Aquafil Group to sell the Engineering Plastics business unit to Domo Chemicals

Aquafil and Domo Chemicals have reached an agreement whereby the two companies will enter into an exclusivity period, aimed at the sale of Aquafil's Engineering Plastics business unit to Domo Chemicals. To date  the business unit has a global presence in Europe (Italy, Arco), US (Cartersville) and Asia (China, Jiaxing) with a turnover of approximately of 105 mil/euro and employs about  120 people worldwide.

By means of this transaction, Aquafil aims to focus on the fiber Industry, thus strengthening its global leading position as a "sustainable" manufacturer, thanks to the ECONYL ® Regeneration System.

Giulio Bonazzi, Chairman and CEO of Aquafil, stated that the Group intends to use the resources generated by the possible sale of the business unit to invest in the strong development of the BCF (yarns for textile floorings) business in the North American and Asia Pacific , high-growth markets.

Alex Segers , CEO of Domo Chemicals states that the considered transaction, by integrating a well experienced team and a state of the art Engineering Plastics business, will strengthen the robustness of our integrated company and support our strategy to significantly enlarge the global footprint of our Engineering Plastics business to better serve our customers worldwide.

Aquafil

Since 1969, Aquafil has been one of the leading players, both in Italy and globally, in the production of polyamide 6. The Aquafil Group has a presence in seven countries on three continents, employing 2140 people  at 13 plants located in Italy, Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, the USA, Thailand and China. The Group achieved in 2012 a turnover of 500 mil/euro.

Always committed to taking real measures to protect the environment, in 2011 Aquafil started the ECONYL ® Regeneration System project. It is an innovative industrial regeneration process that produces nylon 6 polymer from:

• post-consumer waste, i.e. end-of-life products made from polyamide 6, including fishing nets, fluff (from the top of carpets and rugs) and textiles;
• pre-consumer waste such as oligomers, scraps, etc., generated from the production of nylon 6.

www.aquafil.com

www.econyl.com

Domo Chemicals

A leading  highly integrated Caprolactam/nylon6 company serving a global and broad customer base with high quality products in the field of nylon intermediates (Phenol, Cyclohexanone, Caprolactam), nylon 6 polymers, polypropylene polymers, engineering plastics and nylon 6 BCF yarn. Domo Chemicals achieved in 2012 a turnover of about 800 mil/euro and employs 840 people.

www.domochemicals.com

NGO’s and Businesses Launch Major Initiative for Cleaning Seas

Arco, Tilburg, Leiden, Oisterwijk - Aquafil, ECNC Land & Sea Group and Star Sock have together established the ‘Healthy Seas, a Journey from Waste to Wear’ initiative. 

The main objective of this Healthy Seas initiative is to remove waste, in particular fishing nets and other marine litter from the seas and oceans for the purpose of creating healthier seas and recycling marine litter. 

Recovered fishing nets are still all too often dumped into landfills or burned, but as part of the Healthy Seas initiative they will be transformed and regenerated into ECONYL® yarn, a high-quality raw material used to create beautiful new products, such as socks, swimwear, underwear, carpets, etc. 

The dumping of fishing nets is an open wound in our ecosystem. According to a joint report by FAO and UNEP, there are approximately 640,000 tons of abandoned fishing nets in the oceans, accounting for one-tenth of all marine litter. These nets remain in the marine ecosystem for hundreds of years and are responsible for accidental capture of dolphins and other animals, such as turtles and marine birds, which often die once trapped. 

The Healthy Seas initiative will be launched in three main phases and the detailed description of the relevant action plan will be made public before the end of April 2013. 

In the first phase, the Healthy Seas approach will be implemented in three pilot regions in Europe: the North Sea (Netherlands and Belgium), the Adriatic Sea (Italy, Slovenia and Croatia) and the Mediterranean Sea (Spain). The completion of this pilot phase will allow the three partners to identify the most efficient practice to adopt in the future expansion of the Initiative into other much wider areas. 

The second phase will identify effective procedures which will discourage the abandonment of fishing nets at sea and will make available, encourage, and facilitate responsible handling of fishing nets at the end of their life, allowing their recovery and regeneration into new products. The expansion of the Initiative to other areas will be part of this second phase. 

During the third phase constructive proposals will be developed concerning implementable actions. These will be submitted to governments and legislators to ensure that the Healthy Seas Initiative will deliver long-term results and that public awareness will be maximised. 

A ‘Healthy Seas Fund’ will be established, with a focus on awareness-raising about the importance of healthy seas, the removal of abandoned fishing nets from oceans and seas, and the financing of local coastal and marine projects that support the objectives of the Healthy Seas Initiative. 

In addition to the three original founders, the initiative will be open to other business and NGO partners. Local communities, experts and operators will be involved in order to create best practices that will improve the recovery and regeneration of fishing nets. At the same time, events and training courses will be held to promote and raise the awareness of people, including the younger generation, about the preservation of our seas’ environment and health. 

