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Solvay presented the new structure for its business activities and leadership team. The Group has redesigned its organization, with a far-reaching review of business processes and corporate functions, and a focus on simplifying and decentralizing its management structure. Thanks to these changes, Solvay is more agile and in a better position to seize growth opportunities, whilst keeping customer focus, operational excellence, corporate social responsibility, and innovation in sustainable chemistry, at the top of its priorities. "Today's Solvay is the result of the successful integration of Solvay and Rhodia and an extensive transformation. Few groups would have been able to bring about such major changes in such a short period of time. Through the mobilization of our teams, we have managed to convert the two former companies into one of the ten largest chemical companies worldwide. Our new signature, Asking more from chemistry, is more than a pledge; it's a vision and...

Bayer MaterialScience, a subgroup of the Bayer Group and one of the world leading materials providers, has officially opened its first Polymer Development & Technology Center in South Korea. Located in the city of Yongin near the capital Seoul, it will focus on the development of new polycarbonate applications for high-tech products from Korean companies especially in the automotive and IT sectors. The new tech center adds to a network of research and development hubs around the globe and major production sites in Asia Pacific. "Over the past decade, Korea has emerged as a center for cutting-edge high-tech products," said Michael Koenig, Executive Committee Member of Bayer MaterialScience and Head of the Polycarbonate Business Unit. "Large Korean companies are offering their latest technology worldwide, but their development and research mainly happens in Korea. With our new tech center we can be closer to them, better engage in long-term R&D partnerships and fu...

A UNIT of newly listed D&L Industries, Inc. has sealed an agreement with Japan-based Showa Denko K.K. to manufacture Bionolle Starcla, described as an environmentally friendly compound positioned an alternative to non-biodegradable plastic used for bags, D&L said in a statement on Friday last week. "D&L Polymer and Colours, Inc. (DLPC), a subsidiary of D&L, and Showa Denko, one of the Japan's leading chemical engineering companies, have signed an original equipment manufacturing agreement covering the compounding, manufacturing, and distribution in the Philippines of Bionolle Starcla," the statement read. New Product Bionolle Starcla is a  starch-based biopolymer  that fully decomposes within one to two months of exposure to bacteria. It is used to make compost, garbage, and shopping bags. It is a product of Showa Denko, a manufacturing company founded in 1908 initially to make and sell iodine in China, Japan, Showa Denko's Web site read. The ...

Chemists at the University of California, Davis, have engineered blue-green algae to grow chemical precursors for fuels and plastics — the first step in replacing fossil fuels as raw materials for the chemical industry. "Most chemical feedstocks come from petroleum and natural gas, and we need other sources," said Shota Atsumi, assistant professor of chemistry at UC Davis and lead author of the study published Jan. 7 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The U.S. Department of Energy has set a goal of obtaining a quarter of industrial chemicals from biological processes by 2025. Biological reactions are good at forming carbon-carbon bonds, using carbon dioxide as a raw material for reactions powered by sunlight. It's called photosynthesis, and cyanobacteria, also known as "blue-green algae," have been doing it for more than 3 billion years. Using cyanobacteria to grow chemicals has other advantages: They do not compete with food need...

Purac Biomaterials announces that it has finalized the acquisition of a building for their future manufacturing facility in the USA. The building, located in Tucker, Georgia has been transferred to Purac on November 27th 2012. The facility will be the second manufacturing facility for Purac Biomaterials, next to the existing one in Gorinchem, the Netherlands. It will provide additional capacity for current products and it will provide Purac Biomaterials with process lines that allow manufacturing of next generation products. The two facilities can act as back-up for each other, and it will provide guaranteed supply continuity. Menno Lammers, Managing Director Purac Biomaterials comments: "Being able to supply from two sites is an important step in risk management, which is high on the agenda in our industry. Operating a site in the USA and in Europe also means that we have manufacturing facilities close to the majority of our customers." FiberLive™ The new plant is a...