NextChem completes construction of first demonstration plant in Italy for chemical recycling of PET and polyester from textiles

NextChem, Maire Tecnimont's energy transition technology company, has completed the construction of the first demonstration plant in Italy for the chemical recycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyester from textiles, as part of the European Union’s DEMETO project, as per the company's press release.

The plant is located in Chieti, in the Abruzzo Technology Park.

The depolymerization technology adopted, based on the reaction of alkaline hydrolysis with the use of microwaves, allows the plant to chemically recycle PET and polyester textile fiber waste and obtain pure monomers to produce new polymers.

The DEMETO project has been co-funded by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 program with NextChem as coordinator of a consortium of 14 partners, covering the entire value chain (NextChem, 3V Tech, SPINDOX UK, Technical University of Denmark, The European Outdoor Group, EuPC, The Fricke and Mallah GmbH, gr3n, H&M Group, NEOGROUP, RECUPRENDA, PETCIA, SUPSI, Synesis).

NextChem is the developer and co-licensor of the depolymerization technology, owned by the Swiss start-up gr3n, as well as designer and constructor of the plant. Various types of materials, including polyester-based textile fibers, will be tested in the plant, which is capable of recycling almost 100% of the incoming material, amounting to 1 MM kg/yr. The project has been supported by an Industrial Advisory Board, which includes companies such as Unilever, Coca-Cola, Oviesse, Danone, Henkel and several others.

This innovative technology could contribute to the solution of some still-unresolved problems in textile waste recycling, such as mixed fibers. In Italy alone, tracked textile waste amounted to 157.7 Kt in 2019, of which 47% consisted of single and mixed synthetic fibers. In Italy 5.7% of unsorted waste is composed of textiles, with a total estimated at 663 Kta. In Europe, each inhabitant uses 26 kg of textile material each year and disposes of 11 kg, with a total production of textile waste estimated at about 5 MMt/y.

As MRC reported before, in July 2020, Eni and NextChem, the Maire Tecnimont Group’s subsidiary for green chemistry, strengthen their partnership one year after their first agreement. This partnership will conduct research for a new project to be developed in Taranto, in addition to ongoing engineering studies for a waste-to-hydrogen production plant at the Eni bio refinery in Venice, Porto Marghera, and for a waste-to-methanol production plant at the Eni refinery in Livorno.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PET consumption in January, 2022, rose by 4% year on year.
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At least two Indian refiners plan to buy less Saudi oil than usual in May, after the kingdom raised the official selling price to record highs for Asia, as India increases purchases of cheap Russian crude, reported Reuters.

India, the world's third biggest oil importer and consumer, has been hit hard by rising crude values, with pump prices in some states touching record highs.

State oil producer Saudi Aramco, the world's top oil exporter, has raised crude prices for all regions, with those to Asia hitting all-time highs.

The Middle East accounts for the bulk of India's oil imports, with Iraq and Saudi Arabia the top two suppliers to Asia's third largest economy.

The sources at the two Indian refiners declined to be named, citing confidentiality.

They did not disclose the volumes refiners would buy, and said the reductions in May would be marginal because they have to lift the amount they have committed to under annual contracts.

To mitigate the rising cost of oil imports, India has turned to Russian barrels that are available at a deep discount to the dated Brent benchmark, citing "national interests".

Some companies and countries have shunned Russian crude after the country began its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Indian refiners have bought at least 16 MM barrels of cheaper Russian oil for May loading on a delivered basis, similar to purchases for the whole of 2021, according to Reuters calculations.

The companies have mostly bought Russian Urals, a grade similar in quality to medium sour crude produced in the Middle East and West Africa, mainly Angola.

As MRC informed before, in mid-March, 2022, Indian Oil Corp, the country's top refiner, bought 3 mln bbl of Russian Urals from trader Vitol for May delivery, its first purchase of the grade since Russia invaded Ukraine. Western sanctions against Russia have led many companies and countries to shun its oil, depressing Russian crude to record discount levels. IOC said in late February it would buy Russian oil on delivered basis to avoid any complication relating to fixing vessels and insurance.

