Solvay SA and Kobelco Eco-Solutions have signed a joint venture agreement with a view to set up an industrial unit of Solvay’s Vinyloop Polyvinyl Chloride recycling process in Japan, under the name Kobelco Vinyloop East Co.,Ltd.
Kobelco Eco-Solutions will own 66 percent of the joint company, while Nippon Solvay will hold the remaining stake.
The agreement proceeds from extensive feasibility, market and technical studies. Pending government approval, both companies are planning to launch Asia’s first Vinyloop industrial unit by the end of next year. Initially, production should be built up to 12,000 tons of recycled PVC per year.
Current plans call for the project to recycle PVC material from used cables and agricultural foils from greenhouses. The new facility will also operate as a pilot plant for the recycling of automotive parts. The joint venture intends to diversify into the recovery of other PVC waste, such as wallpaper.
“Our joint venture will benefit from the combined qualities of its parents - including the experience Solvay gained from the first Vinyloop industrial unit, which was launched in Ferrara, Italy, in February 2002,” said Patrick Crucifix, Solvay’s Vinyloop project leader. “Our objective would be to breathe new life into PVC waste and turn it into new, economical material with important applications in the building and farming sectors,” Crucifix added.
The Vinyloop technology developed by Solvay Research & Technology allows the complete separation of PVC material from other components, which are combined with PVC in many applications. The biodegradable solvents are used in a closed circuit and regenerate PVC of a quality equivalent to the original product.