US polyolefin compounder Washington Penn Plastic (WPP, Washington, Pennsylvania; www.washingtonpennplastic.com) has opened its first European plant in Voderady / Slovakia. Located near Trnava, Audia Plastics not only will turn out mineral-filled and glass-reinforced PP as well as TPO compounds, but also houses a development line and a testing and certification laboratory. The key business foci are the automotive, appliance, construction, consumer products and packaging segments.

WPP first announced plans for the Slovakian facility in late 2010 – see Plasteurope.com of 21.12.2010. Built at a cost of EUR 8m together with affiliate Uniform Color Company (UCC, Holland, Michigan / USA; www.uniformcolor.com), the groups had announced two years ago that the Voderady site would turn out 66,000 t/y of PP compounds as well as 2,270 t/y of masterbatch.

Aside from the Voderady plant, WPP also operates four facilities in the US as well as one in nearby Mexico.