Celebrating A decade of evolution
Leading to a low-carbon,
circular economy for styrenics
„I thank our customers for their trust in us. Without their continued support our success would not have been possible. I also thank our employees who followed us on our journey during the past decade. It is a journey that will continue based on innovation and flexibility to respond to new business needs.“ Steve Harrington, CEO, INEOS Styrolution
Follow the milestones of INEOS Styrolution’s first ten years. We look forward to setting more milestones together with you in the years to come.
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November 29, 2010
BASF and INEOS sign a letter of interest to create a 50/50 joint venture
January 1, 2011
BASF's styrenics activities are carved out into legally independent units
January 1, 2011
INEOS acquires NOVA’s 50% share of INEOS NOVA and renames the company to INEOS Styrenics
October 1, 2011
Establishment of the joint venture Styrolution
Styrolution officially starts operating as an independent company, following the approval of the relevant antitrust authorities. The new company is a 50:50 joint venture between BASF and INEOS, comprising the key styrenics activities of the two partners.
"Using different business models to serve the different needs of the commodity and specialty styrenics markets, we are determined to give our customers a competitive edge. Our highly professional and passionate team around the world works diligently to deliver the best and most efficient solutions to drive the success of our customers - with fast and reliable supply, the highest product quality and consistency, constant innovation, and a professional service. This is in our corporate DNA and is reflected in our company name, which is a combination of the words 'styrenics' and 'solution'. Our objective as a company is to be and remain a strong leader in our markets globally, and we are excellently positioned for profitable growth and long-term success."
December 1, 2011
Opening of global headquarters in Frankfurt am Main, Germany
The first employees start working at Styrolution's global headquarters in Frankfurt am Main in Germany.
2012
Introduction of Styrolution’s EHS Excellence programme
• EHS Excellence translates Styrolution’s EHS policy into concrete projects, actions, measures and tools
• EHS Excellence comprises all initiatives focused on improving our EHS performance
• EHS Excellence encompasses all EHS programmes worldwide, whether they are initiated by regions, sites or offices
• EHS Excellence aims to strengthen our commitment to achieving an incident-free workplace
Summer 2012
Styrolution Southeast Asia moves from its old location at Suntec Tower to new offices in Somerset Road, Singapore
The new office facility enjoys a convenient, central location in a strategic area with a well-developed infrastructure. Employees can now enjoy working just a stone’s throw from the city’s most popular shopping street, Orchard Road, which is 2.2 kilometers in length. The bustling street is a major tourist attraction and also the retail and entertainment hub of Singapore.
December 2012
Go-live of Styrolution’s new corporate website and eShop
Styrolution launches a new corporate website featuring enriched content and a refreshed design. A common global e-commerce platform is also being integrated. Roll-out dates for the ‘eShop’ differ among regions; global set-up shall be completed until January 2014.
The new website will represent Styrolution in the digital world. It will inform and inspire our stakeholders by illustrating corporate facts and figures, our strategy, mission and vision, our portfolio and our business performance. It will also introduce our management team, inform about topics like innovation and sustainability and outline career opportunities.
January 2013
Styrolution introduces awards for high-value projects and innovative ideas
Styrolution establishes its ‘Oscars’ for innovation: INA – award for excellent development projects and IDA – award for outstanding ideas.
Both awards offer an opportunity to all Styrolution employees and teams globally by inspiring them to think outside the box to deliver novel, exciting solutions generating tangible benefits for Styrolution and its customers.
“With INA we want to document a change in our innovation perspective. Innovation is not restricted to R&D, it is what every Styrolution team – from purchasing over production to product management and finance, etc. – should strive for. I encourage every colleague to act as an innovator and submit an idea for IDA. Over 3,000 employees offer huge potential for innovation for our company”
May 2013
Styrolution’s American headquarters moves from Channahon to Aurora, US
On June 7, the new regional headquarters for the Americas open in Aurora, Illinois with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The new headquarters offer more space than the offices in Channahon, Illinois, and are in a more convenient location for customers, visitors and traveling employees. The open plan design in the new office encourages a more collaborative approach to work. Even more importantly, going forward, the former Region Administration office building at the Channahon manufacturing site will be used as the product development center for the Americas, optimising the whole process.
