Italian compounder Sirmax Group continues its expansion in the U.S., with plans to build a third plant in Indiana by 2025.
Sirmax opened its first U.S. plant in Anderson, Ind., in 2015 and added a second plant there in 2020. The second plant became fully operational this year, officials said in a news release. Those two plants cover a total of almost 270,000 square feet. The full opening of the second plant was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sirmax invested $35 million in the second plant, which is designated for production of recycled polypropylene from post-industrial waste. The first plant makes compounds based on PP and polyethylene from virgin resins.
"In line with our multi-country and multi-product strategy, we are planning additional investments in the same property by 2025 in order to expand existing buildings and build a third plant," North America country manager Lorenzo Ferro said in a news release.
He added that the new plant will cover almost 40,000 square feet and will allow Sirmax to make thermoplastic elastomers and compounds based on engineering resins in the U.S.
In addition to the new facility, Sirmax's first plant will be extended to include TPE production and a new warehouse, nearly tripling its size to more than 120,000 square feet. At the second plant, recycled compound production will be increased and upgraded. The production area there also will be more than doubled to almost 90,000 square feet by 2025. Sirmax officials previously said that the second plant would employ 40.
Sirmax North America also recently was awarded the RACER Edge Award 2022 at an event in Oklahoma City. The annual award is given to companies that have successfully invested in, redeveloped and reused areas belonging to the former General Motors Corp.
Sirmax is the first non-U.S. investor to receive the award. The award was created by the RACER (Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response) Trust, an independent company created in 2011 to reposition and redeveloping former GM facilities and land.
"Our investment in the Anderson area allowed us to establish our initial presence in North America — a decision which proved positive for the company from the very beginning," Ferro said in a news release about the award.
Anderson Mayor Thomas Broderick Jr. said that Sirmax's investment in Anderson "has transformed our community, creating great jobs and returning an idle property to productive reuse."
Cittadella-based Sirmax ranks as one of the world's largest PP compounders, selling into automotive, household appliances, power tools, construction, furniture and other markets. The firm operates 13 global production sites — six in Italy; two each in Poland, India and the U.S.; and one in Brazil.
Clients working with Sirmax include Whirlpool, Bosch-Siemens, Electrolux, Philips, Honeywell, ABB, Volkswagen Group, Daimler, BMW and Audi. The firm employs 800 and posted sales of 480 million euros ($565 million) in 2021.