McDonalds Canada eliminating most single-use plastic foodservice products

McDonalds Canada eliminating most single-use plastic foodservice products

MOSCOW (MRC) -- McDonald’s Canada has announced plans to eliminate plastic cutlery, stir sticks and straws in its restaurants by December, said Canpastics.

In an Oct. 7 news release, the company said that it will introduce wooden cutlery, wooden stir sticks and paper straws to its more than 1,400 restaurants across the country.

The only piece of plastic cutlery that McDonald’s Canada will continue to offer will be plastic spoons used with McFlurry ice cream products.

"By being part of the Canadian fabric and serving close to three million guests every day… McDonald’s Canada is playing an important role in the ongoing reduction of single-use plastics in the country,” Rob Dick, supply chain officer, McDonald’s Canada, said in the release. “By removing these single-use plastics in our restaurants, we show our ongoing commitment to minimize our environmental footprint and to help protect the planet for future generations."

Removing plastic cutlery, stir sticks and straws from McDonald’s Canada locations will remove approximately 840 tons of plastics from the Canadian system annually, the news release said.

As per MRC, Ford is looking to partner with McDonald's to recycle coffee chaff, the husk of coffee beans that peels off during roasting. To start with, the chaff will be recycled and molded into headlamp housings for Ford products, which will produce lighter components and, in turn, improve the cars' efficiency. Both companies want to carry on collaborating with one another for a more sustainable future.

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.

McDonald’s has been operating in Canada since 1967.
MRC

Vietnamese Dung Quat refinery back to full operations as coronavirus restrictions ease

Vietnamese Dung Quat refinery back to full operations as coronavirus restrictions ease

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Vietnam's Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical is back running at full capacity to meet a rising demand for refined fuel products, the company said, as coronavirus movement restrictions ease, reported Reuters.

"The Dung Quat refinery has raised its output to meet the market's rising demand for diesel oil," it said in a statement, using another name for the same refinery.

The 130,000-bpd refinery in central Vietnam cut its output to 80% of capacity early last month amid widespread lockdown throughout the country.

Vietnam has over the past weeks gradually relaxed its coronavirus curbs as new infections fall. Average daily cases were 4,441 in the week ending Oct. 10, from 7,413 the previous week. Vietnam resumed flights on some domestic routes from Sunday, and will restart inter-provincial bus services from Wednesday, the government said.

Binh Son said, however, that the pace of demand for gasoline products remains slow.

As MRC informed earlier, Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical (NSRP) completed maintenance works at its new polypropylene (PP) plant in Vietnam in mid-September 2021. The 400,000 mt year of PP plant was shut on 24 August 2021, instead of the initially scheduled date of 17 August, for approximately three weeks. The company decided to postpone the maintenance shutdown at this plant by one week from the previous schedule due to the COVID-19 related lockdown.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

Dung Quat commenced commercial operations in 2009, becoming Vietnam's first refinery. It meets about 30% of the country's demand for refined fuels.
MRC

ExxonMobil to start up its first large-scale plastic waste advanced recycling facility in Texas by late 2022

ExxonMobil to start up its first large-scale plastic waste advanced recycling facility in Texas by late 2022

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil plans to build its first, large-scale plastic waste advanced recycling facility in Baytown, Texas, and is expected to start operations by year-end 2022, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

By recycling plastic waste back into raw materials that can be used to make plastic and other valuable products, the technology could help address the challenge of plastic waste in the environment. A smaller, temporary facility, is already operational and producing commercial volumes of certified circular polymers that will be marketed by the end of this year to meet growing demand.

The new facility follows validation of ExxonMobil’s initial trial of its proprietary process for converting plastic waste into raw materials. To date, the trial has successfully recycled more than 1,000 metric tons of plastic waste, the equivalent of 200 million grocery bags, and has demonstrated the capability of processing 50 metric tons per day.

Upon completion of the large-scale facility, the operation in Baytown will be among North America’s largest plastic waste recycling facilities and will have an initial planned capacity to recycle 30,000 metric tons of plastic waste per year. Operational capacity could be expanded quickly if effective policy and regulations that recognize the lifecycle benefits of advanced recycling are implemented for residential and industrial plastic waste collection and sorting systems.

ExxonMobil is developing plans to build approximately 500,000 metric tons of advanced recycling capacity globally over the next five years. In Europe, the company is collaborating with Plastic Energy on an advanced recycling plant in Notre Dame de Gravenchon, France, which is expected to process 25,000 metric tons of plastic waste per year when it starts up in 2023, with the potential for further expansion to 33,000 metric tons of annual capacity. The company is also assessing sites in the Netherlands, the US Gulf Coast, Canada, and Singapore.

To meet customer demand for circular polymers, ExxonMobil has obtained certifications through the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification Plus (ISCC Plus) process for several of its facilities. ISCC Plus is widely recognized by industry as an effective system to certify products that result from advanced recycling using mass balance attribution of plastic waste.

To help address the need for increased collection and sorting of plastic waste, as MRC informed before, in February 2021, ExxonMobil formed a joint venture with Agilyx Corporation, Cyclyx International LLC, focused on developing innovative solutions for aggregating and pre-processing large volumes of plastic waste that can be converted into feedstocks for valuable products. Cyclyx will help supply ExxonMobil’s advanced recycling projects, and will aim to do the same for other customers.

