Nylon 66 giants announce acquisition

On November 9, Ascend announced an acquisition agreement with U.
S.
recycled materials producer Circular Polymers to acquire a majority stake, and Circular Polymers changed its name to Circular Polymers by Ascend
.
More details of the deal have not been disclosed
.

David Bender, founder and CEO of Circular Polymers, will hold the remaining equity and continue as CEO of the company
.

Circular Polymers mainly produces post-consumer recycled PCR materials, including polyamide 6 (PA6) and polyamide 66 (PA66), polypropylene (PP), polyester (PET) and other high-performance polymers, using a unique technology to recycle waste carpets and process them into high-performance materials
.
Since its inception in 2018, the company has reconverted about 40,000 tons of waste that would otherwise have been sent to landfill into new products
.

Ascend launched its ReDefyne™ recycled polyamide portfolio at the recent K 2022 show, and this transaction provides a high-quality PCR material for this series with a stable supply
.

Ascend is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2030 and is confident that it will achieve this goal
ahead of schedule.
To achieve this goal, the company has invested in emission reduction technologies
at its Pensacola nylon facility in Florida and its Decatur Adiponitrile facility in Alabama.
Ascend's acrylonitrile plant in Alvin, Texas, uses 30 percent of its energy from utility-scale solar farms through power purchase agreements
.

Recent acquisitions by Ascend

In March 2022, Ascend reached an agreement to acquire the composites business
of Formulated Polymers Limited, a leading manufacturer of engineering materials in Chennai, India.
The retrofit site went into operation at the end of May and is Ascend's first site in South Asia
.

Ascend India Executive Director Dharm Vahalia and Strategy & Growth Director Mark Power cut the ribbon
on the company's acquisition in Chennai, India.

In December 2021, Ascend announced plans to acquire a composites manufacturing facility in Itubidi, San Jose, Mexico, to expand its global footprint and expand its production capacity
for high-performance engineering materials.

In January 2021, Ascend announced the successful acquisition of Eurostar Engineering Plastics, a French manufacturer of mixed materials with expertise in a wide range of flame-retardant engineering plastics and halogen-free plastics
.
John Saunders, Vice President, Ascend Europe, said: "Eurostar's extensive experience in composite polyamides fits perfectly with our product portfolio and production capabilities
.

In February 2020, Ascend announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire Poliblend and Esseti Plast GD from the D'Ottavio Group
.
The acquisition includes a manufacturing facility in Mozzate, Italy, Esseti Plast GD's masterbatch products and Poliblend's engineering plastics product line, which includes new and recycled grades of PA66, PA6, PBT and POM
.

On June 11, 2020, Ascend announced its first acquisition in China: the acquisition of all the assets
of Changshu Heshi Bi New Materials Co.
, Ltd.
and Tehe Engineering Plastics (Suzhou) Co.
, Ltd.
The acquisition includes the manufacturing plants, technology centers, warehouses and other assets
of both companies located in the Yushan High-tech Industrial Development Zone in Changshu, Jiangsu Province.

Ascend is focused on reducing the carbon footprint of its products

On October 17, Ascend Performance announced two results
aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of its products.
The company has achieved carbon neutrality for its global composite operations, becoming the first integrated polyamide producer to decarbonize most of its operations, and has achieved ISCC+ certification
using bio-based materials.

Ascend Performance Materials' global compounding facilities, including newly acquired facilities in Iturbide, San Jose, Mexico, and Chennai, India, are now carbon neutral through process improvements, carbon and renewable energy offsets
.

Ascend's seven compounding plants in North America, Europe and Asia produce the company's Vydyne®, Starfram® and HiDura™ engineered materials for electric vehicles, batteries, renewable energy systems and countless other applications
.

At the other end of the company's Totally Integrated Production, Ascend is now approved to produce acrylonitrile, adiponitrile, hexamethylenediamine and polyamide 66
using mass balance certification using bio-based feedstocks.
With this certification, Ascend's PA66 polymers can now be produced
using up to 40% bio-based materials.