Tomra calls on PET supply chain to close the loop

Tomra continues to play a key role in closing the loop on PET beverage containers but recognizes that there is more to be done, said Plasticsinpackaging.

Tomra, a company specialised in sophisticated sensor-based sorting systems for recycling, has long worked to promote and develop increasingly more accurate PET sorting processes with the help of advanced technology. Tomra currently invests approximately 10% of its revenues in future-oriented activities to increase resource efficiency, advancing the market for circular solutions.

What’s needed, however, are a clear political framework, bold decisions and smart investments to improve circularity across all material streams and to overcome today's supply chain bottlenecks. As Andersen pointed out, first the pandemic and now the Ukraine war have thrown the need and urgency to decrease dependency on primary materials into sharp relief.

"We have the technology capable of maximising collection and recovery rates. We can act now, optimise waste management practices and fill existing gaps," she concluded. The European Green Deal, together with binding regulations and guidelines for producers and manufacturers, are propelling the transition to a circular economy forward. Tomra urges all participants in the value chain to see these specifications as an opportunity and to support their implementation.

Yet, the impact of any mandatory legislation will be less than optimal, as long as the collection systems continue to lag. "There are well-functioning collection systems in place, but it is still not enough. Every day we lose valuable resources to landfill and incineration where they are buried and burned. This is low-hanging fruit and the material must be collected, recovered and recycled,” said Dr. Volker Rehrmann, EVP, Head of Recycling/Mining & Circular Economy.

Resource circularity is a bigger topic than plastics alone. Closed-loop systems should be in place for material streams such as metals and wood as well, argued Tom Eng, SVP Head of Recycling. "We must pay equal attention to these recyclables to support reaching the EU's climate neutrality goals set for 2050", he said.

"If we leverage the power of intelligent technologies and closely work with the industry, we can turn waste into value and reduce the dependency on primary materials. Recycling is a key climate mitigator and energy-efficient route to go when supporting a sustainable transition, keeping materials in continuous use. Whatever it takes to close the loop, we will get there."

As per MRC, a six-year project in France to develop a recycling solution for monolayer and multilayer food packaging PET trays has led to a new technology that makes it possible to process the monolayer trays into a recycled product that is suitable for new tray production.

As per MRC, Indorama Ventures completed the acquisition of Ngoc Nghia Industry, one of Vietnam’s leading PET packaging companies. The acquisition will boost IVL's market position as it continues to expand its integrated offering of PET products to major multinational customers throughout the region.
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Refiners worldwide are struggling to meet global demand for diesel and gasoline, exacerbating high prices and aggravating shortages from big consumers like the United States and Brazil to smaller countries like war-ravaged Ukraine and Sri Lanka, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

World fuel demand has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, but the combination of pandemic closures, sanctions on Russia and export quotas in China are straining refiners' ability to meet demand. China and Russia are two of the three biggest refining countries, after the United States. All three are below peak processing levels, undermining the effort by world governments to lower prices by releasing crude oil from reserves.

Two years ago, margins for making fuel were in the dumps due to the pandemic, leading to multiple closures. Now, the situation has reversed, and the strain could persist for the next couple of years, keeping prices elevated.

"When the coronavirus pandemic occurred, demand for global oil was not expected to fall for a long time, and yet so much refining capacity was cut permanently," said Ravi Ramdas, managing director of energy consultancy Peninsula Energy. Global refining capacity fell in 2021 by 730,000 barrels a day, the first decline in 30 years, according to the International Energy Agency. The number of barrels processed daily slumped to 78 MMbpd in April, lowest since May 2021, far below the pre-pandemic average of 82.1 MMbpd.

Fuel stocks have fallen for seven straight quarters. So while the price of crude oil is up 51% this year, U.S. heating oil futures are up 71%, and European gasoline refining margins recently hit a record at USD40 a barrel.

The United States, according to independent analyst Paul Sankey, is "structurally short" on refining capacity for the first time in decades. U.S. capacity is down nearly 1 million barrels from before the pandemic to 17.9 MMbpd as of February, the latest federal data available.

LyondellBasell recently said it would shut its Houston plant that could process more than 280,000 bpd, citing the high cost of maintenance. Operating U.S. refiners are running full-tilt to meet demand, especially for exports, which have surged to more than 6 MMbpd, a record. Capacity use currently exceeds 92%, highest seasonally since 2017.

"It's hard to see that refinery utilization can increase much," said Gary Simmons, Valero chief commercial officer. "We've been at this 93% utilization; generally, you can't sustain it for long periods of time."

The U.S. ban on Russian imports has left refiners in the northeast United States short of feedstocks needed to make fuel. Phillips 66 has been running its 150,000-bpd catalytic cracker at its New Jersey refinery at reduced rates because it cannot source low-sulfur vacuum gasoil, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

As per MRC, LyondellBasell announced that Jiangsu Hongjing New Material Co. Ltd. will use its Lupotech T high-pressure polyethylene technology at a new facility. The process technology will be used for two 200 kiloton per year (KTA) vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) lines. The facility will be located in the Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, P.R. of China.

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.
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BASF Bioenergy launches its new brand Spartec for the North American bioethanol market. With the new brand, BASF establishes a new standard for performance and service, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"The new brand Spartec demonstrates our commitment to addressing key customer needs such as improving plant performance by increasing yields, improving plant efficiency, and reducing carbon intensity," says Danielle Cusumano, Head of Bioenergy Business, BASF Enzymes.

BASF Bioenergy continuously works with customers and strategic partners to deliver sustainable solutions and develop innovative enzymes creating value for ethanol producers. The products under the new brand name are already available and in use with more products to be launched soon.

