Polyolefin foams maker Sekisui Alveo (Lucerne / Switzerland; www.sekisuialveo.com) has announced it will begin supplying its "Alveosport" (cross-linked polyolefin foams used in artificial turf) product in March 2018, after a new factory goes online following a fire which devastated its plant in Roermond / The Netherlands, in December 2016.

The company said it had decided to build a new factory rather than refurbish the one hit by the blaze, and replace the damaged equipment with new machines. The fire mainly hit production of Alveosport, while supplies of its "Alveobloc" (laminated block foams) products were resumed in January this year. The new factory's layout is more efficient than the old one, and with an up-to-date fire safety system. The investment in the new production facility and new equipment runs into millions of euros, Sekisui says.