Saudi Arabia Legislation Enforcement

RNS Number : 6386C

Symphony Environmental Tech. PLC

19 April 2017

 



19th April 2017

SYMPHONY ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES PLC

("Symphony", the "Company" or "the Group")

The information communicated within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement, this information is considered to be in the public domain

Saudi Arabia chooses Oxo-biodegradable Plastic

Symphony's d2w awarded SASO Quality-mark

Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc (AIM: SYM and NASDAQ OTC: SEPTY), a global specialist in products and technologies to "make plastic smarter", is pleased to announce (further to comments made in the outlook statement of the Company's Preliminary Results on 9 March 2017) government initiatives in Saudi Arabia, resulting from legislation requiring the use of oxo-biodegradable plastic for a wide range of locally-manufactured and imported plastic products. These include carrier bags, packaging films, agricultural films, and many other types of plastic products.

Symphony has been awarded the Quality-mark for its d2w oxo-biodegradable additive by the Saudi Arabia Standards Organisation ("SASO").  The Quality-mark is a condition of being an approved supplier allowed to supply oxo-biodegradable additive for inclusion in plastic products made or used in Saudi Arabia; Symphony and its regional distributor Eco-Polymers Ltd., have been selected as authorised suppliers, whose names have been announced on the SASO official website.  Government seminars have been held to introduce the legislative changes to manufacturers and importers, and the government has specified 14 April 2017 as the effective date post which compliance is required.

Michael Laurier CEO of Symphony said; "It is well known that plastic waste causes serious environmental problems around the world on land and in the oceans, and I am delighted that the Saudi Arabian government has become the latest to understand the important role which oxo-biodegradable plastic can play in helping to protect the environment, whilst being fully consistent with a circular economy.  Whilst no orders have yet been received, your Board is extremely pleased with this development and our accreditation as an approved supplier of d2w additive.  Our sales teams are now active in the country and we look forward to updating the market on activities in the region, as appropriate in due course." 

Saudi Arabia is an important manufacturer and consumer of plastic and the GCC polymer industry is projected to grow by 6% per annum over the next 5 years, reaching 33.8 million tons by the year 2019 of which 21.6 million tonnes is attributed to Saudi Arabia.¹

Contacts

Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc
Michael Laurier, CEO	Tel: [phone]
Ian Bristow, FD
Cantor Fitzgerald Europe
David Foreman / Michael Reynolds (Corporate Finance)	Tel: [phone]
David Banks (Sales)

NOTES TO EDITORS:

About Symphony Environmental Technologies plc

Symphony has developed and continues to develop, controlled-life plastic technology which turns ordinary plastic at the end of its service-life into biodegradable materials. It is then no longer a plastic and can be bioassimilated in the open environment in the same way as a leaf. The technology is branded d₂w® and appears as a droplet logo on many thousands of tonnes of plastic packaging and other plastic products around the world. In some countries oxo-biodegradable plastic is mandatory.  For a video of d₂w® plastic degrading see http://degradable.net/play-videos/4.

In addition, Symphony has developed a range of additives, concentrates and master-batches marketed under its d₂p® brand, which can be incorporated in a wide variety of plastic and non-plastic products so as to give them protection against many different types of bacteria, fungi, algae, moulds, insects and fire.

Symphony has also developed the d₂Detector®, a portable device which analyses plastics and detects counterfeit products.  This will be very useful to government officials tasked with enforcing legislation.  Symphony's d₂t tagging and tracer technology is also available for further security. See www.d2t.net

Symphony has a diverse and growing customer-base and has established itself as an international business with 74 distributors around the world. Products made with Symphony's plastic technologies are now available in nearly 100 countries and in many different product applications. Symphony is certified to ISO9001 and ISO14001.

Symphony is a member of The Oxo-biodegradable Plastics Association (www.biodeg.org) (OPA), the Society for the Chemical Industry (UK), and the Pacific Basin Environmental Council. Symphony actively participates in the Committee work of the British Standards Institute (BSI), the American Standards Organisation (ASTM), the European Standards Organisation (CEN), and the International Standards Organisation (ISO).

Further information on the Symphony Group can be found at www.symphonyenvironmental.com.

Caution regarding forward looking statements

Certain statements in this announcement, are, or may be deemed to be, forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ''believe'', ''could'', "should" ''envisage'', ''estimate'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''plan'', ''potentially'', ''will'' or the negative of those, variations or comparable expressions, including references to assumptions. These forward looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on the Directors' current expectations and assumptions regarding the Company's future growth, results of operations, performance, future capital and other expenditures (including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof), competitive advantages, business prospects and opportunities. Such forward looking statements reflect the Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available to the Directors.  

A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward looking statements including risks associated with vulnerability to general economic and business conditions, competition, environmental and other regulatory changes, actions by governmental authorities, the availability of capital markets, reliance on key personnel, uninsured and underinsured losses and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Although any forward looking statements contained in this announcement are based upon what the Directors believe to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with such forward looking statements. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward looking statements. Subject to any continuing obligations under applicable law or any relevant AIM Rule requirements, in providing this information the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any of the forward looking statements or to advise of any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

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¹ Source Gulf Petroleum and Chemical Association "GCC Plastic Industry Indicators 2014."

 

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