MOSCOW (MRC) -- Honeywell has announced the expansion of its facility in Baton Rouge, La. to double the capacity of its Solstice ze (1234ze), an ultra-low-global-warming-potential (GWP) solution, according to CISION.
Solstice ze is used in foam insulation, as a propellant in personal and household care products, and in refrigeration and air conditioning applications.
Honeywell will invest significant capital in the facility for the growth of Solstice ze, which is part of the company's Solstice line of products based on hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) technology that helps customers lower their carbon footprint without sacrificing end-product performance.
The demand for low-GWP solutions continues to grow, and this new capacity will help meet the needs. Multiple global regulations stemming from the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol require the phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), driving the demand for sustainable solutions. Honeywell has already invested over one billion dollars in research, development and new capacity for its Solstice technology, having anticipated the need for lower-GWP solutions to combat climate change more than a decade ago.
About half of Honeywell's investment in new product introduction research and development is directed towards products that improve environmental and social outcomes for customers, such as Solstice. This aligns with the company's commitment to become carbon neutral in its facilities and operations by 2035, building on a track record to sharply reduce its greenhouse gas intensity as well as its decades-long history of innovation to help its customers meet their environmental and social goals. Worldwide adoption of Solstice products has avoided potential release of more than 250 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, equal to eliminating the potential emissions from more than 52 million cars per year.
Honeywell is a Fortune 100 technology company that delivers industry-specific solutions that include aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings and industry; and performance materials globally. Its technologies help aircraft, buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable.
As MRC reported previously, Honeywell has recently announced the commercialization of a revolutionary process that expands the types of plastics that can be recycled and can produce feedstock used to make recycled plastics with a lower carbon footprint. The new technology can reduce the need for fossil fuels in the creation of virgin plastics while enabling hundreds of cycles of recycling, with the goal of enabling a circular economy for plastics. Honeywell's UpCycle Process Technology utilizes industry-leading molecular conversion, pyrolysis, and contaminants management technology to convert waste plastic back to Honeywell Recycled Polymer Feedstock, which is then used to create new plastics.
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 1,868,160 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 18% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,138,510 tonnes in January-September 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.
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