As per MRC, BASF and Brookfield have finalized a term sheet for a 25-year renewable electricity supply agreement to purchase solar and wind power for the BASF Zhanjiang Verbund site in China. Under the fixed-price agreement, Brookfield will develop and build dedicated solar and wind farms, as well as possible storage solutions to support the renewable energy demands of BASF site.

We remind that BASF is to increase its production capacity for plastic additives at its sites in Pontecchio Marconi, Italy and Lampertheim, Germany. BASF did not disclose, however, current or future capacities for its production of plastic additives hindered amine light stabilizers (HALS).

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, seething about fuel prices as his poll standings slip ahead of October's presidential election, has intensified his calls to shake up the board and management of state-run oil company Petrobras, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

But it will take at least 45 to 60 days to complete the necessary procedural and bureaucratic steps to install a new board and management, according to four people close to the current executive board. That would leave him just two months before the election to pressure the company to decouple its fuel prices from international market gyrations.

The right-wing Bolsonaro has deposed various Petrobras CEOs for failing to control rising fuel prices, but his hand-picked choices have ended up backing a free-market approach and opposing fuel-price controls, saying these have not worked in the past. The latest surveys show Bolsonaro now trailing by double digits in his reelection campaign.

Last week, Bolsonaro announced he was swapping out current Petrobras Chief Executive Jose Mauro Coelho after less than 40 days on the job. On Thursday, the president said any senior executives at the company for more than six months may also have to go.

The sources, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive political and personnel matters, said one major obstacle to the management shakeup is an April decree Bolsonaro signed himself. It requires that new board members, including his latest CEO pick, must have their credentials evaluated by a Petrobras compliance and governance committee.

Only after that assessment can Petrobras schedule an extraordinary shareholders' meeting at which board members would be replaced, the sources said. Brazilian securities law requires that a notice for such a meeting must be sent to shareholders at least 30 days in advance. Asked about the timeline, Petrobras outlined the procedural steps required to replace the current CEO, which include a shareholder vote on eight of Petrobras' 11 board seats.

Bolsonaro's press office and the Ministry of Mines and Energy did not reply to requests for comment. Current management at Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the company is formally known, has set domestic fuel prices following the company's stated policy of tracking global markets. Defenders of that policy have noted that Petrobras cannot cover all of Brazil's domestic fuel needs, so excessive discounts could lead to shortages.

In recent months, stubborn inflation has cut the government's approval and boosting left-wing presidential challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in opinion surveys. Bolsonaro now says he wants to start from scratch with people committed to lower prices. In practice, the process of evaluating the new candidates for the board and management has yet to begin.

As of last Friday, Petrobras had not yet received the government's new nominees to the board, nor a formal indication of Bolsonaro's new CEO pick, Economy Ministry official Caio Paes de Andrade, according to company sources.

Finding several appointees for both the board and the management team could prove a challenge. Under Brazilian administrative law, employees of public companies can in certain situations be held personally liable for decisions that trigger losses at public companies. "You can't find 15 names just like that who want to put their resume and their wealth at risk," said one of the people.

As per MRC, Petrobras said on Wednesday it has signed a deal with TSE and Toyo Engineering Corp to build a new diesel hydrotreating unit at its Paulinia refinery. The move will require USD458 million in investments and is in line with Petrobras’ 2022-2026 business plan, the company said in a securities filing. Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the company is formally known, said the hydrotreating unit is expected to enter production in 2025.

We remind that Braskem is no longer pursuing a petrochemical project, which would have included an ethane cracker, in West Virginia. And the company is seeking to sell the land that would have housed the cracker. The project, announced in 2013, had been on Braskem's back burner for several years.

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.

Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.
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A large fire that raged through a Nebraska chemical plant was extinguished by Tuesday morning and nearby residents who were initially evacuated were allowed to return to their homes, said Сbsnews.

Thick smoke billowed from the Nox-Crete facility just southwest of downtown Omaha that could be seen as far away Monday evening as the Elkhorn River, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) to the west. Battalion Chief Scott Fitzpatrick said the first call for help came shortly before 7 p.m. Monday, and firefighters who initially entered the building found a much bigger fire than they had anticipated, forcing them to retreat.

Fire crews then fought the fire from outside the building, noting the presence of chemicals and propane bottles inside. Explosions could be seen and heard as propane tanks ruptured. No injuries were reported from the fire or explosions. Officials said the smoke posed no major toxicity risks to the public. The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately known.

According to its website, Nox-Crete makes a chemical coating and deactivator that keeps curing concrete from bonding to forms. It also makes liquid floor hardeners, joint fillers, curing and sealing compounds and water repellents. A woman who answered the phone at Nox-Crete headquarters Tuesday morning said the company did not have a statement.

Those living nearby were initially encouraged to shelter in place, but an alert sent just before 9 p.m. urged some residents to evacuate. The nearby Columbus Community Center was opened as a temporary shelter for evacuees.

Omaha Public Power District said more than 2,500 customers were without electricity in the neighborhoods near the fire Monday night, but power had been restored to all but a handful of customers by Tuesday morning.

As per MRC, a fire erupted at Qilu Petrochemical’s Shengli refinery in Shandong, China on 24 April due to hydrogen leakage, prompting the shutdown of its reformer and hydrocracking units. The incident occurred at 00:02 Beijing time (16:02 GMT) on 24 April and was extinguished about an hour and-a-half later, Qilu Petrochemical said on social media platform Weibo. The company is a subsidiary of Chinese petrochemical major Sinopec.
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