In support of greener business practices, the EBRD is lending €15 million to Turkish chemicals maker Egesil Kimya Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. to increase production of precipitated silica, a key component of energy-efficient tires that reduce carbon emissions. Founded in 2002, Egesil is majority-owned by Germany’s Evonik Industries, one of the world’s leading specialty chemicals producers and the world’s largest silica producer.
The loan will help build a new production facility in Sakarya, Turkey, next to the company’s existing facility. It will increase the specialty chemicals manufacturer’s annual production capacity of precipitated silica by 40,000 tonnes.
Demand for highly dispersible silica is strong and growing in the global tire industry to replace carbon black, the traditional filler material in tire manufacturing. Silica increases the grip and adhesion of tires and has better anti-skid properties. It also reduces fuel consumption by lowering rolling resistance.
The new facility is expected to become operational by 2020. It will help make carbon emissions savings of around 67,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year during the life cycle of tires. The EBRD Strategy for Turkey emphasizes contributing to the improvement of energy and resource efficiency and to the further integration of medium-sized private Turkish companies into global value chains. The project is also part of the EBRD’s Green Economy Transition (GET) approach, as 100 per cent of the Bank’s loan will be used for green investments.
Egesil Kimya has been chosen among various Evonik subsidiaries to house the capacity increase targeted to supply the European automotive tire industry. The company’s existing facility has a very good track record, a cost-competitive manufacturing base and was awarded the Evonik Platinum Safety Award in 2018 for not having had a single work accident over the past 15 years. Strong demand for its product and full order books triggered the need to expand capacity.
Original source: EBRD
Published on 8 November 2018
