Plastics News Europe - September 2019 - 8

MARKETS & BUSINESS

➡ Continued from page 6
moulding of products; co-extrusion of
profiles, tubes, plates and foils; thermoforming, welding, printing; composite products, pultrusion and autoclave sectors.
In particular, said the main industry association, Grozd Plasttehnika
Slovenija, or Plasttechnics Cluster Slovenia, which represents 80 small and
medium-sized plastics companies,
key technologies made in the country
include injection moulding, with
products and services focussed on automotive parts; external extrusion
parts; thermoforming (packaging);
slow moulding (tubes, profiles); tool
technologies (plates, foils); computer-aided engineering technologies
(household equipment); and composite technologies (medical equipment
and sports plus recreation products).
More widely, the Slovenian chemical sector comprises both domestically-owned and foreign companies. Locally owned players include Navodnik,
Polycom (an integrated polymer and
mould company, based in Škofja
Loka, near the capital Ljubljana), and
Rotoprint (a Ljubljana-based plastic
packaging company). Foreign companies operating in Slovenia include
Henkel and Helios. About two thirds
of output in the sector is linked to
plastic processing in some way, says
the CCIS. This ranges from supplying
the automotive industry (both Seat
and Renault have production plants in
the country) to the production of industrial and consumer packaging
solutions.
Polycom specialises in overmoulding; replacing metal parts with plastics; delivering a wide spectrum of
technical thermoplastic materials; injection moulding of multi-component
products and complex injection
moulding of thin-walled products.
Polycom increased its sales revenue by 75% in the five years to 2017
to €31.2m in 2017, posting almost
€2m in net profits. The proportion of
exports in total sales is 81%, with the
company exporting to the EU, North
and South America and Asia, mostly
to clients from the automotive industry. The company produces injection
moulding machines as well as products for home appliances and electronics sectors. The company opened
a €12m production plant in Škofja
Loka in 2018.
One challenge facing the plastics
sector is its reliance on the automotive industry: "If Germany and other
EU countries cut back on car production then we do face challenges,"
said Navodnik, who is also director of
the Plasttechnics Cluster Slovenia.
However, he describes the sector as
flexible and able to respond quickly to

Slovenian supercar manufacturer Tushek has launched the TS 900 H Apex
hybrid hypercar. The company claims that with a kerbweight of just
1,410kg, the TS 900 is xclaimed to be the lightest car in its class. It is built
around a lightweight chrome-moly spaceframe chassis and carbon fibre
body, and features a removable targa-style roof panel and scissor doors

changing markets. An example of
this, he told Plastics News Europe,
can be found in the industry response
to environmental legislation. "There
is a big drive in Slovenia to insulate
houses and cut household emissions
to near zero," he said. "This provides
great opportunities in the manufacture of insulation panels."
The sector has also been faced with
legal requirements imposed on the
waste of plastics, including a clampdown on superfluous plastic and plastic bags, which has a high profile
across much of Europe, is also apparent in Slovenia. Free plastic bags have
been banned since the January (2019)
in Slovenia. According to Eurostat, Slovenia in 2016 (the latest data available) produced 108.04kg of waste
packaging per capita, of which
22.45kg per capita was plastic packaging. The total packaging recovered
was 87.64kg per capita, of which
18.61kg per capita was plastic packaging. The EU average was 31.9kg per
capita of plastic packaging produced
with 23.72kg per capita recycled.
One niche area where Slovenian
companies claim to dominate the European and international market is in
the manufacture of plastic candle
holders for graves. "These are in
huge demand from Catholic countries," said Navodnik - 57.8% of the
Slovene population is Catholic, according to census data.
In terms of takeovers and acquisitions, the country's plastics sector has
been quiet. In 2018, Plasta, a plastic
film maker located in Šentrupert, acquired the majority stake in the Slovenian vegetable oil maker Gea; meanwhile German firm Reclay took over
the Trans Impeks plastics recycling
operation in 2017. Historical cultural
reasons explain the lack of activity
and why more than 90% of small

plastics producers remain independent. "After the break-up of Yugoslavia [in 1990], the larger Soviet-style
companies were taken over and they
saw jobs lost," said Navodnik.
"Among the smaller firms there was
a sense that if you agreed to a takeover you were somehow anti-patriotic,
and you would lose your identity. It
may not always have made sense
economically to resist but for a family
company it can be good because it
means you don't disappear."
Regional trade deals are also expected to boost exports by plastics
producing companies. In May, Slovenia and North Macedonia announced
plans to increase the volume of bilateral trade to €500 million over the
medium term and with Slovenia's
Prime Minister Marjan Šarec citing
Slovenian companies such as Rotoprint as an enterprise that might benefit from the agreement.
Slovenian companies are also developing a reputation for innovation.
In May this year, start-up company
PlanetCare announced the development of plastic microfilters filters
specifically designed to catch microfibres shed from textiles and
clothes during washing and drying.
These include add-on filters for existing washing machines, built-in filters
for home appliance manufacturers
to install and industrial filters for
larger laundry facilities.
Last year, the University of Ljubljana Biotechnical Faculty started work
on a new technology for developing
improved coatings that can be applied to plastics, wood as well as other materials. The method is like standard hardening systems for coatings
with UV light but uses plasma-based
hardening that can be more effective
in humid conditions, useful for bathrooms and bathroom products.

SEPTEMBER 2019

Plastics News Europe - September 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Plastics News Europe - September 2019