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The Environmental Report

Cartersville, GA - ECONYL® and Aquafil are featured on a five minute video program to be broadcasted nationally on Fox Business Network on Sunday, December 23 @ 4:00 PM ET. The Environmental Report with Terry Bradshaw is a television show that celebrates successful sustainable solutions, made by individuals, organizations, businesses and municipalities all around the world, informing viewers on a variety of topics related to preserving precious resources like water, air, fuel and energy. The goal of the show’s producers is to broaden the perspectives of viewers from every walk of life, encouraging them to take steps towards achieving a brighter future and a healthier and cleaner environment for all of us.

Aquafil continues towards its goal of a 100% post-consumer product currently offering 25% post-consumer with a target of 50% by NeoCon 2013.  The ECONYL® plant started to operate in February 2011 at the Aquafil production site in Slovenia and manufactures 100% non-virgin caprolactam from post-consumer and post-industrial materials. The product is certified by UL Environment as made with 100% regenerated nylon and, in celebration of this accomplishment, Aquafil has launched a new logo and slogan. Featured here at the bottom, it represents the closed loop principle of Econyl which allows old carpet fibers to be regenerated into new ones and become carpet again infinite times.

The video can be viewed on www.aquafilusa.com under the news/media heading.

Click to view The Environmental Report video >>>

Aquafil Releases 2011 Sustainability Report

Cartersville, GA - Visions, milestones, obstacles and achievements have all been features of our journey towards sustainability started five years ago. The United Nations declared 2011 “The International Year of Chemistry” laying down a host of challenges. Sustainable chemistry, impact reduction and product and process innovation are just some of the challenges and the Aquafil Group is today among the leaders in implementing these objectives in the world of synthetic fibers and plastic polymers and we continue to achieve outstanding results year after year. Since 2007 we have made substantial reductions in our consumption of fossil fuels ( -6%) and water ( -15%). We have cut our emissions of C02 and climate altering gasses ( -29%). We have dealt with the issue of waste by increasing the percentage of separated waste and making reductions in the use of packaging ( -42% unsorted waste). We are, and always will be, a real example of how to construct truly sustainable changes.

One of the major events of 2011 has been the inauguration of the ECONYL® Regeneration System based at the Ljubljana production facility fulfilling our dream of regenerating polyamide waste when it reaches the end of its life cycle. We can regenerate consumer items and materials at the end of their life cycles, extracting the nylon 6 from material otherwise destined for incineration or landfill. Producing a regenerated raw material which has the same chemical and technical characteristics as new material is a real step in the direction of sustainable chemistry.

Projects contributing to our sustainability efforts at Aquafil USA include:

Energy – Installation of a photovoltaic system on the roof of the building with a system that produces 525,000 kWh of power annually and prevents the emission of 64 tons of CO2.

Emissions – Completion of a project to reduce VOC emissions per product unit by 20% through the activation of a new extrusion tower and the implementation of structural improvements.

Waste – Consolidation of the project to recycle and re-use all the post-industrial polymer waste previously sent to external agencies. Now the waste is sent to the new engineering plastics line which is using this type of waste and the waste from the coloring process.

Certainly our journey towards sustainability does not end here and new challenges await to stimulate and motivate us.

Click to Download the 2011 Sustainability Report >>>

Click to View the 2011 Sustainability Report E-Paper >>>

Aquafil launches new ECONYL® logo and slogan

Cartersville, GA - Aquafil celebrates 18 months of ECONYL® plant operation by launching a new logo and a new slogan. The ECONYL® plant started to operate in February 2011 at the Aquafil production site in Lubjiana, Slovenia. It manufactures 100% non-virgin caprolactam from post-consumer and post-industrial materials. The caprolactam is then converted into nylon 6 resin either at the same plant or at Aquafil main plant in Arco di Trento (Italy). Some raw materials, such as partially separated used carpets are sourced in the US, others, like abandoned fish nets are mainly sourced in Northern Europe.

A good portion of the resin manufactured with ECONYL® caprolactam is shipped to North America where Aquafil USA converts it into 900 denier solution dyed yarn, the Alto Chroma.

At this date, more than 15 million pounds of ECONYL® based Alto Chroma have been manufactured and sold by Aquafil USA to North American carpet mills.

The product is certified as made with 100% regenerated nylon by UL environment.

The new logo, featured here at the bottom, represents the closed loop principle of ECONYL® which allows old carpet fibers to be regenerated into new ones and become carpet again infinite times.

