Kureha opens $150 million Belle plastics plant
Charleston Gazette 9/26/11
BELLE, W.Va. -- Kureha Corp. officially opened its $150 million specialty plastics plant in Belle Monday, hoping its new product will someday be used in plastic bottles and containers throughout the world.
The chemical plant is expected to produce up to 8.8 million pounds a year of polyglycolic acid, or PGA, a high-strength biodegradable plastic that provides a longer shelf life for food and beverages.
"Whether it is the plastic bottle we drink from or the packing our food comes in, this recyclable and biodegradable polymer will touch the lives of millions around the world," state Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, acting as governor, said during the plant's grand opening Monday.
Kureha's plant -- located on 3.5 acres inside the DuPont Belle property -- is the only facility in the world capable of manufacturing large quantities of PGA. The plant, which took two years to build, began operations on a small scale in mid-June and started commercial production last August.
The factory was not producing PGA plastic Monday, while the company works to improve the chemical production process, a company official said. Commercial operations are expected to resume in a month or two.
Kureha CEO Takao Iwasaki said the company selected the DuPont site in eastern Kanawha County because it's the only place in the world that produces glycolic acid, a chemical used to make PGA.
Iwasaki noted that a large number of polymers have been produced at the DuPont site over the years.
"This is a holy place for us," Iwasaki said. "We are very happy to come here. We are ready to make a dream."
Most plastic bottles these days are made from polyethylene terephthalate, or PET. A single layer of Kureha's PGA product -- marketed under the brand name Kuredex -- can be added to PET plastic bottles, making them much stronger. Kuredex also reduces the amount of carbon dioxide that escapes from carbonated soft drink bottles.
The PET bottles can still be recycled normally, even with the extra Kuredex layer.
"The product is revolutionary in what it's going to do for the industry," said Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who first met with Kureha executives in Japan in 2005 while serving as governor.
The company has hired 35 full-time workers. The plant is expected to employ about 50 people when it's at full production.
"We have the facility built, running and people working," said Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. "The Japanese people and West Virginians have a tremendous work ethic. We know what it means to work hard and play by the rules, to invest yourself and your energies and to devote yourself to good, hard work."
Kureha officials noted that Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., traveled to the company's headquarters in Japan, and also hosted them on two trips to West Virginia.
On Monday, Kureha became the 21st Japanese company to open a facility in West Virginia.
"I know they will be a great partner, providing jobs and economic development for the state well into the future," Rockefeller said in a prepared statement. "Beginning with their first trade mission here in 2003 until now, I've continually said Kureha is a great fit for West Virginia."
Kureha's PGA plastic also can be used for medical sutures, plastic wrappings, electronics and industrial products.
DuPont Chemicals President Gary Spitzer said Kureha has been an excellent partner. The Japanese company turned a former "brownfields" site at the DuPont Belle plant into a $150 million investment.
A DuPont chemist first made PGA in 1932, while Kureha researchers have been working to commercialize the product since 1996.
"It is innovation and discovery that leads to capital investment," Spitzer said. "It's innovation and discovery that leads to new jobs, to new applications, to new markets, and to new opportunities in the future."
Reach Eric Eyre at erice...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-4869.
