BASF and WPO Polymers to Cooperate

BASF partners with WPO Polymers to boost biopolymer business in Spain and Portugal BASF, as part of its growth strategy for its biopolymer business, will collaborate with WPO Polymers to expand in the rapidly developing markets of Spain and Portugal. The plastics solutions provider will become the distributor of BASF's ecovio® film product range for certified compostable shopping bags, organic waste bags and fruit and vegetable bags in Spain and Portugal. BASF and its new partner, leveraging their respective strengths, will accelerate their business in this important market and support food companies and retailers in complying with Spanish Royal Decree 293/2018 regarding the reduction of plastic bags, including the mandatory use of plastic bags. Mia Pettersson, Head of Global Business Unit Specialty Polymers at BASF, said: "We selected WPO Polymers as our partner because of their recognized technical expertise in extrusion and their deep knowledge of recycling and plastic materials, which complements BASF's customer-focused strategy for ecovio® in the Spanish market. With this new partnership, we want to further enhance our services by providing greater proximity to our processors to more effectively meet our customers' needs and increase our delivery flexibility. The collaboration will also enable us to support the separate collection of organic waste, as high-quality compost is important for mitigating climate change." Since 2018, Spanish legislation has progressively tightened consumption of bags made from conventional plastic, so retailers and bag manufacturers have begun offering consumers only light and very light certified compostable bags.