AkzoNobel’s Partnership
with Photanol Wins Award
A partnership between AkzoNobel and
cleantech company Photanol, which aims
to harness the power of the sun to make
chemicals, has won a top award at the
2015 WBM Bio Business Awards.
The collaboration – announced in
September – was named Bio-Based
Chemical Collaboration of the Year at a
ceremony staged in Amsterdam. Held annually, the awards program was launched
to recognize business excellence and innovation in the bio-based industry.
The prize was awarded to AkzoNobel
and Photanol for their ongoing work
focused on creating sustainable technology which mimics the way plants use
photosynthesis. Combining AkzoNobel’s
processing technology expertise and
Photanol’s existing proprietary technology, the aim is to produce “green”
chemical building blocks that will eventually replace some of the raw materials
AkzoNobel currently obtains from fossil-based production.
“Our pioneering work with Photanol
has the potential to significantly reduce
our carbon footprint and we’re delighted that such an exciting collaboration
has been recognized with this important
award,” said Marco Waas, AkzoNobel’s
director of RD&I and Technology.
“Winning the award also demon-
strates that our Planet Possible agenda
of doing more with less is making great
progress, and we remain committed to
working with key partners in order to
make our global activities even more
sustainable, resulting in benefits both for
ourselves and our customers.”
AkzoNobel is also involved in several
other partnerships designed to identify
viable alternatives for increasingly scarce
raw materials.
Sika Acquires U.S.-based BMI
Products
Sika will acquire mortar producer BMI
Products of Northern California Inc., a
U.S.-based company active in production
and sales of a full range of mortar prod-
ucts and systems for the construction
industry. The acquisition will accelerate
Sika’s global expansion in the fast grow-
ing mortar business with an extended
new supply chain in the Western U.S. The
BMI plant brings Sika’s mortar footprint
to 76 factories worldwide.
BMI Products provides an excellent
production platform and has developed a
comprehensive range of mortar products
and systems for the construction industry,
Sika noted. The company is located in the
city of Milpitas, California (San Francisco
Bay Area) and, together with Sika’s Santa
Fe Springs production facility near Los
Angeles, provides strong access to the
large and fast-growing California con-
struction market.
The acquisition of BMI perfectly
complements Sika’s growth strategy in
North America and greatly strengthens
its supply chain for mortar products
sold throughout the Western United
States. It also provides Sika with a
known brand of specialty products,
and an established customer base in the
large California market.
The acquisition represents a further
step in the expansion of Sika’s mortar
business. With 31 percent growth in
2014, mortar is Sika’s strongest growing
product area as well as one of the key ele-
ments of the Strategy 2018.
Christoph Ganz, head of region North
America: “This acquisition is a further acceleration of the implementation of our
global mortar strategy. It provides us
with a solid production platform to further expand the mortars business in the
Western U.S.. We are proud to welcome
the new employees into the Sika team and
we are excited about growing our business together.” CW
Index to Companies
This index gives the starting page for a department or feature with a significant reference to a manufacturer of paint, coatings, adhesives and sealants
Subsidiaries are indexed under their own names.
AkzoNobel.............................................................................................8, 10, 34
Asian Paints .................................................................................................... 34
Axalta Coating Systems........................................................................ 10, 50, 90
BASF .............................................................................................. 10, 34, 48, 50
Benjamin Moore ............................................................................................. 10
Crown Paints .................................................................................................. 10
Dunn-Ed wards ................................................................................................ 48
Flowcrete ........................................................................................................ 48
Hardide Coatings ............................................................................................ 10
H.B. Fuller ............................................................................................... 10, 40
Hempel ........................................................................................................... 10
Jotun ............................................................................................................... 34
PPG................................................................................................ 10, 35, 48, 50
Sherwin-Williams ...................................................................................... 10, 38
Sika ........................................................................................................8, 10, 38
Universo Tintas ............................................................................................... 38
Valspar...................................................................................................... 10, 48