Materials maker Nova Chemicals Corp. recently released its 2016 Sustainability Report, which officials said is part of the firm's ongoing commitment to being a socially responsible global citizen.
"At Nova Chemicals, our purpose is to shape a world where products vital to our health and happiness are even better tomorrow than they are today," president and CEO Todd Karran said in a news release.
"Both in our products and those we enable, we are committed to innovation that makes people's lives healthier, easier and safer," he added.
Calgary, Alberta-based Nova, a major North American polyethylene producer, marked the grand opening of its renovated Centre for Performance Applications in Calgary in 2016. The Centre works with customers to develop new applications including safer, lighter and more recyclable products.
Also in 2016, Nova developed an all-PE multilayer film structure design that can be used by the firm's customers in the stand-up pouch format. This design allows that food packaging format to be recyclable and compatible with high density PE recycling streams, officials said, while retaining the performance and cost of non-recyclable mixed material packages.
Nova sold a company-record PE volume of almost 4 billion pounds in 2016. Officials said this sales accomplishment was the result of "continued outstanding operating performance and production" at its plants.
The company also completed the start-up of its PE reactor in 2016 at its Joffre, Alberta site. This was the first new reactor of this kind in the Americas in over a decade and increases Nova's PE capacity by 25 percent.
"Sustainability and performance are essential for our long-term business success," Karan said. "The two are interdependent."
