Dutch polystyrene packaging and insulation producer Synbra Group BV is selling its British polypropylene recycling business, Synbra Polymers Ltd., to Aufderhaar Kunststof Groep BV of Vroomshoop, the Netherlands.
Following the takeover, set for July 31, AKG will shut down the Synbra business in Congleton, England, cutting 30 jobs. Compounding subsidiary AKG Polymers will switch the PP production to its Vroomshoop unit, giving it total annual PP capacity of 68 million pounds.
Synbra is keeping another part of the business: A small PS compounding operation in Congleton will move to Synbra Technology BV's plant in Etten-Leur, the Netherlands.
AKG Polymers recycles PP and PS and uses the resulting feedstock to make compounds to extrude and injection mold for end markets including media packaging, building and construction, horticulture and automotive.
Synbra, which specializes in PS recycling and molding, is selling the British compounding operation for an undisclosed sum as part of a plan to dispose of non-PS businesses.
In April, Synbra sold its Dutch horticultural container business Plantpak to another Netherlands horticultural packaging producer, Desch BV of Beuningen. Plantpak formerly was owned by Cookson Group plc of London.
Synbra has subsidiaries producing expanded PS food and industrial packaging and building insulation in France, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
AKG molding subsidiaries include Aufderhaar Plastic Industry in Vroomshoop, and Kunststoffwerk Trusetal in Trusetal, Germany. API, with 34 injection molding machines, is one of the largest European manufacturers of plant and shrub containers. Trusetal molds automotive parts.