SIBUR’s Polyev factory in Bashkiria has opened for industrial tourism, showcasing solar power plants and recycled plastic production to raise awareness about sustainable practices.
MOSCOW, Russia – Russia’s largest polymer and rubber producer Sibur has opened its green company Polyev plant in Bashkiria Region for industrial tourism. Tourists are visiting Polyev to learn about the solar power plant and the technology of producing plastics from recycled materials.
In 2022, Polyev began operating a solar power plant consisting of more than 10,000 solar cells and covering an area equivalent to 10 football fields. With 4.9 MW of solar power generated, the plant will reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions by 3,000 tons per year.
The launch of the solar power plant in Polyev is one of the key climate projects in SIBUR’s sustainable development strategy. The company has registered the plant with the Qatar-backed Global Carbon Council program and is preparing to receive internationally recognized carbon credits.
Polyev uses solar energy to produce environmentally friendly products such as polymers containing recycled plastics. SIBUR, together with its partners, has created a network of plastic waste collection points and recycling machines to accept used plastic bottles (PET bottles) across Russia. SIBUR’s partners shred these bottles (in flakes) and send them to Polyev for further processing.
Polyev produces PET granules containing up to 30% recycled plastic (rPET) under the Vivilen brand, which are used to manufacture plastic bottles. Visitors on factory tours can see the production workshops as well as the warehouse with big bags of PET flakes, which are mixed with virgin polymer raw material during production. Over the past year, Polyev has welcomed more than 1,000 tourists, including local residents, young people and industry professionals interested in environmentally friendly production technologies.
Polief’s production capacity allows it to incorporate up to 34,000 tonnes of recycled plastic waste per year into new products, preventing up to 1.7 billion post-consumer plastic bottles from ending up in landfills. Vivilen rPET is popular with environmentally conscious manufacturers who use plastic bottles made from rPET for bottling water and beverages.
SIBUR emphasizes that the tour in Polyev will help Russians understand the importance of sorting and recycling waste, as well as incorporating it into the production of new products.
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