August 17, 2015, the GS Group investment and industry holding company placed in operation a pilot production plant for wood-plastic composites (WPC) in Ulyanovsk, Russian Federation – GS Composite. The plant is the first in Russia to apply the unique technology of producing WPC pellets with the addition of hard plastic.
The GS Composite flagship products are granulated wood-plastic composites and finished products made by extrusion and injection. WPC pellets output is 500 kg/hour; the capacity of the pilot production is up to 2150 tons of finished products per year. Total investment in the project is approximately 200 million rubles.
Wood-plastic composite contains a polymer, which is usually a soft plastic (polyethylene, polypropylene, poly vinyl chloride), and a wood filler. The GS Composite plant will be the first in Russia to apply a technology for producing composite mixture with a significant proportion of hard plastic – polyethylene terephthalate (PET). WPC pellets using hard plastic are designed for the production of finished products of higher strength, elasticity and moisture resistance, UV-stabilized and decay-resistant: packaging, construction and furniture parts, along with elements of construction formwork. The innovative production technology was developed in the GS Group in-house research and technology laboratory based on the Russian academy of sciences A.N. Frumkin Institute of Physical chemistry and Electrochemistry RAS (IPCE RAS) in Moscow.
GS Composite will use sawdust from local woodworking companies as wood raw material, and in the future it is planned to recycle waste from the Sudoma sawmill which is a part of the Dedovichi production facility complex for deep wood processing developed by GS Group in the Pskov region, Russia. The plant will also use recyclable materials from PET at the line for preparation of plastics.
Today, the GS Composite production area includes two fully automated production sites covering 1150 and 1050 sq. m. respectively, designed and equipped in accordance with international standards. According to the results of testing the unique method of PET-modified WPC pellet production, GS Group will decide on launching a large-scale strategic project – a full-cycle production of wood-plastic composites. Project implementation will increase the overall production up to 20 thousand tons of WPC pellets per year.
GS Group is one of the leading private diversified investment and industry holding companies in Russia. The business is based on the use of the in-house high technologies for the manufacture of products with high-added value. The holding company’s decision to enter the WPC market is related to the consistently implemented strategy for business diversification and the search for new promising industries. According to experts, the volume of the Russian wood-plastic composites market is around 20 thousand tons per year; over 40% of products are imported. Moreover, the market is growing 8-9% per year. Therefore, by 2020, annual consumption of WPC in Russia will exceed 30 thousand tons. Given the project’s potential, GS Composite products will be able to satisfy a significant part of the domestic WPC market, almost completely eliminating the industry’s dependence on imports.