Plastipak opens R-PET food-grade pellet plant in Spain

Plastipak, a global leader in the design, manufacture and recycling of plastic containers has announced the formal opening of a major recycling investment at its manufacturing site in Toledo, Spain by Don Emiliano Garcia-Page, President of the Castilla-La Mancha Region, said the company.

The new recycling facility converts PET flake into food-grade recycled PET (rPET) pellets suitable for direct use in new preforms, bottles and containers.

The new recycling plant will produce 20,000 tonnes of food-grade recycled pellet per year and will eliminate recycled resin transport-related emissions since it is co-located at Plastipak’s current preform manufacturing site. The recycling plant is Plastipak’s fifth recycling facility, with other recycling plants located in USA, France, Luxembourg and United Kingdom. In Europe, Plastipak is the largest producer of food-grade rPET, with well over 150,000 tonnes of rPET capacity per annum.

To support on-site energy generation, the state-of-the-art facility incorporates advanced energy-saving technologies and equipment that includes the rooftop installation of over 1800 photovoltaic (PV) solar panels. The PV panels are expected to generate more than 1339 MWh of electricity per year that will be consumed entirely on-site, saving more than 443 tonnes of CO2 per year through the avoidance of consumption of electricity from the national grid. This is in addition to the CO2 avoided by using 20,000 tonnes of recycled resin instead of virgin resin.

We remind, Plastipak, the leader in PET plastic aerosol molding technology, has launched SprayPET Revolution, a 100% polymer aerosol, which is fully recyclable. SprayPET Revolution, including the valve, is all polymer, and is totally metal-free. Until now, PET aerosol containers used standard metal valves with rubber gaskets. Whilst many PET recycling plants are equipped to remove metal components in the recycling process, not all recyclers have this capability.

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Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL), a global sustainable chemical company, has signed an ESG-Linked Revolving Credit Facility of €275 million with six syndicate banks, a further boost to the company’s long-standing commitment to sustainability-led corporate financing, said the company.

Tied to IVL’s ESG risk rating, the revolving credit facility’s pricing mechanism results in margin adjustments related to management score improvements across the Material ESG Issues as defined by independent sustainability and corporate governance research firms. The facility is available to IVL subsidiaries in Europe for two-years with the option to extend for one more year.

DK Agarwal, CEO at Indorama Ventures, said, “Sustainability-driven financing is an increasingly important enabler of IVL’s growth strategy, and we have been actively working in this growing area of corporate finance for some time, culminating in this latest development of securing an ESG-linked revolving credit facility. I would like to thank our partners for their support.”

The facility is part of IVL’s corporate financing strategy across a range of instruments linked to the company’s ESG and sustainability commitments. In November 2021, the company issued a THB 10 billion triple-tranche Sustainability-Linked Bond (SLB), the largest SLB issued in Thailand. IVL is on track to achieve its 2025 ESG goals. More ambitious 2030 targets include a 30% reduction in Scope 1 & 2 combined greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity, 15% reduction in energy intensity, 25% use of renewable electricity, 20% reduction in water intensity, 90% diversion of waste from landfill, recycle 1.5 million tons in PET bale input annually.

We remind, In mid-October this year, Indorama opened its R-PET facility in Cavite, Philippines which is a joint venture with Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines (CCBPI). Construction at its Indonesian R-PET plant is also ongoing, with commencement date expected towards the close of 2023.

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited, listed in Thailand (Bloomberg ticker IVL.TB), is one of the world’s leading petrochemicals producers, with a global manufacturing footprint across Europe, Africa, Americas, and Asia Pacific. The company’s portfolio comprises Combined PET, Integrated Oxides and Derivatives, and Fibers. Indorama Ventures products serve major FMCG and automotive sectors, i.e., beverages, hygiene, personal care, tire, and safety segments.
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Kazakhstan's energy giant KazMunayGas has started construction works on a new butadiene and synthetic rubber plant, said the company.

The production facility is based in Atyrau region, western Kazakhstan, KazMunayGas press-service said in a statement.

On 5 November, the project's operator Butadiene LLP – which is controlled by KazMunayGas - and Kazakhstan’s major oil and gas producer Tengizchevroil, signed an agreement envisaging supplies of 380,000 tonnes/year of butane from Tengizchevroil to the new plant, according to the statement.

The plant, estimated to cost $964m, is to be built by 2025. It would produce 66,000 tonnes/year of butadiene, 83,000 tonnes/year of synthetic rubber and 130,000 tonnes/year of isobutane.

