Tokyo-based chemicals provider Kao Chemicals Europe, part of the Kao Group has extended their partnership with global chemical distributor Univar and will now distribute their products to two more European markets.
Kao Chemicals
Credit: Kao Chemicals
At present Kao works in ten countries across three continents including its native Japan, as well as China, Germany, Mexico and The Philippines. The extended partnership will see the chemical manufacturer’s reach extended to Spain and Portugal.
Kao Chemicals provides chemicals for the cosmetics and personal care sector as well as distributing ingredients used in textiles, construction, agrochemicals and cleaning industries. The company’s broad surfactants portfolio includes a range of alkyl ether carboxylates, which are utilised as emulsifiers, mild co-surfactants and solubilising agents in detergents and personal care products, and are all available under the AKYPO brand name. Other notable product lines include amine oxides, ester quats and glycerine polyoxyethylene esters which are used in foaming compositions.
"Kao is proud to extend our collaboration with Univar, a leading speciality distributor in Europe, Middle East, and Africa," said Jordi Rius, business unit manager, Kao Chemicals Europe.
"Their logistics capabilities in Iberia coupled with the robust salesforce is the optimal choice for furthering our growth strategy and delivering the best product and service to our customers."
Nigel Hayes, VP for Univar in Europe, Middle East and Africa said “Kao has been a key strategic partner to Univar for 20 years, so we are excited to further expand our collaboration together.
“We are confident that our customers will benefit from the consistent focus we will bring, backed by strong local, technical and commercial execution.”
Borealis & Reclay join forces to accelerate plastics circularity
24 January 2022
08:00
Austrian chemicals firm Borealis and German recovery and recycling specialist Reclay have joined forces to meet the increased demand for recyclate materials for high-end plastic applications.
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Borealis' recycling plant in Wildon, Austria. Credit: Borealis
The partnership aims to optimise the recycling value chain starting with Germany, one of the largest European recycling markets, and further accelerate the transition to plastics circularity by enabling customers and other value chain partners to meet their own sustainability targets.
Read more: Eastman's ambitious $1bn plastic recycling plans in France
The new agreement provides the Austrian-headquartered company Borealis with access to a secure and steady supply of feedstock in the form of lightweight packaging (LWP) waste collected by Reclay’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme in Germany.
The plastic packaging waste will then be processed at Borealis’ own state-of-the-art recycling plants, thus extending the range of applications for which recycled plastics can be used. This in turn enables value chain partners, customers, and brand owners to meet recycling quotas and increase the volume of plastic recyclate used in products and applications.
Lucrèce Foufopoulos, Borealis Executive Vice President Polyolefins, Innovation & Technology and Circular Economy Solutions said: “Working together with the Reclay Group is a strategic step towards value chain integration in securing plastic waste feedstock and improving recyclability. This will enable our customers and partners to achieve their circularity goals and reduce their overall carbon footprint, and at the same time underpins our Borealis journey towards more sustainable living.”
Read more: TotalEnergies & Plastic Energy move Spain closer to a circular economy
“We are proud to be working in partnership with an innovative and globally recognised company in the chemical industry moving into the future,” said Raffael A. Fruscio, Owner and Managing Director of the Reclay Group.
“Borealis has state-of-the-art processes in the field of advanced recycling; we’ll jointly be setting a new standard in plastic recycling.”
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