Alastair Port, IOD President and COO, said, “IOD is committed to strengthening our innovation platforms and meeting our customers’ market needs. Our new facility will be a significant milestone on our ‘future ready’ roadmap and serve as a center of excellence for the development of new niche and sustainability product lines. The Woodlands landscape creates a perfect setting for this investment.”
The world-class IOD business, which was acquired from Huntsman in January 2020, is one of IVL’s three global business segments together with the Fibers and Combined PET segments. IVL continues to invest in IOD research and development to improve product efficacy and processes and support environmental stewardship.
Extensive designing and engineering of the research center will start in coming months, and full occupation is expected in early 2022. It will be a hub for IOD research in the Americas, with links to sister facilities in Australia, India, and China. The Woodlands facility will also support IVL’s Fibers and PET segments on various sustainability projects. IVL, the world’s biggest maker of fully recyclable PET bottles, is investing USD 1.5 billion to towards its recycling and net zero targets.
