SABIC Inaugurates Polypropylene Pilot Plant in Netherlands

SABIC continued its global expansion with the inauguration of a new polypropylene (PP) pilot plant in Geleen, the Netherlands, and also announced new investment in a PP extrusion facility to be built at the same location. The highly automated PP extrusion line is expected to be in operation in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Yousef Al-Benyan, SABIC vice chairman and CEO, and the Dutch minister of economic affairs, Henk Kamp, were present at the opening ceremony for the pilot plant.

“It’s about innovative thinking, extending and improving our portfolio, and – as we are showing here today – investing in technology and innovation,” said Al-Benyan.

“The new pilot plant is a welcome addition and I’m sure this investment will make a useful, long-term contribution to our economy and the growth of the chemical industry,” said Kamp.

The new PP pilot plant will design next-generation PP materials. It is already on-stream using gas-phase polymerization technology. The plant will enable accelerated development and commercialization of highly innovative material solutions that meet the growing needs of various industries, including automotive, health- and personal care, appliances and advanced packaging.

“These facilities will support our company’s strategy to develop new sustainable material solutions that help our customers achieve their goals,” said Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, executive vice president of petrochemicals at SABIC.

The new facility will serve to develop grades with improved balance in stiffness and impact resistance, flow properties and other properties specific to target applications. SABIC plans to concentrate on development of impact grades of polypropylene, as well as random copolymers and homopolymers. It will also carry out experiments on advanced catalysts.

As part of the inauguration event, SABIC held a dinner with high-level executives from customers, where it presented its latest sustainability initiatives. Guest speaker Boyan Slat, the founder and CEO of The Ocean Clean up Foundation (which develops technologies to extract plastics pollution from the oceans and prevent more plastic debris from entering them), gave a passionate presentation on the importance of innovation and collaboration for making the world’s oceans healthier.

Both facilities, dedicated to innovation in SABIC® PP products, support SABIC’s 2025 strategy to be the preferred world leader in chemicals by delivering ‘Chemistry that Matters™’.