Carbios and Equipolymers partners in PET recycling

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Clermont-based company Carbios, a pioneer in the enzymatic recycling of plastic and textile polymers, has signed an agreement with Equipolymers which should host, at its site in Schkopau (Germany), a unit that will produce 40,000 tonnes of recycled PET each year, said Axelera.

In March, Carbios and Equipolymers, a subsidiary of Equate Petrochemical, signed a “ non-exclusive and non-binding agreement in the form of a Letter of Intent ”. If confirmed, Equipolymers, “ European leader in PET production ”, will host a unit at its Schkopau (Germany) site that will produce 40,000 tonnes of recycled PET each year using the enzymatic process developed by Carbios.

This agreement also provides for " assistance in securing the sources of supply of PET waste for this unit " which will enable Carbios to " transform the plastics industry market and take full advantage of its global leadership in this industry ". In addition, it will consolidate its model: the concession of operating licenses for its technologies and know-how and the sale of enzymes to its licensees who will build their own production units for recycled PET.

As MRC informed earlier, Equipolymers planned to carry out maintenance works at the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant in Schkopau (Sckhopau, Germany) in October. Neither the exact start and end dates of repair work at this enterprise, where two production lines with a capacity of 160,000 tonnes/year and 175,000 tonnes/year, were reported.

According to MRC's ScanPlast, the estimated PET consumption in Russia in January 2021 increased by 3% compared to the same indicator a year earlier. In total, according to the results of the first month of the year in Russia, the total estimated consumption of PET amounted to 57,420 tonnes.

Equipolymers is a company dedicated to the manufacture and marketing of PET resins. The company is a 50/50 global joint venture of The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) and Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. Since its formation in 2004, Equipolymers has leveraged the unique strengths of its parent companies, Dow and PIC of Kuwait. Equipolymers is the preferred partner for brand-owners and other key value chain players in the PET market, through innovation-driven leadership and high-quality product standards. Equipolymers' production facilities are located in Ottana (Italy) and Schkopau (Germany).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Plastic Technologies Inc. (PTI), a Holland, Ohio-based PET packaging research and development firm, and Italy-based PET packaging machinery specialist Sipa SpA have entered into a new strategic partnership agreement, said Canplastics.

In a news release, Sipa officials said the partnership will “help both companies to increase their visibility and create new business opportunities."

"Joining forces with Sipa makes perfect sense for PTI. We bring extensive knowledge in package development and material expertise to their capabilities’ portfolio,” said Thierry Fabozzi, PTI CEO. “This strong collaboration will also give PTI access to Sipa’s latest equipment and enable us to provide even better turnkey solutions for our brand-owner customers."

"In addition to the technical synergies, we also see geographic advantages,” said Sipa chairman Dr. Gianfranco Zoppas. “PTI’s well-established footprint in the U.S. will allow Sipa to further reinforce its visibility and success for its equipment technology in North America. Sipa’s relationships elsewhere in the world will help introduce PTI as a leader in package development, giving the possibility to Sipa to provide a very comprehensive offering to the market."

As per MRC, while beverage producers may still hold reservations about using recycled PET, according to KHS, a supplier of filling and packaging systems based in Dortmund, Germany, sees increasing bottle-to-bottle recycling rates as one sustainable solution to the challenges facing the industry. The degradation occurring the mechanical recycling of polypropylene, polyethylene or polystyrene is irreversible. However, this is not the case for recycled PET. In fact, PET is currently the only recycled plastic approved as a food-contact material.

Also we remind, soft drinks manufacturer Britvic has announced its intent for all its plastic bottles in the UK to be produced entirely from 100% recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) by the end of 2022, three years ahead of its original schedule. The company says the move covers its entire UK portfolio of Britvic-owned brands, and also those it produces under a newly signed 20-year franchise bottling agreement with PepsiCo for its carbonated brands in the UK. Britvic was a founding signatory of The UK Plastics Pact, and says it has already removed more than 1,500 metric tons of primary plastics from its supply chain since 2017, with all its primary packaging already fully recyclable.

According to MRC's ScanPlast, the estimated PET consumption in Russia in January 2021 increased by 3% compared to the same indicator a year earlier. In total, according to the results of the first month of the year in Russia, the total estimated consumption of PET amounted to 57,420 tonnes.

Sipa operates 17 sales branches, four manufacturing facilities (two sites in Italy, one in Romania and one in China) and 28 service centres; it also has eight injection molding refurbishment centers in Italy, China, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, and two in the U.S.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Pakistan Refinery Limited is seeking to buy a second-hand refinery complex to upgrade its operations and increase output to help meet rising demand for petroleum products as the country emerges from a pandemic-driven slump, reported Reuters.

