Westlake Chemical (Houston) has completed the acquisition of Nakan, a compounder of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), thermoplastic elastomers (TPE), and thermoplastic polyolefins (TPO) based in Reims, France, from OpenGate Capital (Los Angeles). Westlake announced the $265 million deal in September 2018.
Nakan brings Westlake eight production facilities located in China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain and Vietnam, a research facility in France, and an application laboratory in the United States.
OpenGate Capital purchased Nakan in 2015, through the acquisition of Ivy Group. Ivy Group, formerly known as Kem One Innovative Vinyls, was acquired through a French administration process that originated with a complex acquisition in 2014 of Kem One SAS, a fully integrated producer of PVC resins. Entrepreneur Alain de Krassny is now the sole shareholder in Kem One.
By Clay Boswell
Source: Chemical Week
The US State of New York is introducing two new bills to combat over-packaging, poor recycling rates and litter issues, including an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program requiring companies such as McDonald’s and Amazon to pay for the cost of packaging disposal and recycling.
The new organization’s mission is to redesign the critical steps of the plastics sorting and recycling system for post-consumer lightweight packaging (LWP) to speed up circularity, born from a need to meet the rising market demand for high-quality recyclates for use in high-end plastic applications.
Starbucks and Hubbub have launched a £1 million (US$1.22 million) “Bring It Back Fund” to increase the uptake of reusable packaging in the F&B industry. The funding will go toward innovative ideas that make it easier for customers to use alternatives to single-use packaging by supporting pilot projects that help shift consumption habits.