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 2,487,450 tonnes in 2021, up by 13% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 1,494.280 tonnes, up by 21% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC

SIBUR has completed commissioning in Tobolsk at a new maleic anhydride (MAN) production facility located on the territory of Zapsibneftekhim, the company said.

The production will reach its design capacity before the end of the year. The unit has a design capacity of 45,000 tons/year and is expected to ramp up through the year and is expected to cover all domestic MA demand in the country this year, with work ongoing to ensure steady operation and build out a supply chain as production ramps up, the company said.

Solid and liquid product will be marketed domestically and abroad, SIBUR added.

As per MRC, at the end of 2018, SIBUR announced the launch of a project to build a maleic anhydride production facility with a capacity of 45,000 tonnes per year in Tobolsk. Maleic anhydride is now used in construction, agriculture, automotive, paints, furniture, pharmaceuticals and other industries.

Maleic anhydride is a raw material for the production of tetrahydrofuran, tetrahydrophthalic anhydride, films and synthetic fibers, pharmaceuticals, detergents, plasticizers, maleic, succinic, fumaric and malic acids and a number of chemicals for agriculture.

Plasticizers are substances introduced into a polymer material to give it elasticity and plasticity during processing and operation. In particular, plasticizers are used to produce polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The share of plasticizers used for the production of PVC products is about 80%.

SIBUR Holding is the leader of the petrochemical industry in Russia and one of the world's largest companies in the sector with more than 23,000 employees. Over the past 10 years, SIBUR has implemented a number of large-scale investment projects worth about 1 trillion rubles.
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SABIC has announced a collaboration with Mattel to incorporate certified renewable polymers from SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE program across Mattel’s products offering, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The first Mattel toy products to enter the market in 2022 using certified renewable SABIC polypropylene (PP) polymers will be from MEGA and Matchbox, with more to follow.

Heading the initiative will be MEGA BLOKS Green Town, the first-ever toy line available at mass retail to be certified carbon neutral. These new construction playsets, including the grow and protect farm and the build and learn eco house, embrace the sustainable material choice and help teach kids green behaviors. From the Matchbox brand, all Action Driver playsets and the Matchbox Recycling Trucks contain SABIC materials, which supports the brand’s “Driving Toward a Better Future” initiative, to make all Matchbox die-cast cars, playsets and packaging with 100% recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastic materials by 2030, in line with Mattel’s corporate goal.

“The collaboration with Mattel is an important step in providing our customers with materials that can help lower their carbon footprint across a wide range of consumer markets, and Mattel serves as a pioneer in the toy industry,” said Lada Kurelec, General Manager for PP & E4P Business, SABIC. “Our materials from renewable sources facilitate the change-over from existing fossil-based applications without compromise on purity and quality. We are happy to establish such a good cooperation with Mattel and create value with more sustainable material choices through our TRUCIRCLE portfolio.”

Mattel is the first company in the toys market to work with SABIC in a mass balance approach designed to return second-generation renewable feedstock into high-quality new plastic applications.

The partnership directly supports Mattel’s goal to achieve 100% recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastic materials in its products and packaging by 2030, and is an important step forward in their transition towards a circular economy.

As MRC informed previously, in January 2022, ExxonMobil and SABIC announced the successful startup of Gulf Coast Growth Ventures world-scale manufacturing facility in San Patricio County, Texas. The new facility will produce materials used in packaging, agricultural film, construction materials, clothing, and automotive coolants. The operation includes a 1.8 MM metric tpy ethane steam cracker, two polyethylene (PE) units capable of producing up to 1.3 MM metric tpy, and a monoethylene glycol (MEG) unit with a capacity of 1.1 MM metric tpy.

