Paving bitumen factory Aktau «Joint Venture «CASPI BITUM» operates under the state program of development of the petrochemical industry of Kazakhstan. It was transfered from the former Aktau Plastics Plant after stagnation in 2009 in a joint venture with China.
The original plastics factory was built in the years 1976-1980 by the Soviet Union, with the participation of French experts and it soon became one of the biggest plastics production factories in USSR.
The factory took advantage of large local petroleum resources and was once the largest complex in the production of various kinds of polystyrene in the whole USSR. However, from 1994 to 2000, it operated on a limited base because of the socio-economic changes and accident at the ethylbenzene installation. Later it started to stagnate due to lack of both mineral and financial resources, and was finally closed down in 2005.
Because of plastics production, the area might be contaminated by toxic substances, occuring from the production of ethylene, ethylbenzene, styrene, polystyrene, polysulfone, polyether sulfone and composite materials. These substances are also highly combustible and therefore they are of concern of fire safety measures.
