IN response to the region’s increasing demand for environment-friendly products, Cyprus-based S&T Plastikon will offer a ‘green option’ in the shape of solar water heaters, which it will launch on the Bahrain market when it makes its debut at gulfBID.

“We believe that green energy is something that interests everyone, and so our aim is to promote the use of solar energy in the Gulf region when we participate at gulfBID,” says Stavros Stephanou, managing director of S&T Plastikon.
The company will be promoting hot water solar heaters for residential use as well as systems for buildings and hotels.
The firm has its origins as Tubel Heaters Company, which was established in 1979 to manufacture and install hot water solar systems. In 1992, S&T Plastikon was founded to produce polyethylene storage tanks for potable water, heating oil and other liquids using the rotational moulding method. In 2003, it merged with C P Theocharides Solar Energy and formed the Theohalko Solar Energy Industry, supplying hot water solar systems both to the local and European markets.
S&T Plastikon’s facilities, set up on its own 8,000 sq m plot, comprise a production area of 3,000 sq m, storage area of 2,500 sq m, offices on 300 sq m, and an outdoor storage area on 3,000 sq m.
It comprises two divisions; a solar division and a rotational moulding division. The solar division of the company manufactures hot water cylinders from 100 to 1,000 litres, and high-efficiency solar collectors. The rotational moulding division produces polyethylene storage tanks for potable water and other liquids ranging in capacity from 150 to 10,000 litres.
The company also manufactures garbage bins of various sizes as well as road barriers and industrial trolleys.
With an annual turnover in excess of $8 million, S&T Plastikon supplies its products to both its domestic as well as the export markets, with Europe and Africa being the prime export areas.
S&T Plastikon reports that 2008 was a “great year” in terms of business, though it is uncertain about prospects for this year in the European market, in view of the global economic crisis. In a bid to ensure its continued success, the company is now looking to penetrate new markets, especially in the Gulf.
S&T Plastikon is also playing a key role in research and development in its sphere of activities. It has been awarded three EU-funded research projects, worth over €500,000 ($681,887), which it will undertake with five major European universities. These are:
• Process optimisation/energy efficiency and development of a system for the production of rotational moulded storage tanks for potable water;
• Development of an innovative hot water storage tank made of mild steel and coated internally with a new special grade of polymer, under development, using rotational moulding; and
• Development of an energy-efficient and competitively-priced domestic electric storage water heater that reduces heat loss by 40 per cent.
The company will be displaying its products at its Stand No 1D13 at gulfBID.