MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dow, Midland, Michigan, has announced several advancements in its efforts to prevent plastic waste, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide customers with recycled plastic products, said the company.
The company says these advancements will help it to provide initial supply of fully circular polymers to customers starting in 2022.
Dow reports that it has finalized an agreement with Gunvor Petroleum Rotterdam to purify pyrolysis oil feedstocks derived from plastic scrap. Gunvor will supply cracker-ready feedstock to Dow beginning this year, which will be used to produce circular plastics for customers. Dow says the purification process is necessary to ensure pyrolysis oil feedstocks are of sufficient quality to produce new polymers. The company reports it also is fast-tracking the design, engineering and construction of a market development scale purification unit in Terneuzen, the Netherlands, to provide additional capacity to purify pyrolysis oil feedstock derived from plastic scrap.
Additionally, Dow has established a multiyear agreement with New Hope Energy in Tyler, Texas, to supply it with pyrolysis oil feedstocks derived from plastics recycled in North America. New Hope Energy converts used plastics into pyrolysis oil feedstock, which Dow will use to produce circular plastics.
The company also is on track to receive International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) for each of its major European and U.S. sites. The company says this certification requires an independent, external audit to ensure product supply chains are fully traceable and that Dow and its suppliers are adhering to and accelerating sustainable practices.
“The market is placing significant value on circularity and Dow is innovating to address the tremendous unmet demand for circular and low carbon polymers,” says Diego Donoso, president of Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics. “As the leading materials science company, Dow is offering our customers what they need today and helping them develop more sustainable products, including 100 percent recyclable solutions or adding recycled or bio-based content into their products."
As MRC wrote earlier, Dow Chemical began the process of restarting operations at its cracker No.7 in Freeport (Freeport, TX, USA) on 19 July, 2021, after a technological disruption on 4 July, 2021.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
Dow combines global breadth, asset integration and scale, focused innovation and leading business positions to achieve profitable growth. The Company's ambition is to become the most innovative, customer centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company, with a purpose to deliver a sustainable future for the world through our materials science expertise and collaboration with our partners. Dow's portfolio of plastics, industrial intermediates, coatings and silicones businesses delivers a broad range of differentiated science-based products and solutions for its customers in high-growth market segments, such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility and consumer care. Dow operates 106 manufacturing sites in 31 countries and employs approximately 35,700 people. Dow delivered sales of approximately USD39 bn in 2020.
MRC