With the 2021 acquisition of Agiplast, a pioneer and world leader in the regeneration and compounding of high‑performance polymers, Arkema added a major asset to its bio‑circularity policy.
The Italian company, which has been a partner of the Group since 2019 as part of the Virtucycle® program, has developed recognized expertise at its factory in Cremona (Italy) over the past 20 years. Recycled volumes are now found mainly in the production “drops” of various industries, such as the automotive and sports equipment sectors. Once the sources have been identified, Agiplast organizes their recovery and takes care of their recycling. “An essential part of the activity is waste treatment: identification, separation, cleaning and purification, before crushing the materials”, explains Fabrice Chopinez, Head of Recycling at Arkema. “Regeneration is then carried out according to different processes, depending on the type of polymer and the properties concerned.” Armed with this expertise, Arkema introduced its first grades of partially‑recycled Kynar® PVDF and Rilsan® polyamide 11 into its portfolio: “These materials, grouped under the Virtucycle® brand, incorporate a given proportion of recovered material whilst offering the high level of performance demanded by our applications”, confirms Fabrice Chopinez, who announced significant sales at the start of 2022.
