Pharmaceutical & Cosmetic Review May 2017 | Page 38

Aerosols
Quality propellant for cosmetics
Afrox has invested over R10 million in upgrades to its
special gases propellant plant located in Roodekop,
Germiston. The improvements eff ectively position
the company as a well-established supplier to South
Africa’s FMCG personal care market.
Ensuring continuous supply
Part of the upgrades also included the
commissioning of strategic storage tanks in the
Gauteng region. This will allow Afrox to have
continuous supply in the event of an unplanned
shutdown by suppliers. ‘We want our customers
to have peace of mind, and focus on their core
business whilst we, as the supplier of choice,
ensure consistent supply,’ adds Baird. ‘As part
Afrox Propellant road
tanker fi lling bay
of the global Linde Group, we can leverage off
the Linde supply chain, importing product at
lower rates and have assured fl exibility. In 2016,
we successfully imported over 750t of product,
thus we had full supply to all our contracted
customers with no product rationing or
short supply.’
Quality, safety and value add
The installation of state-of-the-art laboratory
equipment was also included in the upgrades
DID
YOU KNOW?
to the propellant plant. This enables
Afrox to provide accurate and live
certifi cates of analysis with each
load that leaves the company’s
Afrox is celebrating its 90
site. The system offers a wide
anniversary this year. Schalk Venter,
Afrox’s MD, says the company’s
range of components analysed
longevity is a credit to the generations
in a short space of time, from
of Afrox people who built it to survive
percentage concentrations to
and prosper in a competitive
part per billion concentrations.
world. Afrox was founded in
The propellants for cosmetics
1927, and listed on the
and personal care applications
JSE in 1963.
Dedicated road tankers
for propellant deliveries
th
present a unique challenge as some
of the components that can be harmful
elute close to the background. Good separation
is of the utmost importance to quantify these
components, ensuring the end customer can
use Afrox’s cosmetics grade propellants with
total confi dence.
‘Afrox operates strict policies regarding
product stewardship and the responsible and
ethical management of health, safety and
the environmental aspects of a product,’ she
Afrox has
a lot more
to off er
than just
quality gas
P
comments. ‘We can assist our customers to
ersonal care propellant is bound by
stringent quality standards. It is also
crucial that propellant gas is free from
odours and impurities. As part of the
upgrades at the production facility, Afrox has
ensured the company meets these standards.
Nadine Baird, product manager: chemicals
at Afrox, explains: ‘One of our guiding principles
is the supply of quality product. We source and
supply product to the highest standards and our
fi ltration system allows us to remove sulphurs,
dienes and moisture.’
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| MAY 2017 | P C Review
identify product risks and hazards and help
identify mitigation measures for these risks. We can
also perform on site safety audits if the customer
requires this assistance.’
The future of propellants is very exciting. Baird
says Afrox has a lot more to offer than just quality
gas. ‘We have technical expertise, product supply
security, a world-class telemetry system that allows
remote monitoring of tanks and the fl exibility to
meet our customer’s needs.’ ·
Afrox – www.afrox.co.za