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 2,487,450 tonnes in 2021, up by 13% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 1,494.280 tonnes, up by 21% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whreas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) ranks among the world's top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world's market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
MRC

MOL Group has acquired ReMat Zrt., a recycler with production plants located in Tiszaujvaros and Rakamaz, Hungary, and a logistics hub in Bratislava, Slovakia. ReMat is a market leading plastics recycler in Hungary with an annual processing capacity of 25,000 tons and almost 200 employees, as per the company's press release.

The transaction fits into MOL’s portfolio and its goal to become a key player in the low carbon circular economy in Central and Eastern Europe.

ReMat is Hungary’s market leader in plastics recycling, using plastic waste from communal and industrial sources. The company prepares a wide range of polyethylene and polypropylene regranules and tailor-made products. ReMat has automatic selecting system, cleaning and regranulating equipment from leading manufacturers that can process up to 25,000 tons annually. With this acquisition, MOL will be able to develop tailor-made virgin and recyclate solutions to fulfill the ever-increasing demand of its customers for circular materials.

MOL Group launched its “Shape Tomorrow” 2030+ Strategy last February, fully integrated with a new sustainability strategy, and started to act already to deliver on it. One of the main pillars of the Strategy is integrating circular economy in MOL’s operation, the company will spend USD 1bn in the next 5 years on new circular economy and green projects. Waste integration and utilisation is a key element of the new sustainable approach.

"We need plastic for our everyday life, plastic is good, what we don’t like is untreated plastic waste that is polluting the planet. MOL has started to invest in the circular economy, because we all want to live in a better environment; and for that we need more recycled goods. In addition, there is an increasing need from our customers for recycled material so good cause meets here with good business opportunities. With that in mind, in the last couple of years we started to build a strong portfolio around recycling. And we won’s stop here: for a net zero economy, we also have to use all kinds of waste as a resource, in a much more clever way than how we do today. Our goal is to become a key player in the low-carbon circular economy in Central and Eastern Europe and this acquisition is a major step towards this fascinating goal” - said Gabriel Szabo, Executive Vice President of MOL Group Downstream.

As MRC reported earlier, MOL Group (Budapest, Hungary) has recently announced that Rossi Biofuel (a joint venture wherein MOL Group and Envien Group are the 25-75% owners) inaugurated a new plant in Komarom, Hungary, which will significantly increase the biofuel production volume in the country. With this investment, MOL Group and Envien Group launched a technology in Europe that can boost greenhouse gas savings by more than 85%. With a capacity of 50,000 tons per year, the plant is the first in Europe to use the RepCat technology offered by Austrian firm BDI-BioEnergy International GmbH, which is highly flexible in terms of raw materials - it allows the processing of greasy wastes of different types and origins, such as used cooking oils, trap grease, animal fats or residues from vegetable oil production. Biodiesel produced in this way is one of the most climate-friendly fuels.

We remind that in March 2021, MOL became a biofuel producer through the realization of an investment in the Danube Refinery. Bio feedstock will be co-processed together with fossil materials increasing the renewable share of fuels and reducing up to 200,000 tons /year CO2 emission without negatively affecting fuel quality.

MOL Group is an international, integrated oil, gas, petrochemicals and consumer retail company, headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. It is active in over 30 countries with a dynamic international workforce of 25,000 people and a track record of more than 100 years. MOL Group operates three refineries and two petrochemicals plants under integrated supply chain management in Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia, and owns a network of almost 2000 service stations across 10 countries in Central & South Eastern Europe. MOL’s exploration and production activities are supported by more than 85 years’ experience in the field of hydrocarbons and more than 30 years in the injection of CO2. At the moment, there are production activities in 9 countries and exploration assets in 14 countries. MOL is committed to transform its traditional fossil-fuel-based operations into a low-carbon, sustainable business model and aspires to become net carbon neutral by 2050 while shaping the low-carbon circular economy in Central-and Eastern Europe.
MRC