Braskem completes $10 million Innovation and Technology Center expansion in Pittsburgh
Canadian Plastics
3D Printing Materials RecyclingThe investment adds eight new state-of-the-art laboratories with equipment for developing new proprietary technologies to support innovations in catalysis, recycling, and 3D printing.
One of Braskem’s new I&T labs
Brazil-based material supplier Braskem has completed a US$10 million expansion of its Innovation and Technology Center in Pittsburgh, Pa.
In a Nov. 16 press release, company officials said the expansion project adds eight new research and development laboratories with state-of-the-art equipment for developing new proprietary technologies to support innovations in catalysis, recycling, and 3D printing.
“The I&T center facility expansion is focused on catalysis and petrochemical process technology capabilities, expanding its 3D Printing research capabilities, and also contains advanced polymer characterization laboratories, which include chromatography, polymer cracking,and microscopy analyses,” the press release said. “Overall, the expansion complements the site’s existing research and lab footprint and capabilities.”
Srivatsan Iyer, Braskem vice president of strategy, planning and innovation & technology, said the expansion “is designed to house the latest, cutting-edge equipment for research, which will allow Braskem to explore new avenues for growth.”
Building on Braskem’s I’m green bio-based polyethylene (PE), Braskem’s statement continued, Braskem scientists and researchers in Pittsburgh will use the new labs to test new ways to convert a mixed, post-consumer plastics stream back into raw materials that can then be used to produce new plastics that meets the requirements of strictly regulated industries such as automotive, food and healthcare applications.
