Interpack

Borealis has inaugurated its 350,000 tonnes/year Borstar polyethylene (PE) plant and the expansion to 300,000 tonnes from 210,000 tonnes/year of its Borstar polypropylene (PP) plant in Vienna, the city of its new head office.

The plant (pictured) started production in October 2005 after two years in the planning and has established a major manufacturing base for Borealis at Schwechat, on the site of one of its owners. OMV, the Austrian oil and gas group owns a 35 per cent share in Borealis and 65 per cent is owned by the International Petroleum Investment company (IPIC) of Abu Dhabi.

OMV also celebrated the expansion from 650,000 to 900,000 tonnes/year of its cracker, which will provide ethylene and propylene, the raw materials for PP and PE production at Borealis.

The joint €400m investment means the OMV/Borealis Schwechat site will now be able to produce more than a million tonnes/year of plastic, which is used in the production of bottles, film and flexible packaging as well as automotive and infrastructure applications.

BorForm PE-based film is now being used by Norway-based packaging converter Tommen Gram to produce GramFlex, a film-based vacuum-forming packaging alternative to cardboard for the packaging of frozen goods.

Kaller Kunststoff Technik (KKT) from Germany has selected a PP grade from Borealis to manufacture injection stretch blow-moulded bottles for water-based paint.