Radiance Solar Completes Solar Engergy Installation at Aquafil USA Headquarters

Cartersville, GA - Radiance Solar Completes one of the State’s Largest Solar Energy Installations at Aquafil USA Headquarters

Radiance Solar this week completed one of Georgia’s largest solar photovoltaic installations at Aquafil USA headquarters WITH A 400 kw SYSTEM. The project is one of several large commercial jobs completed by Radiance Solar in recent months, a positive indicator that the financial return of the technology is looking more compelling.

The Aquafil system will produce 525,000 kWh of power annually to the energy intensive manufacturing facility. System components include solar panels from Georgia-based Suniva with 1572 Optimus 250 W modules. The Power Gate Plus 500 inverter is made by Satcon, a Boston-based operation. The system is interconnected to Cartersville Electric System.

Aquafil, a chemical and textile firm and leader in carpet fiber technology, has a strong commitment to sustainability in the development of eco-friendly products and the reduction of the impact of its production activities, and the prospect of generating their own power also made sense financially.

“Investing in solar technology is not only in line with our corporate promise of sustainable practices, but it also makes economic sense by lowering our energy costs” said Franco Rossi, President, Aquafil USA.

Aquafil USA is an extension of the Aquafil Group, an Italy based textile and chemical firm with more than 650 million in annual sales. The Aquafil Group was founded in 1956 and today employs some 2,000 people in three continents. Aquafil USA’s mother company, Aquafil SpA of Arco di Trento (Italy) has been the European market leader for several years now in the carpet fibers market place. Aquafil’s sctivities, in addition to BCF (bulked continuous filament) for carpets, includes textile yarns and technical polymers.

ECONYL® Receives UL E Environment Claims Validation

ECONYL® by Aquafil USA receives UL E Environmental Claims Validation

Cartersville, GA - UL Environment works to advance global sustainability, environmental health and safety by supporting the growth and development of environmentally preferable products, services and organizations. Built on UL’s century long legacy of trust, UL Environment empowers both manufacturers and purchasers to transform their environmental stewardship into true market leadership. UL Environment enables manufacturers to create better products in a more environmentally responsible way and enables manufacturers to make smarter, more environmentally preferable purchasing decisions.

Aquafil USA has received certification by  UL Environment for Alto Chroma ECONYL® solution dyed fibers made from 100% recycled polyamide 6 polymer. Alto Chroma is a bulked continuous filament solution dyed type 6 nylon yarn created with a polymer of unique structure to assure high chemical stability and strong stain and wear resistance. It is infinite, as the waste polyamide 6 can be regenerated an infinite number of times to produce new polymers with the same technical characteristics and quality as those obtained from fossil materials. Alto Chroma with ECONYL® polymer offers a palette of 96 fashion colors reflecting today’s style and design trends.

Over the last century the meaning of “product safety” has evolved and expanded. Today, product safety is more than just protection from hazards associated with a product’s use; it is also protection from a products lifecycle impacts on the environment, human health and social well-being. Backed by UL’s century-long legacy of trust, product safety testing and unparalleled technical expertise, U L Environment  provides the marketplace with credible, third-party solutions to today’s green business challenges. From standards development, product validation and environmental certification to lifecycle-based product impact reporting, corporate consulting and sustainability certification.

Solar Installation at Aquafil USA

Cartersville, GA. - Aquafil USA has signed a contract with Radiance Solar, an Atlanta based  solar energy company,  to install the largest rooftop solar photovoltaic installation in Georgia using solar panels supplied by Suniva.

Based in metro-Atlanta, GA, Suniva® manufactures high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells and high-power solar modules using patented low-cost techniques to achieve their goal of making solar generated electricity cost competitive with fossil fuels.

In early 2012 a large portion of the Aquafil USA plant in Cartersville, Ga will be covered in solar panels with a capacity exceeding 400 Kw. It is estimated the system will generate 525,000 Kwh of electric energy on an yearly basis. According to the EPA calculator source, that corresponds to a CO2 reduction of 364 tons/year and  is equivalent  to the regenerating of 115 tons of waste. Over 300,000 gallons of water will be saved annually as a result of this installation.

The Aquafil USA plant in Cartersville is a power intensive facility. The 525,000 Kwh represents only a small percentage of the plants total consumption but reaffirms the Aquafil commitment  to clean renewable energy and  constant focus on sustainability.

Carpet Gets Greener with ECONYL® Project - JetsonGreen.com

Aquafil USA was recently featured in an article by Jetson Green. Here's a snippet below and click following link to read the original article:

"When Aquafil began manufacturing carpet fiber almost 50 years ago, sustainability wasn’t an option but a must.  Doing business in the Lake Garda region of Italy, where environmental protection has always been top priority, meant constantly innovating to keep up with strict mandates on noise, water, and air pollution. “Preserving the environment is in our DNA,” says Giulio Bonazzi, President and CEO of what is now the second largest worldwide supplier of Nylon 6 yarn for carpet producers like Interface and Desso."

Click Here to Read the Original Article >>>