Butadiene LLP is discussing possible license agreements with Lummus, Versalis (Eni) and ETIC, according to KazMunayGas.

Earlier it was reported that on November 8, KazMunayGas launched a new plant for the production of polypropylene with a capacity of 500 thousand tons per year in Atyrau, Western Kazakhstan. The new plant is valued at USD2.6 billion and will be able to produce up to 65 types of polypropylene to meet domestic demand, as well as export polypropylene to foreign markets. It uses Catofin and Novolen technologies provided by Lummus Technology.
The project is managed by Kazakhstan Petrochemical Industries, owned by the National Welfare Fund Samruk-Kazyna. The plant was built by China National Chemical Engineering.

KazMunayGas is Kazakhstan's national operator for the exploration, production, processing and transportation of hydrocarbons, representing the interests of the state in the oil and gas industry. 90.42% of the company's shares belong to the state fund "Samruk-Kazyna", 9.58% - to the National Bank of Kazakhstan.
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Sinarmas Cepsa Pte Ltd (SCPL) and its parent companies, the chemicals business of CEPSA and agribusiness Golden Agri-Resources (GAR), signed an agreement to expand the production of bio-based chemicals at SCPL’s site in Lubuk Gaung, Indonesia, said Chemindigest.

The site is ideally positioned to serve customers worldwide and the existing facility, which started production in 2017, is fully utilised.

SCPL has a strong ambition to grow along the fatty alcohols value chain, with sustainable development at the heart of its strategy and operations. Global demand for fatty acids and natural alcohols is driven by growing demand for home and personal care products, as well as increasing demand for sustainable, bio-based solutions across a variety of the industries SCPL serves.

The expansion is expected to advance SCPL’s growth strategy, to contribute to solving environmental challenges, including climate change, and to support sustainable farming practices in Indonesia. Pending final investment decisions, this incremental production will bring additional employment and economic benefits to the local community.

“Sustainably sourced, bio-based alternatives are key requirements for our customers and the markets we serve” says Kung Chee Wan, CEO of SCPL. Wan adds, “We are excited to grow with our customers and increase the scale of our sustainable and traceable integrated supply chains”.

We remind, Cepsa has signed a deal with the Dutch port of Rotterdam to ship green hydrogen from southern Spain to northern Europe. The hydrogen will be produced at Cepsa’s San Roque Energy Park near the Bay of Algeciras, and will be exported through hydrogen carriers such as ammonia or methanol to the Port of Rotterdam.
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Members of Unite, Scotland’s leading union, based at ExxonMobil’s ethylene plant in Mossmorran are set to take part in an industrial action ballot which could threaten production, said Unitetheunion.

The ballot which open today (14 November) and closes on 28 November is a dispute over the level of bonus payments under the NAECI (National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry) agreement which covers the workers.

Around 200 Unite members are employed on construction engineering maintenance contracts. The workforce are split between Altrad, Bilfinger, and Kaefer.

The contractors are seeking to secure the maximum bonus of GDP2.37 an hour under the terms of the NAECI agreement to offset rampant inflation rate which now stands at 12.6 per cent (RPI). The employers, however, have to date refused to pay the bonus.

In October, US oil giant ExxonMobil released its third quarter result showing record earnings of nearly ?17.3bn (USD20bn).

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Energy companies like ExxonMobil are making record profits of hundreds of billions, yet there is apparently no money available for hard pressed workers, who are essential to the Mossmorran plant operations.”

“Unite’s members are determined to fight for what they deserve especially when and they we see major corporations fanning the flames of rampant profiteering. Our workers will be receiving Unite’s unflinching support.”

Due to the nature of the work undertaken by the construction workers any industrial action will result in disruption and delays to the operations at Mossmorran.

Bob MacGregor, Unite industrial officer, added: “Unite’s members working for Altrad, Bilfinger, and Kaefer at the Mossmorran plant are angry at being denied what they are owed and deserve under the terms of the NAECI agreement. Any strike action will be entirely of the employers’ own making due to their penny-pinching. They have had every chance to resolve this dispute through negotiation but have chosen not to do so.”

Last month, Unite members contracted by Kaefer based at Shell’s Mossmorran plant resolved a separate dispute over pay.

We remind, ExxonMobil and Pertamina, the state-owned energy company for Indonesia, have signed a Heads of Agreement at the G20 Summit in Bali to further progress their previously announced regional carbon capture and storage hub for domestic and international CO2.

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