After 50 days, during which Bazen’s Carmel Olefins plant was shut down due to maintenance work, the plant that produces the raw materials for the plastics industry gradually returned to operation.
Bazen informed the public that from last night (Saturday) until next Tuesday, the operation of the plant’s facilities is planned as part of the completion of the renovation work, and therefore “there will be torch activity of varying intensity, including noise, throughout the operating days.”
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Meanwhile, Zen today announced moves it is promoting in the field of recycled plastics. The group is promoting three deals, which it says will help it achieve a target of 15% recycled plastic by 2025. Among the deals: acquisition of control of a recycled plastic company, signing a memorandum of understanding ahead of establishing a recycled plastic plant and investing in technology to return plastic to the raw material.
Carmel Olefins (CAO) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Zen Group and the only manufacturer in Israel of polymers for the plastics industry.
On Thursday, Zen announced the acquisition of control of V. פ. If. Plast (VPM), which deals with the mechanical recycling of plastics in the amount of about 12,000 tons per year, according to a company value of about NIS 40 million. VPM is one of the main manufacturers of recycled plastic in Israel and supplies about 15 types of recycled plastic according to customer requirements, which are sold to manufacturing companies in Israel and abroad.
This move joins Bazan’s collaboration with Veridis, with whom the company signed a conditional memorandum of understanding, under which the two entities will establish a plastic recycling plant during 2023. The joint plant is expected to operate a plastic sorting, washing and grinding facility of household waste of at least 10,000 tons per year.
The third move promoted by the Zen Group, through Carmel Olefins, is with the Environmental Services Company (ESC), a government company that owns and operates environmental treatment facilities in Neot Hovav. This is an investment in innovative and long-term technology for returning the plastic to the raw material.
The two bodies signed a conditional memorandum of understanding for the establishment of a joint venture, the first of its kind in Israel, for the chemical recycling of plastic waste using innovative technologies, similar to technologies first implemented by the world’s petrochemical giants.
As part of the joint venture, the companies plan to build an innovative recycling facility in Neot Hovav, which will absorb plastic waste that is not recyclable in known processes, and which is currently intended for landfilling or incineration. In the planned facility, the plastic waste will be treated with an innovative chemical process, and will be returned to a state of primary raw material, which will be transformed in the Zen Group facilities into a green polymer with the same properties as a polymer of fossil origin. The technologies being tested for the new facility will address the problem of environmental and natural pollution in plastic waste, and will contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions and the carbon footprint caused by the use of plastic.
Bazen’s goal is to reach sales volume of recycled and consumable products at 15% of its total polymer sales in 2025 and 30% in 2030. According to Bazen reports, the volume of investment in this field in 2030-2022 is estimated at $ 170 million to $ 240 million and is expected to be realized Gradually since 2022, and the addition to EBITDA is estimated at $ 55 million to $ 70 million and will also gradually accumulate as a derivative of the rate of investment performance.
In its annual reports, Zen noted that today the rate of penetration of recycled plastic products into the market is low, due in part to the existence of technological and economic barriers. However, an increase in the trend of reducing the consumption of plastic products or increasing the demand for recycled plastic products may adversely affect the demand for the field and impair profitability. All CAO products are recyclable, and the company examines developments in the field, including potential business opportunities.