Borealis has announced a strategic investment of EUR 49 million in its production plant in Burghausen, Germany. The funds will be used to increase manufacturing capacity for Borstar Nextension polypropylene, a member of the single-site polypropylene family. The objective of the investment is to scale up commercial production of next-generation ssPP grades with enhanced purity, processability and performance, designed for key sectors such as packaging, healthcare, mobility and fibers.
The expansion of the Burghausen facility is intended to support customers in adapting plastic products to evolving market and regulatory requirements, in particular in the area of design for recycling and the circular economy. Borstar Nextension as a material platform enables the integration of specific combinations of properties within a single PP material. This solution makes it possible to replace more complex multimaterial constructions with monomaterial solutions, which simplifies waste streams and facilitates mechanical recycling. In addition, the technology can contribute to weight reduction of products and to improving their functional parameters during processing and use.
Monomaterial PP solutions and design for recycling
The investment in Burghausen is aimed at accelerating the market transition to high-performance monomaterial polypropylene solutions. By appropriately tailoring the structure and properties of a single PP material, Borstar Nextension enables the replacement of traditional multimaterial systems in complex structures, including multilayer constructions. For converters, this means the possibility to reduce the number of material types used in one package, which supports better waste separation and more efficient recycling processes.
The implementation of monomaterial PP structures can also facilitate optimization of geometry and wall thickness, which may lead to a reduction in packaging weight without impairing key performance characteristics such as stiffness, puncture resistance or tightness. In applications in the healthcare, mobility and fiber sectors, the combination of increased purity and stable processability is important for meeting quality and regulatory requirements related to product safety and consistency of production parameters.
Supporting recyclability requirements in packaging
In the packaging field, solutions based on Borstar Nextension are designed to comply with European Union regulations, including the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation. A key element of this legislation is the target of achieving 100% recyclable packaging by 2030. Monomaterial polypropylene constructions can help to meet this target by eliminating barriers resulting from combining different polymers in one product.
The growing portfolio of Borstar Nextension PP grades is already being used in flexible packaging applications. In these applications, the materials combine improved processability with properties aligned with sustainability requirements, including increased purity, clarity and sealing performance. In practice, for converters this can translate into more stable processing windows, the potential to reduce sealing temperatures and better visual quality of the final product, which is important, for example, in films intended for food contact or in packaging with high aesthetic requirements.
Developing the customer offer in the context of regulations and the market
Against the backdrop of increasing regulatory requirements and pressure to raise plastics recycling rates, investments in material technologies such as Borstar Nextension are part of adapting polymer producers' portfolios to market expectations. This concerns both regulatory pressure stemming from climate policy and the circular economy, and the demands of end users for predictable properties, stable quality and the possibility of reprocessing products.
Borealis emphasizes that increasing the availability of innovative, recyclable polymer materials is intended to enable their use in a wide variety of applications across multiple industries. As noted by Craig Arnold, Borealis Executive Vice President for Polyolefins, Circular Economy Solutions and Base Chemicals, the scale of the investment is expected to help customers respond more effectively to the dynamics of regulatory and market changes. According to Arnold, "By scaling up Borstar Nextension PP production, we empower our customers to stay ahead in a rapidly changing regulatory and market landscape. It is another example of our commitment to increase the availability of innovative, recyclable polymer materials suitable for a wide range of applications across multiple industries."
