Recycling of post-consumer plastic across Canada increases by 24%

(canplastics) -- Aided by the addition of thermoformed polystyrene and polyester packaging and molded tubs and lids to some municipal collection programs, Canadians recycled an additional 24% of plastic packaging and products in 2011 compared to 2010, according to a new report released by the Canadian Plastics Industry Association.

The increase is the result of more material collected for recycling as well as more companies providing recycling information, the CPIA said. In total, over 268.5 million kilograms of post-consumer plastic was collected for recycling in Canada.

Compared to 2010, the recycled plastic quantities reported for 2011 represent an increase of 19% for bottles (29.3 million kilograms), an increase of 70% for non-bottle rigids (21 million kilograms), and a more modest increase of one per cent for plastic bags and outer wrap (272 thousand kilograms).

The plastic packaging collected for recycling comes from a variety of every-day consumer goods such as plastic bottles, non-bottle rigid plastics (such as deli and dairy containers, bakery, vegetable, fruit containers), plastic film, bags and outer wrap and foam polystyrene.

Despite the overall good news for 2011, there remains room for improvement. "There is underutilized capacity creating ample opportunity for consumers and businesses to supply our recyclers with more plastics," CPIA said.

The non-bottle rigid plastic stream saw a substantial increase of 70% in 2011 due in part to more municipalities expanding collection to all plastic containers, beyond just bottles.

The CPIA recognizes there is more to do as Canadian plastic recyclers want more supply. There is underutilized capacity creating ample opportunity for consumers and businesses to supply recyclers with more plastics. For instance, it is estimated that the film and bag recycling capacity in Canada to be at 38% utilization of the capacity. There is also growth in demand for good quality non-bottle rigid plastic, including PET thermoforms and Polyethylene and Polypropylene containers and bulky rigid items, as recycled bottle supplies continue to be tight.
MRC

(upstreamonline) -- Russia’s Rosneft has inked a pair of loan deals which have seen the oil giant handed almost the exact amount of cash it has agreed to pay BP for its share in joint venture TNK-BP.

Rosneft’s two loan deals struck on Friday but only revealed on Monday are for USD4.1 billion and USD12.7 billion for a total pot of USD16.8 billion.

In October the company agreed to pay BP USD17.1 billlion in cash and around 13% of its shares in return for getting the UK supermajor’s 50% stake in TNK-BP.

Both loans have five-year terms and come from a consortium of banks including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, BNP Paribas, BTMU, Citibank, Credit Agricole, ING, Intesa Sanpaolo, JP Morgan, Mizuho, Natixis, Nodrea, SMBC, Societe Generale and Unicredit.

As MRC wrote earlier, Rosneft has already agreed to take the remaining 50% of TNK-BP from the Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR) consortium for USD28 billion.

MRC

(apic-online) -- Middle Eastern suppliers have been talking about their limited allocations for PP and PE in global markets. After Saudi Polymers shut its new Jubail complex in November, other producers have been added to the list of shutdowns recently reported out of the region.

Saudi Polymers was expected to resume production on December 11 at its complex, where they faced technical problems earlier and had to go for a shutdown after it had started commercial operations in October. The complex hosts a cracker with a capacity to produce 1.16 million tons/year of ethylene and 430,000 tons/year of propylene, plus a total PE capacity to produce 1.1 million tons/year and 400,000 tons/year of PP. The restart date remains unclear as of now while some players speculate that it should be back into operations in January.

Borouge had a shutdown at its Ruwais petrochemical complex in Abu Dhabi in December, bringing down its two PE units with a total capacity of 600,000 tons/year. Now, the producer is preparing to shut its Borouge 2 site in mid January for a month long maintenance. The site includes a 1.45 million tons/year cracker along with a 540,000 tons/year PE unit and two PP units, each producing 400,000 tons/year.

PetroRabigh is also considering a shutdown at its 600,000 tons/year LLDPE plant in Saudi Arabia, according to market players. The maintenance shutdown is expected to take place in early January or mid January, they report, while they are currently said to be running at low rates. A market source also informed that the shutdown will last three to four weeks.

Limited supplies have been the main reason pulling prices higher in the Turkish PP and PE markets recently. Middle Eastern producers continue to report limited PP and PE availability for January as well.

MRC

(hydrocarbonprocessing) -- Mitsubishi Chemical will construct a new industrial complex in the USA that uses shale gas next to a new Dow Chemical's cracker, the Nikkei reported in its Sunday morning edition.

The Japanese company plans to set up an acrylic resin-processing plant next to one of the world's largest ethylene plants the US company is set to build in Texas. The two companies aim to use the cheaper, new natural gas to mass-produce value-added chemical products.

North America is thought to have rich deposits of shale gas. Some estimates show that producing ethylene from North American shale gas cost only one-twentieth of that of production at chemical plants in Japan. As MRC reported earlier, major global petrochemical companies are moving to build plants in the US, signalling that price competition for resin products may further intensify.

Dow Chemical plans to spend about 330 billion yen to build a huge plant that uses shale gas to produce 1.5 million tpy of ethylene in the Texas city of Freeport.

The company is looking to start operating the plant in 2017. Mitsubishi Chemical, meanwhile, will set up its own plant that will use lower-priced ethylene supplied by Dow Chemical. The two companies will cooperate in creating this new industrial complex.

Mitsubishi Chemical will spend about 50-60 billion yen to build its new plant, which will be capable of producing 250,000 million tpy of acrylic resin materials, making it one of the largest in the world.
MRC

(plastemart) -- Styrolution has chosen Albis and Ultrapolymers as its agents in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as part of a new distribution strategy for its styrenics specialities portfolio.

Under its new specialty portfolio business model, Styrolution has selected partners based upon their ability to best serve customers with regards to technical, industry and market segment expertise, service and logistics capabilities and geographical competencies. Albis and Ultrapolymers will serve as one-stop shops for Styrolution's specialty grades in the region.

Based on the new agreement, Albis will have an exclusive arrangement for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, the Benelux countries, Scandinavia and the Baltic states, while Ultrapolymers' territory will cover Italy, Portugal and Spain. Both companies will jointly serve Eastern Europe, Turkey, Russia and the UK and Ireland.

As MRC informed earlier, the reorganization of its distribution channels in the region comes just over a year after the company made its debut on the market as the largest global supplier of styrenics, with leading positions in styrene monomer, styrenic Specialties, polystyrene and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). These products include brands, such as Luran, Luran S, Luran SC, Luran HH, Terblend N, Terlux, NAS, Zylar, Styrolux/Styroflex and Novodur.
MRC