Creating a sustainable lifecycle for manufacturing plants
How one company has redeployed and even repurposed redundant plants , avoiding significant carbon impact and value destruction
As the process industries reassess their operations , units , trains and sites that have been or will be idled can still be assets rather than liabilities . Environmental stewardship and social responsibility flounder when a shut-down plant is left to scrap metal and dust , while employees are left unemployed or underemployed . However , there is an opportunity to take part in a new , low carbonintensity , circular economy to bring life back to an asset .
International Process Plants ( IPP ) is a global leader in the purchase , repopulation and relocation of used speciality and fine chemical , agrochemical , pharmaceutical , polymers , fertiliser , petrochemicals and industrial chemical process plant facilities , process systems and equipment .
The company creates a sustainable and profitable lifecycle for these assets by purchasing idled plants and redeploying them into productive use with other manufacturers in need of additional capacity . This approach helps to reduce waste and also provides economic benefits to the communities where the plants are located .
When considering idling a facility , significant financial impact charges are booked on account . The cost of redundancies and severance , cleaning of raw materials , products and chemicals , mitigating environmental impacts , including asbestos and other site pollutants , carrying the utilities , basic maintenance , security , taxes and insurance for the idled site , along with management time to process the wind-down and eventual sale or demolition are significant .
Liabilities to assets
On average , it can take up to five years for an idled plant to be fully sold off . In many cases , IPP will take on these liabilities , allowing the operator to turn special financial charges back into bottom line profit in the same quarter as a transaction is consummated . The sale , purchase and repopulation of used process plant facilities , process systems and equipment is an effective way to reduce waste and create a sustainable lifecycle for these assets .
One example is a 70-hectare , fully integrated API and speciality chemical plant in Grimsby , UK , that Novartis shut down due to a manufacturing restructuring . It has over 900 m 2 of total reaction capacity across three production buildings and 90 individual reaction , drying and filtration suites .
The site is well suited for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals agrochemicals , food ingredients , flavours and fragrances , or key starting materials and can be tailored to meet their needs with a low capital requirement . It is available for sale in its entirety or divided by the three separate production buildings with shared infrastructure , or for lease in whole or in part .
38 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE