Braskem signed agreement with Lummus on green ethylene

MRC) -- Brazil’s Braskem (Sao Paulo), the largest polyolefins producer in the Americas, has signed an agreement with US engineering contractor Lummus Technology (Houston, Texas) to support the worldwide use of bioethanol in plastics production, said Plasteurope.

Collaboration between technology partners is key to achieving a circular economy for plastics, the Brazilian group said, noting that the pact with Lummus will bring together complementary knowledge and skills to shorten the timeline and extend the geographic reach of bioplastics technology.

Combining the experience and expertise of Lummus and Braskem to produce green ethylene will reduce the plastics sector’s carbon footprint and play a promising role in the energy transition, the companies added.

Each of the future cooperation partners possess extensive know-how in the field. Braskem, which touts itself as a pioneer supplier of renewable raw materials for bio-based plastics as well as producing the resin, recently said it aims to make 1 mn t/y of its I’m Green-branded PE by 2030.

In September 2021, the Brazilian player said it was studying plans to cooperate with Thailand’s SCG Chemicals (Bangkok) on a bio-ethanol dehydration plant for production of bio-based ethylene and PE.

As per MRC, Braskem has agreed with Dutch recycler Terra Circular to enter a joint venture for mechanical recycling.
Financial details were not disclosed. Terra Circular, through its subsidiary ER Plastics, operates the production facilities, with nominal capacity for mechanical recycling of 23,000 tonnes/year. The plant is to process mixed plastic waste.

As MRC wrote earlier, in late 2020, Braskem announced its latest sustainability ambitions to significantly expand its efforts to eliminate plastic waste in the environment by 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

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.

Braskem S.A. produces petrochemicals and generates electricity. The Company produces ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, xylenes, butadiene, butene, isoprene, dicyclopentediene, MTBE, caprolactam, ammonium sulfate, cyclohexene, polyethylene theraphtalat, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
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Speciality films producer Innovia Films (Wigton, UK) has opened a 6.2 mn, multi-layer coextrusion line at its manufacturing site in Plock, Poland, to produce sustainable, low-density polyolefin shrink film for shrink sleeve labels or tamper-evident applications, said Plasteurope.

The floatable shrink film separates easily from PET, HDPE, and polypropylene bottles and containers in the recycling process.

With the new line, Innovia will produce RayoFloat APO, a clear, uncoated shrink film with a density of < 0.93 g/cm? that is glossy, scuff resistant, and printable, with a controlled TD shrinkage up to 70%. The low-density floatable material is mainly for use within the food, beverage, and home and personal care industries.

Parent company and Canadian packaging giant CCL Industries’ (Toronto, Ontario) CCL Label division invested in Innovia’s Poland facility and will convert the recycling-friendly material into its EcoFloat line of low density polyolefin shrink sleeves and labels, according to Gunther Birkner, president of Innovia Films and a member of the management team at CCL. The RayoFloat APO and EcoFloat materials are endorsed by the European PET Bottle Platform (EPBP).

As per MRC, Innovia Films (Innovia) recognises that today’s competitive market place demands packaging films that perform on a variety of machines, at the highest possible speeds. As overall production costs are scrutinized, achieving high efficiencies is becoming increasingly vital. In response to these trends, Innovia is pleased to introduce its latest high speed Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene (BOPP) film - Propafilm REF.

As MRC wrote previously, in April 2016, Innovia Group reached an agreement to sell its Cellophane business and assets to Futamura Chemicals, and will continue to deepen its focus on it films and polymer banknote products going forward.

Innovia Films is a leading global manufacturer of two 'families' of speciality products supplied into the packaging, labels, tobacco overwrap and securities markets - Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene (BOPP) and Cellulose based films. With a turnover in excess of EUR400m, its total annual film production capacity currently stands at more than 120,000 tonnes.

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Sika AG (Baar, Switzerland) has opened a new plant in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, thus doubling its production capacity for mortar and concrete admixtures in Bolivia, said he company.

With this new facility in one of the country’s main industrial agglomerations, Sika is positioning itself for continued growth in the dynamic Bolivian construction market.

Sika’s new production facility for mortar and concrete admixtures is located outside of Santa Cruz de la Sierra in the country’s largest industrial park. It replaces the existing plant and effectively doubles the usable space. In addition to its excellent transport connections, the newly occupied site also has space for future expansion. The manufacturing plant, which is highly automated, not only increases efficiency but will also help make production more sustainable. Over and above this, Sika has expanded its warehousing capacity and administrative premises and has set up a training center for customers.

Christoph Ganz, Regional Manager Americas: “The clear strategic focus of our business activities on major cities and agglomerations in the Americas region is proving to be highly successful. We now have over 20 national subsidiaries and 89 production plants in the Americas. We continue to invest in the expansion of our presence in fast-growing markets. This recent investment in Bolivia enables us to continue to grow our output volumes in the dynamic Bolivian construction market."

As per MRC, Sika has agreed to sell Aliva Equipment, a Swiss unit supplying machines for the application of shotcrete, to Normet Group Oy, a Finnish global company providing solutions for underground construction. In 2021, Aliva Equipment generated sales of CHF 12 million.
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MRC) -- Worley has announced that its strategic partnership with Avantium Renewable Polymers is now progressing to the next phase. Worley previously announced the partnership on 29 January 2021, said Hydrocarbonengineering.

Following the recent positive final investment decision (FID), Worley and Avantium have signed a technology cooperation agreement and Worley will now deliver engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services to develop the Avantium flagship facility in Delfzijl, the Netherlands.

The facility will be a world-first commercial scale renewable plastics facility producing up to 5000 kilo tpy plant-based furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA). FDCA is a key building block for many chemicals and plastics, such as polyethylene furanoate (PEF), a fully recyclable plastic. This facility will be the commercial proof for future larger scale projects.

Worley’s EPC services will be executed by the company’s offices in the Netherlands and Belgium, with support from Worley’s Global Integrated Delivery (GID) team in India.

“We are excited to strengthen our strategic partnership with Avantium, a leader in advancing the circular economy. This partnership supports Worley’s Ambition focusing on sustainability and delivering a more sustainable world,” said Chris Ashton, Chief Executive Officer of Worley.

As per MRC, Worley has bagged a front-end engineering and design (FEED) services contract from Trinseo for its first-of-a-kind chemical recycling plant in Belgium. Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics and latex binders. The plant will use gasification technology to depolymerise post-consumer polystyrene waste into pure styrene. It’s a first-of-its-kind project on an industrial scale.
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Axens and Toray Films Europe have plans to establish a new Pet chemical recycling facility in Saint-Maurice-de-Beynost, France, said the company.

The new units will make use of Axens’ Rewind Pet technology along with Toray Films Europe’s existing polymerization plant to recycle 80,000 tons of Pet plastic waste every year.

Axens and Toray Films Europe have recently announced their collaboration to study a Pet chemical recycling facility at Toray Films Europe production site in Saint-Maurice-de-Beynost (Ain, France). New units based on Axens’ Rewind Pet technology will be coupled with Toray Films Europe’s existing polymerization plant in order to recycle annually 80,000 tons of difficult-to-recycle Pet plastic waste. Joined efforts of both parties in their domain of expertise will allow the emergence of competencies for chemical recycling circularity. Polycarbonate Sheet – Chemical Recycling.

Post consumers Pet plastic waste that cannot be mechanically recycled and are currently down-cycled, incinerated or landfilled, will be converted into high-quality circular Pet chips, closing the loop for this material with potentially infinite recycling. Rewind Pet process, developed by IFP Energies nouvelles, Axens and Jeplan, involves an optimized – glycolysis based – Pet depolymerization combined with specific purification steps aiming at removing all organic and inorganic compounds present in waste Pet, including colorants and pigments. The product is a purified BHET (BHET: Bis(2-HydroxyEthyl) Terephthalate) monomer.

As per MRC, Fuhaichuang Petrochemical has selected Axens’ ebullatedbed residue hydrocracking technology (H-Oil) for a capacity of 1.5 MTA as the key unit of its residue upgrading plan in its petrochemical complex located in the port of Gulei, Fujian Province, China.

As MRC informed earlier, in January, 2022, SOCAR HQ held a ceremony to sign licensing and design agreements for the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit between the Heydar Aliyev oil refinery (HAOR) and the French company Axens as part of the HAOR modernization and reconstruction project. It is worth noting that SOCAR and Axens have a long-term co-operation. At present, the diesel hydrotreatment, gasoline hydrotreatment and C4 (butane-butylene) hydrogenation units as part of the Heydar Aliyev refinery reconstruction project, as well as the C3 (propane-propylene) hydrogenation unit as part of the reconstruction works carried out at Azerkimya PU, the naphtha hydrotreatment, diesel hydrotreatment and kerosene hydrotreatment units at the STAR refinery built in Turkey are licensed by Axens.
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