Extrusion International 5-2024

23 Extrusion International 5/2024 Sustainability Report  Two years ago, a severe drought hit the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality on the southern coast of South Africa. Reservoirs were nearly empty, pushing the population of 1.3 million close to “day zero” when water stops flow - ing from the taps. The region is home to an Orion facility that produces carbon black – an essential material for the coun- try’s tire industry. The crisis inspired Orion to find a solution that would help the municipality conserve its precious water supply. Despite significant engineer - ing challenges, Orion built a water treatment system at its facility. The technology recycles treated effluent water from a nearby municipal sew- age plant so that the water can be used in Orion’s production process. “The potable water we once used to make our products is saved for the community,” Orion CEO Corn - ing Painter said. “The treated ef - fluent water that once got pumped into the ocean is now repurposed for an industry that makes carbon black, which enables car tires to last longer and perform better. Re - cycling the water will also lead to a substantial cost savings.” The South Africa case study is featured in Orion’s “Sustainability Report 2023,” which the company released today with the theme: “Driving innovation, enabling the everyday.” The report covers a vari - ety of highlights, including: • Achieving an EcoVadis Platinum Medal, positioning the company in the 99th percentile of companies evaluated. • Opening a Battery Innovation Center to develop new products and formulations for lithium-ion batteries driving the shift to electri - fication. • Investing €12.8 million – includ - ing €6.4 million in grant funding from the German government and European Union -- to further de- velop and demonstrate a climate- neutral process for producing car - bon black from alternative carbon sources. • Leading the carbon black in - dustry in the number of production sites with ISCC (International Sus - tainability & Carbon Certification) PLUS certification. • Reaching the goal of having 80% of employees receive 40 or more training hours – double the average training hours in 2022. In the report, the company un - veiled its water-recycling project in South Africa. Orion is the only glob - al company in the carbon black in- dustry that has a site in Sub-Saharan Africa. The project began in early 2023 and involved installing a 65-meter- long pipeline from the Orion site to the municipal water treatment plant. A horizontal-boring process was used to run the pipeline 5 me - ters under a road. A 7-meter-deep sump had to be built for the system. This was a major excavation challenge be - cause the sandy soil did not provide much solid ground. It was like dig - ging a hole in a sand dune. But the team used sandbags to stabilize the ground and keep the hole from be - ing filled with water. Orion now has the capacity to re- cover 3 million liters a day from the municipal plant and treat the efflu - ent water so that it meets the qual- ity level for the site’s production process. Orion S.A. orioncarbons.com and quality standards in the global market. At the same time, it will also help Thyseed to further expand internationally and enhance our brand competitiveness. The coop- eration with BASF is not limited to the supply of Ultrason ® but involves further development to ensure that this high-performance material can be effectively applied to our prod- ucts, thereby improving their overall quality and user experience.” The strategic cooperation, which was officially signed at a launch event in Shanghai on July 17, 2024, will include collaboration on technical innovations as well as exchanges on trends and sustainability topics like reusability and high health stan - dards. The transparent, lightly honey-col - ored Ultrason ® P 3010 is a medium viscosity grade with superior tough - ness and stress crack resistance. It is well-suited for injection stretch blow molding, which is the most widespread manufacturing process for baby bottles in Asia. The pro- duction advantages of Ultrason ® P 3010: rapid cycle times and easy pro - cessing with suitably configured hot runner systems without scrap losses. BASF www.ultrason.basf.com/ householdcatering Thyseed www.thyseed.com