November 2013
R&D partnership with Neue Materialien Bayreuth and the University of Bayreuth
Styrolution enters into a partnership with Neue Materialien Bayreuth GmbH (NMB) and the University of Bayreuth. Styrolution will complement its existing R&D efforts by tapping into the broad intellectual and infrastructural polymer research resources of its new partners. This goes beyond traditional models of corporate cooperation with academia in that NMB and the university are making their infrastructure easily accessible to Styrolution. The partnership enables the company to focus its R&D activities on downstream customer innovations across five core industries: automotive, electrical & electronics, household appliances, building & construction, healthcare & diagnostics. Initial projects will focus on the fields of lightweight structures and 3D printing.
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“Megatrends like globalization and population growth are changing the world at a rapid pace. These trends are also driving new developments in material science and specifically styrenics. We at NMB are eager to work side-by-side with Styrolution to address these trends by creating the styrenic innovations of tomorrow.”
July 2013
Implementation of Styrolution’s Triple Shift strategy
With Styrolution’s strong business performance, and its global synergy and integration program “Start Now!” ahead of schedule, the company can start to focus on achieving profitable growth earlier than expected.
“By 2020, we want Styrolution to prosper as a resilient, more diversified and more profitable business. In numbers, we aim to achieve an EBITDA margin of over 10 percent and an EBITDA of 1 billion euros,” says Roberto Gualdoni.
2013
Styrolution receives ICIS Innovation award for sustainability and Styroflex® – as compatibiliser for mechanical recycling
Even as manufacturers and consumers have come to expect improved sustainability throughout the product lifecycle, they ultimately put their purchasing power towards solutions that deliver on all accounts - sustainability and innovative product performance.
With Styroflex 2G66, Styrolution has created a material that delivers on both improved sustainability and improved product performance. Originally designed to mimic and replace PVC, Styroflex outperformed PVC in stretch film and showed significant sustainable impact by improving palette stretch hoods and load stability while reducing weight, materials, energy use and complexity for palette transport. The only material like it worldwide, it offers an incredibly sustainable option for customers. While PVC remained a viable and low-cost alternative, Styroflex remained a hidden gem. That is, until Styrolution recently repurposed the innovation for use in mechanical recycling, unlocking its tremendous potential as a compatibilizer, property enhancer and versatile building block for mass customizing commodity polymers – with impressive sustainable implications.
January 2014
Styrolution's EMEA headquarters for standards products and commodities moves from Fribourg to INEOS headquarters in Rolle, Switzerland
November 13, 2014
Styrolution becomes a wholly-owned company within INEOS
Following clearance by the competition authorities, INEOS successfully completes the purchase of BASF’s 50% share in Styrolution, a joint venture between the companies. The purchase price for the acquisition is €1.1 billion. Styrolution will continue to operate as a stand-alone Business within INEOS Industries Holdings Limited.
Read more“We are pleased to have completed this acquisition. It represents another important step in the growth of the Styrolution business as it competes effectively with large-scale producers from Asia and the Middle East. We are pleased to bring Styrolution fully into the INEOS family.”
Juli 10, 2015
Styrolution organises its first GO Run For Funevent in Frankfurt, Germany
INEOS Styrolution hosts the first GO Run For Fun run in the he Arboretum Main-Taunus forest park in Schwalbach, Germany. GO Run For Fun is an international running series, founded by INEOS in 2013, set up to inspire children to be more active through fun short-distance running events. It has been a phenomenal success so far with over 330,000 children having taken part since 2013.
Learn more“GO Run For Fun is solely about motivating children to run. There’s no link to our business activities, apart from the fact that we’re providing the money to get this program up and running. We’ve no shareholders who can exert an influence or products that consumers can buy. It’s all about getting children to run and have fun at the same time.”
October 1, 2015
Styrolution acts as "one face to the market" for all Styrolution and INEOS Addyston ABS and SAN products
INEOS enhances its standard and specialty ABS offering to its customers in the Americas through the integration of its Styrolution and INEOS ABS businesses.
INEOS integrates the INEOS ABS into its Styrolution business to promote their products globally with one face to the market. This project further enhances the growth strategy of both businesses.
