DSM recently completed a five-year upgrade of its Engineering Plastics facility in Emmen, The Netherlands. The investment, which represents several million euro, includes a capture system that uses waste water from the production plant to reduce emissions to the air of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) to almost zero.The DSM Engineering Plastics plant in Emmen, which produces high performance polyesters, was acquired by DSM in 2009. Since then, the company has made significant investments in the facility, applied the latest technologies and introduced the most advanced operating systems to continually optimize the production processes - increasing output and making them more sustainable. As a result, the plant's energy use has decreased by more than 30% - and water consumption has almost halved. The new capture system, also known as a Scrubber, reuses 80% of the water from the production process.
DSM applied its in-house expertise, combined with the innovation skills and know-how of local industry. For instance, after further purification of waste-water, residual organic components can be used to generate energy – thus further reducing the facility's environmental impact.
According to Koen Devits, director DSM Engineering Plastics Europe, the company's unique combination of know-how and innovation, known as "Bright Science", stands at the basis of this investment: "Thanks to this major step forward, we are able to offer our customers around the globe products that are more sustainable than ever. We will continue to make improvements such as these in an ongoing effort to reduce environmental footprints, both within our own operations and along all our value chains."
