Sirmax points to recycling for revenue boost

Italy-based Sirmax Group says “green products” are driving its business, commenting that its 2021 consolidated sales finished “well-beyond expectations.”

The company, which produces polypropylene (PP) compounds, engineering plastics, postconsumer compounds and bio-compounds for a several applications, ended 2021 with 480 million euros ($526 million) in revenue, up 52 percent from 315 million euros ($345 million) in 2020. Sirmax says its sales volume grew by almost 20 percent.

“Driving these highly positive figures is the strong push toward 100 percent recyclable recycled compounds, biopolymers and thermoplastic elastomers,” Sirmax states. Those portions of its product line enjoyed a 40 percent increase in sales volumes, the firm says, meaning “their growth rate is two times the company’s average growth.”

The performance of the United States stands out, Sirmax says, with that region recording a 30 percent increase in sales in 2021. The firm says many of its recent investments have been concentrated in the U.S., with SER North America—the group’s second U.S. plant, built in Anderson, Indiana—having become operational a few weeks ago.

SER North America is the company’s 13th plant and is entirely dedicated to the production of recycled PP from postindustrial scrap.

“2021 was a year that exceeded all expectations,” says Sirmax President and CEO Massimo Pavin. “Our investments, as well as favoring regionalized and loyal supply chains, have gained us market share. We have been close to our clients through supplies, ad hoc products and technologically advanced services, always looking at the medium-long term and building everything with prudence and rationality.”

The green and circular economy sectors remain strategic in 2022, according to Sirmax. The company says its research is focusing on new products, specifically flame retardant technopolymers for the electrical sector and antibacterial ones for the automotive sector, and on bio-polymers for the packaging and agricultural sectors (mulching cloths).

Also continuing this year is the collaboration between Sirmax and UMass Lowell and MIT, two Massachusetts universities, on a research project funded by the ReMade Institute – part of the U.S. Department of Energy) – titled “Chemical Conversion and Process Control for Increased used of Polyethylene and Polypropylene Secondary Feedstocks.”

With an annual investment of $100,000, Sirmax Group is the only non-U.S. company partnering on the project, it says.

SER North America says its recycled PP is destined both for industrial applications and to be processed by Sirmax North America as a secondary raw material for the production of refined compounds.

Sirmax lists brand owners using its polymers and compounds as including Whirlpool, Bosch-Siemens, Electrolux, Karcher, Philips, Honeywell, ABB, Technogym, Stellantis, Volkswagen Group, Daimler, De’ Longhi, Haier, BMW and Audi.