ExxonMobil is a founding member of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, which is focused on accelerating investment in safe, scalable and economically viable solutions to help address the challenge of plastic waste in the environment through a portfolio of projects that has grown to more than 30 ongoing projects across several countries.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world"s oil and about 2% of the world"s energy.
MRC

Neste partners with TripActions Group to provide sustainable aviation fuel to customers

Neste partners with TripActions Group to provide sustainable aviation fuel to customers

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Neste, the world’s leading sustainable aviation fuel producer, and TripActions and Reed & Mackay, the fastest-growing travel and spend management group, have announced a groundbreaking global partnership to offer Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel to all TripActions Group customers, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The agreement marks the first time that a corporate travel management company is able to provide customers with the option to buy sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at scale and reduce the environmental impact of their business travel.

TripActions and Reed & Mackay aim to operate at the forefront of corporate travel sustainability - becoming the world’s first travel management company group to enable customers to purchase SAF directly from the world’s largest producer and then supply it to the airlines on which they fly. In partnering with Neste, TripActions and Reed & Mackay will enable customers to reduce their carbon footprint while driving investment in this important sector.

The TripActions Group-Neste partnership will facilitate corporate sustainability efforts, such as the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) guidance for the aviation sector, which recognizes SAF as a solution for corporate customers to meet emissions targets for business travel through a direct purchase of SAF from a fuel producer or an airline.

Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel is made from sustainably sourced renewable waste and residue raw materials. In its neat form and over the lifecycle, Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80%, as compared to fossil jet fuel use. The fuel enables significant reductions in flying-related emissions, giving businesses an opportunity to contribute to reportable emission reductions with Science-Based Targets (SBTs).

As MRC reported earlier, in September 2021, Kinder Morgan, one of North America’s largest energy infrastructure companies, partnered with Neste, one of the leading providers of renewable and circular solutions, to create a premier domestic raw material storage and logistics hub in the United States, supporting increased production of renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel and renewable feedstock for polymers and chemicals.

We remind that in July, 2021, Finnish Neste and LyondellBasell announced a long-term commercial agreement under which LyondellBasell will source Neste RE, a feedstock from Neste that has been produced from 100% renewable feedstock from bio-based sources, such as waste and residue oils and fats. This feedstock will be processed through the cracker at LyondellBasell’s Wesseling, Germany, plant into polymers and sold under the CirculenRenew brand name.

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 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

Neste (Helsinki) creates solutions for combating climate change and accelerating a shift to a circular economy. The company refines waste, residues and innovative raw materials into renewable fuels and sustainable feedstock for plastics and other materials. The company is the world’s leading producer of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel, developing chemical recycling to combat the plastic waste challenge. In 2020, Neste's revenue stood at EUR11.8 billion, with 94% of the company’s comparable operating profit coming from renewable products.
MRC

Arkema to build a new bio-based polyamide 11 powders plant in China

Arkema to build a new bio-based polyamide 11 powders plant in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema announced the construction of a polyamide 11 powders plant on its Changshu platform in China, scheduled to come on stream in the first quarter of 2023, said the company.

This investment will further support the growing demand for advanced bio-circular materials in Asia.

Rilsan polyamide 11 powders, currently produced in France entirely from renewable castor beans, are recognized worldwide for their superior properties and performance in terms of toughness, durability, lightweight and processing versatility. They are used in very demanding applications and provide innovative solutions for fast-growing markets driven by megatrends such as durable home appliances, energy-efficient transport, and advanced additive manufacturing (3D printing) primarily for consumer, industrial, and aerospace markets.

Beyond the bio-based nature of the powder, this project will also contribute to Arkema’s ambitious sustainability commitments by using highly efficient manufacturing processes and by being physically closer to the new amino 11 plant in Singapore.

"We are very excited about this expansion", said Erwoan Pezron, Senior Vice President, High Performance Polymers. "There is strong and growing demand in Asia across all of our key powders markets and this added capacity will enable us to supply the region from within the region."

This expansion goes hand in hand with the Group’s major polyamide 11 plant currently under construction in Singapore, which is on track to start production mid-2022, and is included in the EUR450 million exceptional capital expenditure envelope dedicated to polyamide expansion in Asia.

In April this year, Arkema confirmed it is on track to begin production of Amino 11 and its flagship Rilsan® polyamide 11 high performance polymer at the new plant on Jurong Island, Singapore in the first half of next year. This plant, for which production will be 100%-derived from renewable castor beans, represents a 50% increase in Arkema’s global polyamide 11 capacity.

As per MRC, Arkema is further increasing its fluoropolymer production capacities in Changshu, China, by 35% in 2022. The increase in capacity is scheduled to come on stream before the end of 2022, the company said in a statement. Financial and overall capacity details of the expansion project were not disclosed.

Arkema is one of the world's leading chemical manufacturers headquartered in Colombes (near Paris, France). Founded in 2004 as a result of the restructuring of the French oil company Total, Arkema, with a turnover of EUR6.5 billion, has operations in 40 countries, 10 research centers around the world, and 85 plants in Europe, North America and Asia.
MRC