Page 36 from: November 2005

The appearance of Dr Mike Biddle at lastmonth’s BIR Plastics Round-Table in
Milan was indeed timely. His company MBA
Polymers, Inc of the USA – a leading light in
the recycling of plastics from consumer
durables such as cars and electronic goods – had
opened a joint venture processing plant in
China only a matter of days before the BIR
Convention and is expecting to start up another
processing unit in Austria by early next year.

MBA Polymers has invested over US$ 30
million in developing its technology. And Dr
Biddle was able to assure delegates in Milan:
‘We plan on expanding in Asia and Europe.
I have investors lined up to build more plants.’

The joint venture with Guangzhou Iron &
Steel Enterprises (GISE) involves a US$ 14
million processing facility in China’s Nansha
Development Zone which is capable of pro-
cessing 40 000 tonnes per annum. An identical
capacity is claimed for the processing plant
venture with leading metals recycler Muller-
Guttenbrunn GmbH, which is due to come on
stream shortly at Kematen in Austria.

World’s largest consumer
According to Dr Biddle, the decision to

locate a processing facility in China had been
based on a number of factors. The South East
Asian giant is the world’s largest consumer
of plastics, as well as the biggest importer; in
addition, a large proportion of MBA Polymers’
customers are actually based in China. From
the perspective of the Chinese, the MBA
Polymers recycling route offered the welcome
possibility of eliminating much of the water
and energy consumption associated with pro-
ducing new plastics, he explained.

Development of the plant at Nansha had
not been without its problems, acknowledged
Dr Biddle. For example, shortly after MBA
Polymers had committed ‘millions of dollars’
to the project, the Chinese authorities had
announced a stop on imports of plastics scrap
from Japan – a country which had been ear-
marked as one of its primary sources of feed-
stock given that more than 30 electronics
recyclers in Japan are generating an estimat-
ed 100 000 tonnes of plastics scrap each year.
Fortunately, the ban had since been lifted.

The initial focus of feedstock for the
Austrian plant would be electronics scrap
from which metals had already been recov-
ered, the speaker added.

The process to be adopted at both facilities
comprises a number of stages, including size
reduction and liberation, separation of non-
plastic items, separation of mixed plastics,
final cleaning and sorting, and pelletisation
and/or compounding. The techniques
employed by the company ensure the separa-
tion not only of different plastics but also of

different grades, for example, the extrusion
and injection grades of polystyrene. In this
way, noted Dr Biddle, it was possible to max-
imise material values.

Delegates in Milan also heard that some of
the companies supplying scrap to MBA
Polymers are taking back the final product
and using it to manufacture 100% recycled
content components. ‘So we close the loop,’
insisted Dr Biddle. Stricter landfill restric-
tions in many countries had improved the
flows of material to MBA, the speaker added.

Not much incentive

On a connected theme, Surendra Borad of
Belgium-based Gemini Corporation reiterat-
ed that, contrary to rumour, India was not
importing electronic scrap because it lacked
the infrastructure to recycle such material.
‘When the fate of even regular polyethylene
scrap (recycling) is hanging in the balance,
there is not much incentive to get into this
business,’ he told delegates in Milan.

According to the speaker, upwards of 2 mil-
lion tonnes of plastics were recycled each year
in India – a country which consumed some 4.2
million tonnes of plastics per annum.
However, an uncertain future was awaiting
some 20 of the 30 Indian operations licensed
to import plastics scrap; their licences were
due to come up for renewal at the end of
October and extensions had yet to be
approved by the industry ministry. He added:
‘About 6000 tonnes of plastics scrap is being
imported every month. If these licences are
not renewed, then the quantity will be
reduced to about 3000 tonnes per month.’

BIR Plastics Committee Chairman Peter
Daalder of Daly Plastics in The Netherlands
reported that, on June 1 this year, Germany
had implemented a ban on the landfilling of
burnable and recyclable materials. The sup-
ply of some grades – such as mixed rigid plas-
tics and dirty LDPE 60/40 – had improved
since the introduction of the ban, he said.

B I R M I L A NPlastics

Recycling International • November 2005 36

With plants taking shape in both China and Austria, high-profile plastics

firm MBA Polymers is already setting its sights on expansion. An update

on the company’s progress was provided at the BIR Plastics Round-Table

in Milan, which also heard details of a question mark hanging over many

of India’s plastic scrap importers.

Bold expansion plans
for MBA Polymers

The BIR Plastics Round-Table with from left: Dr Mike Biddle of
MBA Polymers, Committee Chairman Peter Daalder of Daly
Plastics; Jacques Musa of Soulier-Onyx and Surendra Borad of
Gemini Corporation.

By Ian Martin

India currently more
than two million
tonnes of plastics
per annum.

RI_031 BIR Plastics & Tyres 04-11-2005 09:45 Pagina 36