AKRON, OHIO — Plans to build a polyethylene resin plant in West Virginia are featured in this week's Material Insights video.
The proposed 500 million-pound-capacity plant would be built south of Wheeling by startup firm Appalachian Resins Inc. The plant could make either HDPE or LLDPE and also would include a cracker making ethylene feedstock. CEO James Cutler said the project is being made possible by newfound supplies of natural gas in the region. Details of the project are expected to be released by the end of February.
Challenges facing bioplastics maker Cereplast also are featured in this week's video. The firm has added almost $1 million in sales since Dec. 1 but is still working to recover from a loss of more than $16 million in the first nine months of 2012. The firm also missed two interest payments on its debt last year. But CEO Frederic Scheer is optimistic about 2013 because of expected new demand from Italy and new products such as algae-based bioplastics.
The video wraps up with news that Flow Polymers LLC plans to add plastic additive capacity in the form of a new production line at its Cleveland plant by the end of the year. CEO Mike Ivany said that sales of Flow's SureFlo-brand additive grew 40 percent during 2012. SureFlo can increase flow and line speed and allow for different resins to be reprocessed together.
