BASF at Seal Sands.

Basf is one of several multi-national chemical companies to recognise the many benefits of having a major manufacturing operation in a region with a long tradition of chemical manufacturing, heavy engineering and steel-making.

December 2006 will mark the 21st anniversary of the acquisition by BASF of the Seal Sands site.

BASF's largest site in the UK, at Seal Sands, near Middlesbrough in the Tees Valley, produces intermediates used in the production of acrylic and nylon fibres for clothing and carpets.

It also produces a wide range of acrylic and Nylon plastics for the domestic, engineering and motor industries.

In addition, a number of by-products are recovered and used to produce a variety of other materials, including plastics, additives and fertilisers.

The Tees Valley area has an excellent road and rail infrastructure suitable for the transport of chemical cargoes from the production plants to customers anywhere within the United Kingdom or mainland Europe.

Seal Sands was named because more than 1,000 common seals lived on its mudflats.

In the 1960s and 70s, reclamation of the mudflats and the construction of manufacturing sites lead to the virtual disappearance of the seal community.

Today, approximately 50 common seals and 30 grey seals can be seen basking together on the remaining sand banks and mudflats.

When the site at Seal Sands was being built it was also famous for a flamingo that used to feed in the shallow waters of the reclaimed land in the early 1980s. It became the site's unofficial logo.

Teesport is the second largest in the UK and equivalent to Antwerp as a chemical port.

BASF Seal Sands has two deep-water jetties capable of handling 5,000 tonne coastal tankers near the mouth of the river Tees.

This allows safe and cost-effective import and export of raw materials and finished chemical products in bulk to all major European ports.

IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS: To ensure that BASF Seal Sands remains a leading manufacture of nylon intermediates, an ongoing continuous improvement programme exists to maximise production, reduce costs and deliver a high added value to our products.

Previous developments have included a major process catalyst changeover, converting by-products to higher value added products, building a combined heat and power plant and advanced process control and monitoring systems. Full integrated site services are provided from a central utilities complex which controls the distribution of treated water, compressed air, high and low pressure steam and nitrogen.

Due to the large power requirement of the Adiponitrile process, BASF has co-operated with National Power (now npower Cogen) to build and operate 75 MW combined heat and power (CHP) plant on the site.

The pounds 32m CHP plant, operational from mid 1997, generates electricity and provides steam for the site.

Generation of electricity in this environmentally acceptable way provides very efficient and competitive energy costs for the site.

The site also provide products for other companies in the Tees Valley by establishing joint ventures with Ineos and Lucite International, for the conversion of its by products into refined Acetonitrile and Acetone Cyanohydrin.

Acetonitrile is used by Ineos as a pharmaceutical solvent, and Lucite International uses Acetone Cyanohydrin in the production of hard plastics.

BASF itself purchases many of its raw materials from neighbouring companies.

One of the recent projects of the environmental protection programme is the construction of an Absorber Vent Treatment Plant or Absorber Off-Gas System. The aim of this project is to remove environmental contaminants from two waste streams.

The vents are treated by oxidation in a two-stage process in such a way as to minimise emissions of volatile organic compounds.

This significant capital expenditure programme at pounds 9m, is a clear indication of BASF's commitment to a cleaner environment.

This plant has been running for a number of years, and BASF is currently working with the Environment Agency on further projects to reduce its environmental impact.

Meeting the targets under the UK government's Climate Change Agreement, means that the site can claim an 80pc rebate on the levy charged on gas and electricity to industrial users.

BASF has agreed to make year on year reductions in energy usage, therefore reducing carbon dioxide released in to the atmosphere.

The site also ensures it complies with government legislation on the Kyoto agreement. The Kyoto Protocol aims to tackle global warming by setting target levels for nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.

These targets vary between countries and regions, but globally the initial target is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2pc below 1990 levels by 2012.