November 2004
Oc
MBA Polymers, Müeller-Guttenbrunn
Form Joint Venture
MBA Polymers Inc. (MBA), Richmond, Calif., and Müeller-Guttenbrunn GmbH (MG) of
Amstetten, Austria, have formed a joint venture company to build and operate a plastics
recycling plant in Kematen, Austria.
MBA Polymers Austria – Kunststoffverarbeitung GmbH, the new company, will process
highly mixed plastics resulting from the legislated take-back and recycling of durable
goods, such as appliances and electrical equipment, which takes place on a large scale
in Europe, where producer-responsibility legislation has been implemented.
Standing in front of durable goods ready to be recycled are K.R. Herbert, MG chairman and managing director; Christian Mueller-Guttenbrunn,
CFO of MG; Mike Biddle, CEO of MBA; and Richard McCombs, president and CFO of MBA.
MBA and MG expect the processing plant, with a capacity of 40,000 tons per year, to
come on line shortly after the August 2005 mandated implementation of the EU-wide
WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronics Equipment) take-back and recycling legislation.
MBA Polymers owns 51 percent of the joint venture and MG owns 49 percent. MBA
brings technology, customers and suppliers to the joint venture, while MG provides raw
material, local and national experience working in Europe, important government
contacts and relations and a metal recycling background, according to a release from
MBA Polymers.
This plant will complement a similar plant that is being constructed in Guangzhou, China,
through a join venture MBA formed earlier this year with Guangzhou Iron and Steel
Enterprises.
The plant will be located next door to MG’s advanced metal recycling operations
METRAN, which will provide some feedstock for the new plant, in Kematen, Austria,
about 100 km west of Vienna. The new plant will be situated between large feedstocks
from the durable goods recycling infrastructure developing in Western Europe and the
growing manufacturing and plastics molding base in Eastern Europe, according to MBA.
Mike Biddle, CEO of MBA, notes that this year marked the 10th anniversary of MBA
Polymers’ founding and the 50th anniversary of MG’s founding. “It is quite fitting that
both companies are commemorating these important company milestones with such an
exciting new opportunity that will benefit so many,” he says.
“MBA has worked for over 10 years and invested over $28 million to develop its highly
advanced technology and this new plastics business,” Biddle continues. “Over those 10
years, MBA has worked with government agencies and trade organizations around the
world, the plastics industry and the largest computer, electronics, appliance and
automobile companies in the world to provide a better home for the plastics from end-oflife durable products and to provide the manufacturers with ‘green’ materials for their
new products. These efforts help create more sustainable manufacturing activities in all
of the connected industries: automotive, appliances, computers and business
equipment, electronics and plastics.”
Herbert Müeller-Guttenbrunn, MG’s chairman, says, “We invested significantly in
advanced nonferrous metal recovery about 20 years ago so we could recover a higher
percent of the material from our recycling activities. This is the next logical step in
recovering more material from these streams, especially because the plastics have
become such a significant portion of the goods we recycle, such as automobiles,
appliances and electronics. Not only does this make good economic sense, it will help
our country and suppliers meet the legislated recycle rate targets.”
MBA Polymers is headquartered in Richmond, Calif., where it carries out R&D and
operates a large pilot plastics recycling facility.
Müller-Guttenbrunn is the largest metal recycling company in Austria. Its headquarters
and largest recycling plant are in Amstetten, Austria, but it also operates businesses in
Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Liechtenstein.
Thursday, October 28, 2004