The South Asian country currently has five refineries with a total capacity of 417,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to Pakistan's 2020 economic survey, the largest of which stands at 150,000 bpd.

If the purchase goes ahead PRL could double its capacity to 100,000 bpd.

The company this week sought offers to purchase a second-hand refinery complex for relocation to Pakistan, according to an advertisement placed in international media. It was undertaking an upgrade and potential expansion project to produce Euro V specification and high speed diesel oil. For this purpose, it intends to purchase a pre-owned refinery complex with one or more conversion units, which should have a 50,000 to 100,000 bpd throughput design.

Pakistan's total refining capacity is 19.37 million tonnes per year, according to the Economic Survey, while the country consumes 19.68 million tonnes of petroleum products annually. The government says refinery capacity is not being fully utilised on account of financial as well as technical problems, and is supplying only 11.59 million tonnes per year, with the rest of the country's needs imported.

As MRC informed previously, in early April 2020, Pakistan’s Attock Refinery was operating its 54,000 barrels per day (bpd) plant at 29% capacity and was preparing to shut the complex in a week’s time because of weak local demand. Iit was the third Pakistani refinery to halt operations because of the collapse in demand as the country implemented a lockdown to try to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 241,030 tonnes in January 2021 versus 217,890 tonnes a year earlier. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 141,870 tonnes in January 2021 versus 123,520 tonnes a year earlier. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - LLC "Huhtamaki Fiber Alabuga" intends to launch the production of environmentally friendly and biodegradable packaging for eggs from paper fiber and produce 130 million packages per year, the UAE "Alabuga" said.

The founders of the project are "Partner Polarkap Oi" from Finland and "Huhtamaki Finance BV" from the Netherlands. The production facilities should cover an area of ??6 hectares. The plant is slated to open in the first quarter of 2021. The volume of investments will amount to 1.4 billion rubles, 35 jobs are to be created.

In February this year, Finnish Huhtamaki Flexible Packaging Europe received approval from the European industry group RecyClass (Belgium) for its three new laminated polyethylene tube technologies, developed in collaboration with Czech company Zalesi and toolmaker Plastuni Lisses, part of the Somater Group. Pipes made with this technology from HDPE with easy to apply direct printing have been tested in an independent laboratory. The first PBL 220/11 HD technology, developed in collaboration with Zalesi, enables the production of fully recyclable HDPE products. In fact, the resulting recycled plastic has been tested in the production of new HDPE bottles at concentrations up to 25%.

Earlier it was reported that in December 2019 Huhtamaki put into operation a new line in the city of Ivanteevka (Moscow region). The commissioning of new equipment is part of an investment project that was presented in November 2018 and valued at USD7 million.

According to the ScanPlast by MRC, the estimated consumption of PE in Russia amounted to 241,030 tonnes in January 2021 against 217,890 tonnes in the same period a year earlier. Only high-density polyethylene (LDPE) and low-density polyethylene (HDPE) supplies have grown.

In Russia, Huhtamaki has two production sites - in Ivanteevka (Moscow region) and in Alabuga (Tatarstan), where it produces packaging for the catering industry and packaging for eggs.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kazakhstan's national vertical integrated oil and gas company Kazmunaygas (KMG) and Russia's Tatneft have agreed to go ahead with a butadiene rubber production project in Kazakhstan's Atyrau region before 2025, where around 186,000 mt of butadiene rubber and 170,000 mt of isobutane will be produced, reported S&P Global with reference to KMG's statement.

Butane feedstocks from the local oil and gas producer Tengizchevroil will be used for this project, KMG said.
The Kazakh national company said that the partnership with Tatneft will create an integrated domestic tire production, while also will make the product available for export into Europe, Russia, China, Turkey and other countries.

Thus, companies started the construction of an automotive tire plant in Saran, Karaganda region in central Kazakhstan on 5 April under a 2019 memorandum of understanding between the two companies.

Meanwhile, this will be the first synthetic rubber and tire production facility newly built in Kazakhstan, since the only tire factory in Shymkent built during the Soviet times was fully shutdown in 2007 after several changes in ownership.

As MRC wrote previously, PJSC Tatneft’s Tatneftegazpererabotka (UTNGP) is adding a new unit as part of an ongoing modernization program at its Minnibayevo gas processing plant (MGPP) in Tatarstan’s Almetyevsk region. Recently approved for its permit to build, the project includes construction of a normal butane (n-butane) processing unit and associated off-site installations within the boundaries of the existing MGPP complex.

Butadiene is the main feedstock for the production of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS).

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, ABS imports into Russia totalled 2,700 tonnes in January, compared to 2,600 tonnes a month earlier and 2,300 tonnes in January 2020.
MRC