FSA publishes insights into coronavirus on packaging and foods

The UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA ) has published research on the survival of coronavirus (Covid-19) on food packaging and foods, said Packaging-gateway.

The research was commissioned by the FSA and conducted by the University of Southampton. In the study, researchers deliberately added the Covid-19 virus to most types of food packaging, including polyethylene terephthalate (PET) trays and bottles, aluminium cans and composite drinks cartons.

The FSA said these materials were chosen as they are widely used and consumption from them may involve direct mouth contact with the packaging. The study found that the virus’ lifespan depends on the food packaging and foods examined.

All packaging materials examined saw a ‘significant drop’ in virus contamination in the first 24 hours, in all relative humidity conditions and at both 6°C and 21°C. Researchers also studied the virus survival on the surface of foods such as fruits and vegetables, cheese, meats, bread and pastries.

The virus was found to survive for several days on foods like cheese and ham, while it decreased quickly on items such as apples and olives. The study comes after the FSA published a risk assessment in 2020 that determined that the chances of humans receiving the Covid-19 virus from food were very low.

FSA microbiology risk assessment team leader Anthony Wilson said: “In the early stages of the pandemic, we didn’t know much about how the virus would survive on different food surfaces and packaging, so the risk assessment was based on a worst-case assumption.

“This research gives us additional insight into the stability of coronavirus on the surfaces of a variety of foods and confirms that assumptions we made in the early stages of the pandemic were appropriate and that the probability that you can catch Covid via food is very low.”

We remind, EU Commission has published its far-ranging draft revision of the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Framework directive which will have major implications for the entirety of the packaging and waste management chain. The draft legislation sets out minimum recycled content targets, minimum reuse and refill targets, mandates packaging recyclability, requires the implementation of deposit return schemes, sets out requirements for biodegradable packaging, reporting and labelling requirements, and appears to allow the use of chemical recycling in recycling targets as long as its end output is not used for fuel or backfilling applications.
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OMV has announced its new corporate structure, designed to fully enable the delivery of Strategy 2030, said the company.

OMV’s new strategy evolves around its long-term goal of becoming a net-zero company by 2050 at the latest and driving its transition towards becoming a leading integrated sustainable fuels, chemicals and materials company. At the same time, OMV is striving to become a global leader in circular economy solutions and will also build a low-carbon business in the energy sector, which includes geothermal energy and carbon capture and storage (CCS) in particular.

The new organization will be built on five distinct areas. In addition to the CEO and CFO areas, three business segments will be established: Chemicals & Materials, Fuels & Feedstock, and Energy.

The transformation will be fueled by a high degree of innovation and new technologies, while maximizing the value of life cycle management of current technologies. Aimed at strengthening these capabilities across the Group, a dedicated Innovation & Technology function will be established under the leadership of the CEO. In addition, group-wide Controlling and Performance as well as Sustainability management in the CFO area will be strengthened to foster effective strategic and sustainable group management.

The Chemicals & Materials segment will continue to cover the entire chemicals value chain, including responsibility for capturing value from the circular economy. The business segment will act as the growth engine of OMV, aiming to develop into a leader in high-quality polyolefin solutions as well as renewable and circular chemicals and materials. – In the field of chemical recycling, OMV recently took a further big step by signing a Memorandum of Understanding with a partner to enter into a mutually exclusive collaboration agreement for the global commercial licensing of OMV’s proprietary ReOil® technology.

The Fuels & Feedstock segment combines the previously distinct Executive Board areas of Refining on the one hand and Marketing & Trading on the other. This division is now responsible for refining operations, logistics, commercial business, and the entire filling station network. The business segment will support the transition by reconfiguring refining in the direction of sustainable fuels and feedstocks for the chemical industry and by building a leading position in EV charging locations in the CEE markets. – The production of sustainable fuels has already started and will be significantly expanded by 2030. Here OMV has already entered into partnerships with four major European airlines for the supply of Sustainable Aviation Fuel.

The Energy segment will be the home to the traditional Exploration & Production business as well as the entire Gas business. A new addition here is the Low-Carbon business. This is where OMV will use its assets and know-how to develop projects in the areas of renewable energy with a focus on geothermal energy and CCS. – OMV recently completed a production and injection test to analyze the geothermal potential in the Vienna Basin with promising initial results.

We remind, OMV and Wood, a global leader in consulting and engineering solutions in energy and materials markets, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enter into a mutually exclusive collaboration agreement for the commercial licensing of OMV’s proprietary ReOil technology.
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INEOS Enterprises has today completed the acquisition of ASHTA Chemicals Inc, from Bigshire Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V. The deal, consists of a 100ktpa Potassium Hydroxide (KOH)/65 kte Chlorine plant, said the company.

ASHTA Chemicals will now be known as INEOS KOH and will be part of the INEOS Enterprises business. INEOS KOH will continue to manufacture and market chlorine and a range of potassium-based chemicals to a variety of end use markets including liquid fertilizers, runway de-icers, food ingredients, pharmaceuticals, and agricultural applications.

