Technological watch

Polyplastics has announced plans to construct a cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) production facility in Leuna, Germany to meet the growing global demand for its TOPAS® COC polymers. The new plant, to be operated by local Polyplastics subsidiary TOPAS Advanced Polymers, will have a capacity of 20,000 tons per year, more than doubling the company’s current output. The facility will be operational by mid-2023.
TOPAS® COC for Multiple Applications
The company’s existing COC production plant is located in Oberhausen, Germany, about 400 kilometers west of Leuna. Since the opening of the Oberhausen plant in 2000, a broad range of applications for TOPAS® COC has been developed. The material has become a crucial component in many medical devices based on its outstanding purity and glass-like properties.
In packaging products, TOPAS® COC has raised the performance of commodity polyolefins, enabling the development of simpler, better recyclable and sustainable solutions. Mono-material structures based on PE enhanced with TOPAS® COC are more easily recyclable than multi-material solutions using layers of PET or other PE-incompatible polymers. TOPAS® COC has been certified as a recyclable polyolefin as part of the EU initiative for a circular economy.