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"We are looking forward to a unified market approach with our colleagues at INEOS ABS. The combination of our businesses will better serve customers, who will benefit from the rich product and service offerings of both companies, as well as our collective polymer expertise across key industries. I am also confident this move will open up a host of new growth opportunities for both customers and Styrolution, giving us a chance to show what ‘Driving Success. Together.' really means."
December 2015
First qualitative report on sustainability and subsequent annual sustainability reporting
Since the foundation of the company in 2011, INEOS Styrolution has driven various sustainability-related initiatives, including improvement programmes for Safety, Health and Environment (SHE), risk mitigation measures, various ISO certifications in the energy and environmental field and various community involvement activities. Now, INEOS Styrolution has integrates these and several more initiatives into a unified and structured framework: Styrolution’s sustainability programme, which is profiled in Styrolution’s first qualitative report.
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“Achieving lasting success with our key stakeholders can only result from sustainable business management and practices. For Styrolution, sustainability is a lever for growth and thus firmly embedded in our Triple Shift growth strategy.”
December 2015
All Styrolution locations in Europe are ISO 50001 compliant
At the end of 2015 all EMEA sites implement an energy management system, compliant with ISO 50001 (2011 version at that time).
Each site started with an independent and separate certification, there was no EMEA-matrix at the beginning: Each site had to perform an annual audit.
From 2019 onwards, INEOS Styrolution moves the EMEA sites to the new version of the standard (2018 version), and starts the migration towards an EMEA-matrix for ISO 50001 (quality) and ISO 14001 (environment).
From 2020 on - with all EMEA sites being part of the EMEA ISO 50001 matrix - the number of audits can be reduced to two sample sites & HQ each year.
January 18, 2016
Styrolution changes name to INEOS Styrolution
To embrace its place in the INEOS family of companies, Styrolution changes its company name to INEOS Styrolution.
The new name and accompanying new logo make the INEOS ownership more visible, while acknowledging Styrolution’s established identity. These changes won’t affect the company's customers: They will get the same high-quality solutions and services as before, based on Styrolution's brand values such as “customer orientation”, “reliability”, and “quick decision-making and flexibility”.
Despite the company changes its names and logo, the company will continue to operate and actively pursue business opportunities as before.
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“We want to show which company we belong to, and preserve our own identity at the same time. We’re proud of what we have achieved and the values we share – values that our customers and business partners have come to appreciate and expect from us.”
August 2016
Publication of the first sustainability report according to GRI guidelines
INEOS Styrolution publishes its initial sustainability report which complies with the standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the acknowledged benchmark reporting standard in this field.
Since the inception of the company in 2011, INEOS Styrolution has driven various sustainability-related initiatives and integrated those into a unified framework: INEOS Styrolution’s sustainability programme entitled “Living Sustainability. Together.” With the publication of the first qualitative report in December 2015, the groundwork was laid for this first quantitative report, which complies with the GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines G4.
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2016
INEOS Styrolution receives Silver EcoVadis rating – evolved into platinum level in 2019
October 2016
Introduction of interactive and industry-specificsustainability customer presentation
As follow-up to INEOS Styrolution’s first GRI Sustainability Report published in August, INEOS Styrolution introduces another component of its sustainability programme – the Sustainability Customer Presentation “Shaping the future with sustainable styrenics solutions”.
With this modular, interactive and industry-specific presentation a dialog with customers on INEOS Styrolution’s sustainability approach and how our products in specific can contribute to sustainability and our customer’s success can be entered.
“For more and more customers a robust sustainability program has become a key criterion in their buying deci-sions. They look to their suppliers to provide sus-tainable solutions and products along the entire value chain – from development and production to transport, sale and use. By offering styrenic solu-tions that deliver strong, sustainable performance, we want to ensure that our customers’ businesses and end consumers’ choices become more sus-tainable. Therefore, a responsible approach to our product portfolio is key to us.”
November 2016
The INEOS Styrolution global headquarters moves into a new office building, Fifty Avon, in Frankfurt, Germany
March 1, 2017
INEOS Styrolution announces completion of the acquisition of the K-Resin® business
INEOS Styrolution completes the acquisition of the global K-Resin® styrene-butadiene copolymers (SBC) business from Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC (Chevron Phillips Chemical) and Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd., following receipt of all applicable regulatory and legal approvals. The transaction, which was agreed on October 31, 2016, includes the purchase of the equity interests of K R Copolymer Co. Ltd (KRCC), K-Resin SBC intellectual property and other assets related to the SBC business.
