Mitsui Chemicals has signed an agreement with Singapore-based Shell Eastern Petroleum on the supply of ethylene derived from plastic waste, which will in turn be used to produce polyethylene (PE), said the Japanese producer.
Mitsui Chemicals subsidiary Prime Polymer Co "will begin efforts toward the production of chemically recycled polyethylene derived from plastic waste via subsidiary Prime Evolue Singapore", it said in a statement. "Prime Evolue Singapore will leverage this ethylene to supply plastic waste-derived circular polyethylene as a new part of the Evolue lineup it manufactures and sells," Mitsui Chemicals said.
Shell is currently building a new 50,000 tonne/year pyrolysis oil upgrader unit at its manufacturing site on Pulau Bukom in Singapore. The upgrader unit - slated to start production in 2023 - improves the quality of pyrolysis oil, a liquid made from hard-to-recycle plastic waste that would have gone into a landfill, and turns it into a chemical feedstock.
International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC), a globally applicable sustainability certification system, has issued Shell’s plastic-waste-derived ethylene ISCC PLUS certification, which finds wide use as a system for certifying biomass-based and recycled raw materials, according to Mitsui Chemicals.
Prime Evolue Singapore currently runs a 300,000 tonnes/year linear low density PE plant in Singapore, according to the ICIS Supply and Demand database. Mitsui Chemicals is looking to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 through a two-pronged approach that combines recycling with a biomass transition for chemicals and plastics.
"The recycling of plastic waste is expected to be a crucial strategic element in the push for such a circular economy. Going forward, Mitsui Chemicals and Prime Polymer will continue to make ardent efforts on the fronts of both recycling and biomass," Mitsui Chemicals added.
On Sep 14, 2022, Mitsui Chemicals has asked Shell Catalysts & Technologies (SC&T) for its Shell S-896 catalyst, which is expected to provide important economic benefits from raw material (ethylene) savings and also help the organization meet the decarbonization goals for their ethylene oxide (EO) refinery in Osaka, Japan.
mrchub.com