Brightmark forms buoy plastic recycling partnership

San Francisco-based Brightmark LLC has launched a plastic recycling partnership with the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) in an effort to reduce materials from going to the landfill, said Recyclingtoday.

FKNMS has mooring and informational buoys to mark ecological reserves and provide an option for boats to tie up to as opposed to anchoring to help protect ocean reefs below. Prior to this partnership, FKNMS had to send these buoys to landfill when they reached end-of-life status since they were considered too difficult to recycle. Through the new partnership with Brightmark, FKNMS will send Brightmark these buoys and downlines to recycle them and convert them into circular plastics and lower carbon fuel and wax.

According to a news release from Brightmark, the partnership follows what it calls “a successful pilot phase,” the two groups will now recycle plastic buoys and downlines from the sanctuary’s upper and lower Keys locations to help decrease marine plastic pollution in the area. The two groups aim to expand this program nationally.

"Our partnership with the sanctuary is an essential and first-of-its-kind collaboration that will pull and divert plastic from our oceans,” says Bob Powell, Brightmark founder and chief executive officer. “This program is another proof point of how our innovative advanced recycling technology can play a critical role in ‘reimaging waste’ to solve the plastic waste crisis in our oceans with a truly circular solution."

"This initiative elevates our commitment to protect the environment,” says Sarah Fangman, superintendent of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. “I’m proud that buoy team member Benjamin D'Avanzo recognized the need for a sustainable alternative to our plastics waste and pursued this partnership with Brightmark."

Brightmark says it has produced a short documentary on FKNMS’ buoy team to follow its daily operations and show how materials are sent to be recycled by Brightmark.

As per MRC, Brightmark Energy and a county in the U.S. state of Georgia scrapped plans to build "the world's largest" facility to turn plastic waste into fuel, according to a termination agreement published on Monday, a blow to a technology the petrochemical industry has promoted heavily. Brightmark missed a deadline to deliver "end product" to customers from a similar facility in Indiana, a condition of its contract with the Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority, which had planned to build a USD680 MM chemical recycling facility.
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PET Baltija, a PET recycler in Northern Europe, announces an agreement to acquire Czech fibre producer Tesil Fibres s.r.o, a spin-off of SILON , said Petnology.

This vertical integration transaction will subsequently increase PET Baltija’s current revenues by more than 50% while also making it an international company. For SILON, the transaction will enable it to fully focus on both the production and development of the highest quality polyolefin-based performance compounds.

Fibre production has been part of the traditional operations in Plana, Czech Republic dating back to 1966, and being integral part of SILON s.r.o. The operations spun-off to Tesil Fibres encompass country-leading annual staple fibre production capacities of 33 000 tonnes and c. 150 employees. Tesil Fibres is a primary supplier to the European market, covering industries and sectors that include automotive, hygienic, textile and furniture. It is also well known for its high quality standards and last year its fibre division recorded sales of EUR27million.

Salvis Lapins, Chairman of the Board at PET Baltija, commented: "This deal will really put PET Baltija on a map as a key international player for the sector. We recognise and are excited by Tesil Fibres’ impressive high growth potential and its dedicated team of professionals. Working closely with the team and other key stakeholders, we plan to develop the company further, accelerating its growth and creating real value for all those involved. By ensuring the supply of best-in-class recycled PET materials, we will look to significantly contribute to the growth of the Tesil Fibres business and add greater product differentiation to it. It is also important to mention that through these developments, the overall volume of recycled PET will also increase."

Deimante Korsakaite, Executive Partner at INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund and Chairman of the Supervisory Board at PET Baltija, added: “This agreement to acquire reinforces INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund’s goal to significantly expand PET Baltija through both organic growth and bolt-on acquisition strategies. Since our initial investment, PET Baltija alone has more than doubled its revenue and is on track to finalise an organic growth expansion project that will more than triple its food-grade PET production capabilities. This deal will cement the company as a truly international vertically integrated market player that is committed to sustainability and tackling environmental issues. This represents a significant development and leads to become a €100million+ revenue company."

We remind, Encina Development Group, LLC announced the first-ever production of high purity aromatics made entirely from end-of-life mixed plastics. Encina has delivered its high purity monomer chemicals to customers and confirms that ongoing production will continue.
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Koch Technology Solutions, a Koch Engineered Solutions company, and Ioniqa Technologies B.V. announced a partnership to scale up and commercialize Ioniqa’s advanced PET recycle technology in the plastics industry. As part of this collaboration, KTS has committed to invest up to EUR30M in Ioniqa, said Petnology.

Ioniqa has developed an innovative process that utilizes low-grade post-consumer PET to infinitely produce a feedstock that displaces virgin raw materials used in the production of polyester products. Ioniqa has successfully demonstrated this technology in The Netherlands’ 10KTA production facility.

“KTS has a long history in the polyester industry, and we recognize the value proposition of this disruptive technology that will fundamentally change how recycling is done,” said Adam Sackett, President of KTS. “With an aligned vision on the future of PET recycling, we’re excited to launch this partnership with Ioniqa and leverage our complementary capabilities to advance solutions which are tailored to the needs of the market.”

KTS and Ioniqa’s partnership will work to address the growing demand for recycled content in the 30 million metric tonnes per annum PET market. Ioniqa’s technology offers a solution to PET waste that is currently non-recyclable, turning the waste into materials suitable for high quality food grade applications such as beverage bottles. KTS and Ioniqa consider the technology as a disruptor in the PET industry providing a sustainable economic recycle proposition to conventional manufacturing routes. The partnership will drive a circular process that addresses environmental impacts of the current PET industry.

We remind, Encina Development Group, LLC announced the first-ever production of high purity aromatics made entirely from end-of-life mixed plastics. Encina has delivered its high purity monomer chemicals to customers and confirms that ongoing production will continue.
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From 2016 to 2020, the carbon intensity of U.S. power generation fell 18%, driven by a shift in the U.S. electricity generation mix away from coal and toward natural gas and renewables, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The carbon intensity of power generation measures the amount of CO2 emitted to produce a unit of electricity. All but seven U.S. states decreased their carbon intensity over that five-year period, although the amount of the decrease varied widely.

In 2020, the carbon intensity of U.S. power generation averaged 854 pounds of CO2 per megawatthour (lbs of CO2/MWh), but carbon intensity varies by energy source. In 2020, the carbon intensity of coal in the United States was 2,274 lbs of CO2/MWh. Natural gas was less carbon intensive than coal at 980 lbs of CO2/MWh. Nuclear power plants and non-emitting renewables, such as hydroelectric, wind, and solar power, produce little to no CO2 emissions.

The carbon intensity of power generation varies by state because the mix of fuel sources used to generate electricity is different in different states. Notably, states also receive and deliver electricity to other states, so the carbon intensity of generation in a state does not necessarily reflect the carbon intensity of the electricity used in that state.

The states with the lowest carbon intensities of power generation either have a large share of generation from renewables or a large combined share from renewables and nuclear. In 2020, Vermont had the lowest carbon intensity of power generation at 8.4 lbs of CO2/MWh. Almost all of Vermont’s in-state electricity generation came from renewables, and Vermont brings in about 60% of its electricity from Canada.

The states with the highest carbon intensities of power generation have larger shares of in-state generation from coal- or petroleum-fired power plants than the national average. Wyoming, the state with the highest carbon intensity of power generation in 2020 (1,970.8 lbs of CO2/MWh), generated 79% of its power from coal.

Despite the large variation in carbon intensity levels, most states are reducing the carbon intensity of their power generation. Forty-three states and the District of Columbia recorded lower carbon intensity of power generation in 2020 relative to 2016.

In Tennessee, the share of in-state generation from nuclear and natural gas-fired plants increased as the share of coal-fired generation declined. In Maryland, natural gas’s share of generation increased from 15% in 2016 to 39% in 2020; coal’s share decreased from 37% to 9%. Iowa, Kansas, and Oklahoma—all located in the central wind belt—reduced their carbon intensity as wind generation continued to displace coal-fired generation.

We remind, Saudi Aramco has notified at least three North Asian buyers that it will supply full contractual volumes of crude in October. The world's top oil exporter has slashed its official selling prices (OSPs) to Asian buyers for the month, the first reduction in four months. The price cut was overall in line with the market expectation as the spot premiums for the Middle Eastern crude dipped since mid-August amid an increasing number of arbitrage cargoes flowing into Asia.
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Crude oil refining capacity has shrunk by a record 3.8 MM barrels per day from March 2020 to mid-2022 as demand expanded, setting the stage for fuel markets to remain very tight until at least mid-decade, said Reuters.

The fall in capacity comes as oil demand rose by 5.6 MMbpd over the same period, the report released on Tuesday said. At the same time, about 2 MMbpd of net capacity is expected to come online by the end of 2023, with delays to these timeline likely to arise, the report said.

"This puts pressure on all available refining capacity to run at high utilization levels to keep up with demand." Oil product markets experienced sharp upheaval since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March 2020.

While the pandemic decimated demand globally and killed profit margins, the post-pandemic recovery and Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine have tightened fuel markets sharply, leading to record profit margins earlier this year. Record profits for refiners are unlikely to lead to new investment in expanding global refining capacity, however, according to the report, amid "the expectation that the energy transition could make refineries stranded assets has deterred investment".

A sharp rise plug-in electric vehicle sales, which are expected to grow from 6.6 MM last year to 35.7 MM at the end of the decade, will likely displace 4 MMbpd of gasoline and diesel demand. The falling refining capacity comes at a time when global fuel inventories are tight and as Russian and Chinese exports of fuels are being constrained, the report said.

Sanctions and embargoes have displaced nearly 3 MMbpd of Russian products that are not easily rerouted. And Chinese product exports are down 30% from 2019 levels as the government has strategically shifted to prioritising domestic markets.

As per MRC, Saudi Aramco has notified at least three North Asian buyers that it will supply full contractual volumes of crude in October. The world's top oil exporter has slashed its official selling prices (OSPs) to Asian buyers for the month, the first reduction in four months. The price cut was overall in line with the market expectation as the spot premiums for the Middle Eastern crude dipped since mid-August amid an increasing number of arbitrage cargoes flowing into Asia.
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