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“I am impressed by the quality of the production site, a formidable operation and by the strong motivation of the staff. We are looking forward to integrate the local Korean assets quickly into our Korean INEOS Styrolution operations.”
April 27, 2017
INEOS Styrolution announces ABS and ASA capacity increases in the Americas
INEOS Styrolution plans to increase capacity for ASA and ABS in the Americas. The plans include constructing a new 100kt capacity ASA plant in Bayport, Texas and increasing the ABS capacity at its ABS/ ASA plant in Altamira, Mexico.
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“The capacity expansion will allow us to grow together with our customers and provide a service level according to their expectations in this dynamic market.”
June 2017
INEOS Styrolution is founding member of Styrenics Circular Solutions (SCS)
PlasticsEurope launches an initiative to promote innovative recycling solutions for Polystyrene, in a push to support the European Union’s circular economy plan. The group aims to engage the value chain in the development and industrialisation of promising new recycling technologies.
2018
Asian headquarters moves to a bigger office in Singapore, together with INEOS Oligomers
February 20, 2019
Completion of the acquisition of Foshan and Ningbo PS sites in China
INEOS Styrolution completes the acquisition of the polystyrene sites from Total S.A., following receipt of all applicable regulatory and legal approvals. The transaction includes the purchase of the Foshan site in the Guangdong Province in South China and the Ningbo site in the Zhejiang Province in Eastern China and two related sales offices in Guangzhou and Shanghai. The annual nameplate capacity of each site is 200kt per year.
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“We continue to execute on our growth strategy. After the integration of the K-Resin business, the current deal marks our second acquisition in Asia, a region that we have identified as a focus growth region for INEOS Styrolution.”
March 2019
Opening of the new office in Shanghai, China, which INEOS Styrolution shares with other INEOS entities
INEOS Styrolution is now sharing offices with these other INEOS entities:
INEOS Trading (Shanghai) Company Limited;
INEOS Chemicals (Shanghai) Company Limited;
INEOS Styrolution (China) Investment Co. Ltd.;
INEOS Styrolution Polymers (Shanghai) Company Limited;
INEOS Styrolution Polymers (Ningbo) Company Limited Shanghai Branch;
INEOS Aromatics and Acetyls Trading (Shanghai) Company Limited
April 2019
Breakthrough in chemical recycling of polystyrene (depolymerisation) – the practical proof of the recyclability of polystyrene
INEOS Styrolution completes the first successful test runs producing virgin polystyrene from previously depolymerised material. These experiments, completed at the company’s Antwerp site in Belgium, can be seen as the practical proof of the recyclability of polystyrene.
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“We are very excited having achieved this breakthrough. Due to its relatively clean decomposition into its building blocks, polystyrene is almost designed to be recycled. Within our global project team we are working to make this a stable process on a commercial level, by learning for example more about purity requirements of the feedstock material.”
“It is great to see that specialists from all regions contribute expertise to this project. This global collaboration shows INEOS Styrolution’s strong commitment to chemical recycling and sustainability.”
“I am convinced that we have achieved a significant milestone in proving that polystyrene is recyclable and contributes to reducing post-consumer waste. We are now looking forward to scaling the process to an industrial level and saving valuable resources.”
August 2019
Hosting of ground-breaking ceremony for the new 100kt ASA plant in Bayport, Texas
INEOS Styrolution hosts groundbreaking ceremony for its new 100kt ASA (acrylonitrile styrene acrylate) plant in Bayport, Texas. The development of the new site is part of a bigger expansion plan for the Americas, which includes increased ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) capacity at the Altamira site in Mexico, while transition the ASA production to the new site in Bayport.
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“I am excited to see us building the most efficient dedicated ASA plant in the world, here in Bayport. ASA is a versatile high performance styrenic resin. Its properties make it the material of choice for numerous outdoor applications. ASA performs greatly in exterior automotive and construction applications.”
