Through the Andrew Sabin Family foundation, precious metal recycler Sabin Metal is sponsoring the construction of an orphanage and bomb shelter at the City of Goodness domestic violence centre in Western Ukraine. It has raised $250,000 of the $350,000 goal and is now asking for help to secure the rest.

To date, the centre has taken in more than 60 orphans as well as refugees from across the country. As the number of residents increases, the need for more space and heightened safety is an imperative.

Private equity firm Aterian Investment Partners has acquired EverZinc and will combine it with existing affiliate US Zinc to make the world’s largest maker of zinc chemical products. This will be based in Houston and will operate under the EverZinc name, with EverZinc CEO Vincent Dujardin becoming CEO and US Zinc president and CEO Joel Hawthorne as vice chairman.

The EU’s Risk Assessment Committee has assessed glyphosate’s hazardous properties against criteria in the Classification, Labelling & Packaging Regulation and concluded that its classification should not be changed. This is consistent with the proposal of the four member states currently assessing the substance and RAC’s own 2017 opinion.

Steve Elliott, chief executive of the Chemical Industries Association, looks at the key immediate challenges facing the industry in the UK

DSM and Swiss-based flavours and fragrances house Firmenich have agreed to merge. The deal, which is expected to close in 1H 2023, is valued at about $19.6 billion. DSM-Firmenich would have about €11.4 billion/year in sales, comparable to IFF after its combination with DuPont’s Nutrition and Biosciences business early last year.

Sarah Ingle, who specialises in chemical safety and regulatory compliance at EcoOnline, explores how chemists can create a participatory safety culture

Italian CDMO Olon is to invest €10 million to create an R&D hub at its headquarters site at Rodano near Milan. This will integrate seven existing R&D centres and will be dedicated entirely to research laboratories to be used to develop APIs and manufacturing processes. 

Construction has started and is due to be completed in Q2 2023. This will also lead to about 50 new researchers being hired, bringing the corporate total to around 350.