SABIC expands operation in Netherlands with new European Pipe Innovation Center

NETHERLANDS – Saudi Arabia’s Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) has announced the opening of its new its European Pipe Innovation Center in the Netherlands.

The new Center is located near SABIC’s manufacturing site at Geleen, The Netherlands, and compliments the company’s existing Pipe Innovation Centers in Saudi Arabia and China.

With customized pipe material development, testing, sampling and validation capacities, it will enable SABIC to collaborate with European pipe manufacturers closer and more effectively than ever before.

Lina Prada, Director Polymer Application Development & Industry Solutions at SABIC said: “Global urbanization and population growth are driving the demand for plastic pipes and innovative new pipe solutions in a wide range of infrastructural, domestic, industrial, agri- and aquacultural market segments.

“We at SABIC have been bringing advanced solutions to the pipe industry for many years. Keeping the edge on innovation requires continuous development of our competences and capabilities.

“Our new Pipe Innovation Center in Geleen and its dedicated team are a good demonstration of our commitment to keeping developing sustainable solutions.”

The innovation hub is capable of undertaking extensive pipe testing processes while adhering to the necessary international standards.

Different material testing capacities available at this center are full notch creep, strain hardening, rheological, tensile and impact testing.

Meanwhile, pipe testing capacities include internal pressure, notched pipe and small-scale, steady-state rapid-crack propagation testing.

Furthermore, the center will focus on expediting its adoption of certified circular polymers to promote sustainable pipe developments.

Plastic waste processing agreement

In a separate development, SABIC and various other chemical industry partners have signed a new agreement with Dutch organization Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO).

Other companies include BASF, Covestro, Dow, LyondellBasell, Mitsubishi Chemical and Solvay.

The agreement has been signed so that TNO can host the new hub to use for research and development (R&D) projects.

As a private sector-driven initiative, the R&D Hub projects are aimed at making significant strides towards more sustainable plastic waste processing and help address industry-specific topics related to the development of mechanical and chemical recycling routes.

“With the launch of its first project, the LCET has demonstrated its role as an ‘incubator’ for collaborative action to accelerate greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction in the chemical production value chain,” said Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, CEO of SABIC and LCET Co-Chair.

“Improving recycling rates can significantly contribute to our progress toward a circular carbon economy, and by bringing together the knowledge and expertise of our companies, we can find new ways to drive net-zero solutions.”

The R&D Hub is the first project to be launched out of the LCET initiative, with further projects in the development stage for 2023.

For all the latest packaging and printing industry news from Africa and the World, subscribe to our NEWSLETTER, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn, like us on Facebook, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.