September 2019
Launch of the new ECO family of sustainable products
The INEOS Styrolution ECO family of products comprises products made from post-consumer recycled material as well as renewable feedstock. The ECO family of products will complement the company’s existing strong portfolio of styrenics standard products and specialties.
Read moreLearn more on our ECO website Styrolution-eco.com
“The INEOS Styrolution ECO family of solutions is our contribution to significantly increase the amount of recycled content in products. We are pleased that we can continue to offer customers the strong performance they expect from us, while at the same time addressing their increasing expectations for sustainable products.”
“In addition to optimising our existing products, we are investing into innovative technologies, which we believe will be a key cornerstone contributing to reducing post-consumer waste and boosting the growth of the INEOS Styrolution ECO family over time. Watch this space.”
“INEOS Styrolution ECO brings to life our commitment to take the ‘single’ out of ‘single-use’. We have combined best-in-class recycling technologies and performance in a unique, innovative way to provide high-quality, sustainable products and help make the circular economy a reality.”
December 2019
INEOS Styrolution receives ICIS Innovation award
INEOS Styrolution wins ICIS Innovation Award in the category “Innovation with Best Benefit for Environment and Sustainability”.
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“Earlier this year, we were able to establish a proof of concept with first runs of polystyrene production from previously depolymerised polystyrene in lab/pilot scale. We are now working on commercialising the solution. We build our process on the unique chemical property of polystyrene that allows us to reverse the polymerisation process. Polystyrene made from depolymerised waste has identical properties as the initial material. In other words: the process does not result in downcycling, and the new material will even meet food contact quality.
Polystyrene has contributed to the well-being of our society for many decades. It contributes to reducing food waste by preserving food and by extending shelf life. In addition, it helps to save energy with lightweight solutions in the automotive industry and with insulation solutions in the construction industry. With chemical recycling we can continue to produce new polystyrene at the same high quality standards that our customers are used to receiving from us – with no impact on the environment or on future generations.”
“We are committed to make depolymerisation of polystyrene the basis for a circular business model for styrenics. We see post-consumer waste as a valuable resource. This approach will maximise the potential of post-consumer waste as a valuable resource and also contribute to a cleaner environment.”
June 2020
INEOS Styrolution reports final results of research project ResolVe
ResolVe was granted a funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) to explore the recycling of polystyrene. The project proves the feasibility of post-consumer waste becoming a valuable feedstock, thus creating a circular economy for polystyrene. The project also included a commercial and an ecological evaluation of the recycling process.
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“This project has made a dream come true. The results demonstrate that polystyrene and depolymerisation fit perfectly to the concept of a circular economy.”
July 2020
INEOS Styrolution receives platinum rating by EcoVadis for its advanced sustainability performance
INEOS Styrolution receives the highest sustainability rating by EcoVadis. The platinum rating is awarded to the top 1 percent of companies, based on the implementation of the company’s sustainability programme and the company’s sustainability report published last year. The score takes into account four themes evaluated by EcoVadis: environment, labour and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement.
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October 2020
INEOS Styrolution and Indaver: Project to demonstrate production of ABS plastic from recycled feedstock receives funding by the European Union
Indaver and INEOS Styrolution are set to team up as technology partners in a project funded by the EU LIFE programme, the European Union’s funding instrument for the environment and resource efficiency. The project, which is planned for a duration of four years, will demonstrate the production of ABS based on recycled feedstock.
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“We are excited about this project as we believe there is intrinsic value in plastics products after usage. We share the vision with Indaver to turn plastic waste into valuable resources instead of letting it end up in landfills.”
December 2020
INEOS Styrolution hosts ground-breaking ceremony for its new 600kt ABS plant in Ningbo, China
INEOS Styrolution hosts its ground-breaking ceremony for its new 600kt ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) plant located in Ningbo, China. The development of the new site is part of INEOS Styrolution’s larger expansion plans into China, following an earlier acquisition of two polystyrene production sites in Ningbo and Foshan.
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“I am excited to see us building a world-class ABS manufacturing plant here in Ningbo. ABS is a versatile high performance styrenic resin. Its properties make it the material of choice for many everyday products across industries, including automotive, electronics, household, healthcare and toys/sports/leisure. This investment affirms our commitment to support the growth of our customers in Asia.”