic soda production by more than 20% in a project that is set for completion in the second half of 2009. It will also boost PVC capacity by more than a third, bringing capacity at the plant to 1.1 billion lb by the first half of 2009. Westlake says the expansion will use vinyl chloride feedstock that is made at the site and currently sold on the merchant market. The company is also building a new large-diameter PVC pipe plant at the site. /articles/85/i45/Westlake-Expanding-PVC-Production.html 20071105 Concentrates 85 45 /magazine/85/8545.html Westlake Expanding PVC Production con bus business Westlake Expanding PVC Production Chemical & Engineering News Westlake Expanding PVC Production Westlake Expanding PVC Production
November 05, 2007
—Solvay’s Brazilian PVC Deal Is Blocked “” Brazil’s antitrust agency has rejected the sale of Solvay’s 71% stake in Solvay Indupa, a polyvinyl chloride maker, to the Brazilian chemical maker Braskem. The agency noted that the deal would harm local PVC users by combining Brazil’s only producers of the plastic. The agency rejected the argument that the relevant PVC market is international. Braskem calls the decision prejudicial to Brazilian manufacturers. Solvay says it will examine alternative sale options for the business. /articles/92/i46/Solvays-Brazilian-PVC-Deal-Blocked.html 20141117 Concentrates 92 46 /magazine/92/09246.html Solvay’s Brazilian PVC Deal Is Blocked Brazil, polyvinyl chloride, antitrust con bus Michael McCoy business Solvay’s Brazilian PVC Deal Is Blocked Chemical & Engineering News Solvay’s Brazilian PVC Deal Is Blocked Solvay’s Brazilian PVC Deal Is Blocked
by Michael McCoy | November 17, 2014
In 1975, it marketed the first non-PVC container for blood platelets. In Europe, through its Swiss-based company Bieffe, Baxter now markets non-PVC bags, multilayered products containing a combination of polyolefins. Several European countries ban the use of PVC in medical products, "and this pressure from Europe [to move away from PVC] is migrating to the U.S.," says Brian Gersh, polymers expert with Arthur D.
by Lois Ember | April 12, 1999
Europe has been a tough region for PVC makers in recent years. According to Solvay figures, European demand for the plastic, used in construction materials such as pipe, has declined 30% since 2007. Another European PVC producer, Kem One, recently declared bankruptcy. PVC demand is being hit on all fronts by the weak European economy, according to Janet Wright, chlor-alkali and vinyls business manager at the consulting firm Tecnon OrbiChem.
by Alexander H. Tullo | May 13, 2013
—EPA Targets Emissions From PVC Facilities “” EPA is proposing new standards that would reduce the amount of toxic air pollution that can be released into the environment during the production of polyvinyl chloride and its copolymers. The standards would give facilities the flexibility to choose the most practical and cost-effective control technology or technique to reduce their emissions, the agency says in a statement. Facilities would also need to monitor emissions at certain points in the PVC production process to ensure that the standards are met. Currently, the U.S. has 17 PVC production facilities, with the majority located in Louisiana and Texas. All existing and any new PVC production facilities would be covered by the new rule. EPA estimates that the proposed standard would reduce emissions of hazardous air pollution from PVC production facilities nationwide by 1,570 tons annually, including 135 tons of vinyl chloride and 33 tons of hydrogen chloride. EPA says the chemical industry will have to spend about $16 million initially to comply with the new standards, and then $20 million per year in operation costs.
by Glenn Hess | April 25, 2011
—Ineos Will Acquire Tessenderlo’s PVC Unit “” Ineos ChlorVinyls is buying Tessenderlo’s chlor-alkali and polyvinyl chloride business for $155 million. Ineos will gain about 850 employees with the purchase, which includes plants in Tessenderlo, Belgium; Mazingarbe, France; and Beek and Maastricht, the Netherlands.
by Alexander H. Tullo | June 20, 2011