LYB Becomes Full Owner Of APK AG To Advance Recycling Technology

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 (Bernama) -- LyondellBasell (LYB), a sustainability leader in the chemical industry, announced the full acquisition of APK AG, a solvent-based recycling company, in Merseburg, Germany.

APK will be fully integrated and continue as part of LYB. This move aims to further develop the company’s unique solvent-based recycling technology for low density polyethylene (LDPE) and build commercial plants in the future.

This will enable LYB to produce new high-purity materials that can be used in applications like flexible packaging for personal care products, meeting the demands of customers and brand owners, according to a statement.

"We are excited to complete the acquisition of solvent-based recycling technology company APK, securing the future of more than a hundred employees and adding another solution for our customers to meet their circularity ambitions and goals.

“This technology complements our excellent mechanical recycling technology as well as our proprietary advanced recycling technology. We see this as a crucial addition to our portfolio on our journey to a circular economy, helping end plastic waste,” says LYB executive vice president of circular and low carbon solutions, Yvonne van der Laan.

Meanwhile, APK AG former director of corporate development and integration lead, Maik Pusch said: “LYB offers great expertise, career opportunities and financial strength to lift the company to the next level. I am convinced this combination will help our technology reach its full potential, as well as securing a promising future for our employees.”

The closing of the APK acquisition is another proof point of how LYB creates solutions for a better tomorrow, following the foundation stone laying of its first industrial-scale MoReTec plant for catalytic advanced recycling in Wesseling on Sept 19 with German Chancellor Scholz.

Hard-to-recycle flexible plastic waste materials, which currently make up the majority of mixed plastic waste from the consumer sector, are the focus of LYB's recycling efforts. LYB will sell the materials produced under its Circulen portfolio.

LYB has formulated ambitious plans to create access to best-in-class innovative and differentiated technologies as a key element of its new strategy and formed a dedicated circular and low carbon solutions (CLCS) business. CLCS has started to make substantial investments upstream in plastic-waste sorting and recycling operations in Europe, the United States and Asia.

-- BERNAMA