Mitsubishi to invest £250m doubling plastic output at Saltend site

MITSUBISHI CHEMICAL is investing £250m (US$328m) to double production of packaging plastic at its UK site in the Saltend Chemicals Park.

It is expanding production of ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH) from 19,000 t/y to 39,000 t/y with its new production line scheduled to begin operations in 2026.

Preparatory works have begun for the construction of a new production line, which the company says will add dozens of staff to join the 130 that already work there. The expansion for the plant covers just over two hectares of land neighbouring the existing site and will also include the construction of a maintenance workshop.

Mitsubishi Chemical produces EVOH in the UK, US, and Japan. It is expanding production to meet a growing demand for what it describes as “eco-friendly” products because it reduces food waste, though the feedstocks do come from petrochemical products.

EVOH is a common layer material used to increase the barrier properties of food packaging to prolong the shelf life of foods. While EVOH is an excellent barrier to oxygen it attracts water which degrades its performance so is often sandwiched between layers of polyethylene or polypropylene.

These layers cannot be separated so the MVOH becomes part of the recycled polyolefins it is sandwiched between. Studies have shown that the low concentrations of EVOH used in packaging do not have a detrimental impact on recycling processes or the material it is recycled into.

In July, Wood was awarded a US$40m contract to build an EVOH plant in Singapore for Japanese chemicals firm Kuraray.