SI Group has unveiled its new platform of additive solutions at this year’s CHINAPLAS. The latest inventions are being shown for the first time in Asia, a region that the company expects to see more investments as some megatrends in the market persist. Joey Gullion, Senior Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer at SI Group, said he expects that Asia, especially China market, will perform well this year.

“We expect that growth in Asia and particularly China will rebound this year as the local economies open up after the pandemic lockdowns, driven by consumer spending and industrial investments,” he stressed.

Some megatrends will aid the recovery of the plastics industry after three years of uncertainties caused by the pandemic, supply shortages and supply chain disruption. The trends include transport electrification and the drive towards sustainability, which Gullion believes will continue to accelerate throughout the year.

Joey Gullion, Senior Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer at SI Group.

“We expect in most regions, the continued acceleration of the switch to electric vehicles to continue, driving a rebound in global vehicle production and the demand for plastics. As plastics contribute significantly towards lightweighting and increased connectivity in transportation, their usage will continue to increase in the years ahead,” he said.

“The whole value chain will continue to collaborate together to develop new solutions that are more sustainable and upgrade the performance of recycled polymers to enable higher value applications to close the loop. Polymer and additive suppliers will also continue to increase the bio-based content of their products using renewable materials to reduce the carbon footprint of their products.”

The newly launched brand, EVERCYCLE, is a platform covering the group’s additive solutions to increase sustainability and circularity of plastics. It targets recycling and converting using 100% PIR or PCR resins, or in combination with virgin polymers.

For food grade PET recycling, EVERCYCLE PET-102D & PET-103D helps avoid product yellowing and improve product brightness, resulting in high recyclate quality during repeated bottle to bottle recycling, which will enable to industry to keep rPET in the food packaging loop for longer.

EVERCYCLE LD-104P, LD-101S & PP-101S are tailored to recycling of PO, improving the performance and mechanical properties of the recycled resin in a cost-efficient way. EVERCYCLE LD-104P, in particular, allows higher levels on recycled content in stretch films by improving the properties of the rLLDPE material stream and reducing gel levels.

Moreover, WESTON 705 liquid antioxidant and WESTON 705 masterbatch were developed to enhance performance of PE resins and PE-based packaging films. They enable higher efficiency of converting lines, better mechanical and optical properties of PE films, and thinner films for resource saving. Gullion said that WESTON 705 liquid antioxidant is especially suitable for flexible food packaging and flexible industrial packaging applications.

Describing other major markets, he said that in North America, demand has been relatively stable but market participants are cautious as high inflation has increased interest rates on building and construction activities, and companies have reduced inventory. In Europe, plastics demand growth will be muted due to the regional geopolitical factors and high energy costs, which will encourage more imports from lower costs regions.

“We are carefully optimistic for the second half of the year,” he said. “If the current high inflationary macroeconomic environment continues to persist, this could impact the consumer sentiment adversely,” said Gullion.

SI Group recently published its first ESG report, highlighting how it has been embedding sustainability into its product innovation and business development activities. That includes improving resource efficiency through process improvements, reducing emissions and carbon footprint by optimizing lifecycle of its raw materials and products, and utilizing bio-based feedstock.

Moreover, the group has just opened a new technology center in Houston, Texas, USA, for the development of new chemistry. It is also an application testing hub to collaborate with the customers and provide them with the support they need.

“We will continue to invest in our capabilities and resources to ensure that we meet the growing demand of our customers and provide them with enhanced supply security with a focus in the growing Asian markets,” said Gullion.

Booth: 15C39