The business employs around 110 people at the site in Ashtabula, Ohio, close to the INEOS Pigments operations, from where it operates a recently commissioned membrane cell technology chlor-alkali unit.

Commenting on the agreement, Ashley Reed, CEO INEOS Enterprises said “I am pleased to have now completed the acquisition of ASHTA Chemicals, which is an excellent strategic fit for the long-term local supply and use of chlorine at INEOS Pigments. In addition, ASHTA will bring a well-established and respected North American potassium hydroxide business into the INEOS Enterprises portfolio.”

We remind, INEOS Europe AG and Pacific Gas (Hong Kong) Holdings Co., Ltd, have signed long-term time charter agreements for four 99,000 cbm (cubic metre) VLECs (Very Large Ethane Carriers). The deal will bring INEOS’ ethane fleet to 16 vessels, with eight VLEC and eight Dragon class ethane carriers. With these agreements, INEOS will have a total of six VLECs under time charter with Pacific Gas.

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Brazil's state-controlled oil producer Petrobras disclosed a 15% increase in its five-year spending plan to USD78 billion, with little change to the company's strategy of focusing on fossil fuel production, said Reuters.

Throughout 2022, Petrobras delivered an operational and financial performance in line with its commitment to generate value for society and shareholders and in full adherence with the 2022-2026 Strategic Plan, showing the Company's resilience and solidity, and thus increasing the degree of confidence in achieving its goals.

From an operational standpoint, in the first nine months of 2022, the Company maintained a solid performance delivering significant advances in its operations.

From a financial standpoint, the Company continued on its path of delivering consistent and sustainable results. The capital structure was maintained at a healthy level and cash reached a level more compatible with the Company’s financial needs. The Company delivered solid financial results, reaching the first and second highest quarterly EBITDA and operating cash flow marks in its history, in the second and third quarters of 2022, respectively. The generation of operating cash flow associated with stable and controlled indebtedness and solid liquidity prospects allowed Petrobras to declare R$13.80 per common and preferred share in shareholder remuneration in 2022. It is important to note that the Brazilian government receives about 37% of this total, the largest single portion, in addition to being benefited by the payment of taxes, which reached a record for the first nine months of the year of R$ 222 billion.

In this context, the new SP 2023-27 was prepared preserving the Company's vision, values, and purpose. The strategies were maintained, with the exception of those related to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Innovation, which were improved.

We remind, Petrobras completed the sale of Isaac Sabba (REMAN) refinery in Manaus, Amazonas state to Ream, a subsidiary of Grupo Atem. Petrobras received USD257.2m, higher than the initial sale price of USD189.5m. The additional money reflects variation in working capital, net debt, investments and what Petrobras called monetary correction. The refinery has a throughput capacity of 46,000 bbl/day.

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Essar Oil UK Limited announced its plan to build a GDP360 MM major new carbon capture plant at its Stanlow refinery in line with its ambition to become a leading low carbon refinery by 2030, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Essar is investing over GDP1 B into a range of energy efficiency, fuel-switching, and carbon capture initiatives, designed to decarbonize its production processes significantly by 2030 and put Essar at the forefront of the UK’s shift to low carbon energy.

Essar’s energy transition strategy is based on five principles: running the core Stanlow refining processes as efficiently and safely as possible; decarbonizing Stanlow’s operations; building a hydrogen future through the launch of Vertex Hydrogen (“Vertex”) and as a key part of the HyNet consortium; developing green fuels (including Sustainable Aviation Fuels); and establishing the UK’s largest biofuels storage facility through Stanlow Terminals Limited.

Essar will achieve its decarbonization targets through a combination of incremental (energy efficiency and operating improvements) and transformational projects, including the ?360 million carbon capture plant announced today, but also as a result of the significant investments Essar is making into hydrogen and biofuels.

Kent plc has been awarded a pre-FEED engineering contract to develop the facility that will take the CO2 emitted from one of Europe’s largest full-Residue Fluidized Catalytic Cracking units, located at the Stanlow refinery. The gas will be permanently sequestered into depleted gas fields under the sea in Liverpool Bay, as part of the HyNet cluster infrastructure in the North West of England.

Once complete in 2027, the plant will eliminate an estimated 0.81 MMt of CO2 per year – the equivalent of taking 400,000 cars off the road, eliminating nearly 40% of all Stanlow emissions. The project has been selected by BEIS as a Phase-2 winner in the CCUS cluster sequencing process earlier this summer, and as such, is currently progressing through the due diligence stage.

We remind, Essar Oil UK, the leading UK-focused downstream energy company, announces plans to install a new GBP45 MM (US60.8 MM) furnace at Stanlow that’s capable of using hydrogen as its fuel source, which is the first for the UK. This marks another milestone in Essar’s goal to becoming the UK’s first low carbon refinery. It follows the launch of Vertex Hydrogen last month, a new Essar-led JV, in which the company will invest GBP1 B (USD1.3 B) over the next five years to drive down emissions, including the development of new hydrogen production plants at Stanlow, forming a central part of the HyNet Northwest decarbonization cluster.

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