LVMH and Dow intend to collaborate to improve sustainable packaging

Dow and LVMH are collaborating to accelerate environmentally sustainable packaging across LVMH’s perfume and cosmetic products, said the company.

The companies plan on integrating bio-based and circular plastics into several multinational product applications. LVMH Beauty is home to 75 luxury brands. The transition is a part of LVMH’s Life 360 program, an initiative to create products in harmony with nature that respect and preserve biodiversity and the climate, engaging and motivating all stakeholders.

“At LVMH, with our Life 360 program, we made the decision that our packaging will contain zero plastic from virgin fossil resources in the near future,” says Claude Martinez, executive president and managing director at LVMH Beauty.

“Collaborating with Dow in developing sustainable Surlyn [bioplastic] is key as this material is used in some of our iconic perfumes, starting with Guerlain La Petite Robe Noire. It is helping LVMH achieve our sustainability targets without any compromise on quality.”

LVMH will make its packaging from bio-based and plastic waste feedstocks. These textiles will be used to produce Surlyn Ionomers. Surlyn is the name of Dow’s bioplastic made from polymers used to manufacture premium perfume caps and cosmetic cream jars.

The bio-based Surlyn plastic is made from raw materials such as cooking oil. LVMH Beauty says it will only utilize by-products from an alternative production process to create the plastic. The company continues that the raw feedstock materials will not consume extra land resources nor compete with the food chain.

We remind, Fluor has been awarded a reimbursable contract by Dow to provide front-end engineering and design (FEED) and engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for the world’s first net-zero carbon emissions (scope 1 and 2 carbon dioxide emissions) ethylene cracker and derivatives complex in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada. Fluor will book the initial FEED award in the first quarter and anticipates the additional EPCM scope will be awarded throughout 2023 pending a final investment decision by Dow’s Board of Directors.

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LyondellBasell and Nexus Circular announced they have signed a definite long-term contract, which will supply LyondellBasell with approximately 24,000 tpy of recycled feedstock, said the company.

The material will be produced at Nexus Circular's new advanced recycling facility, which will begin construction in 2023. The new facility will convert mixed plastic waste, which today mostly ends up in landfills or incineration, into recycled feedstock. LyondellBasell will use the recycled feedstock at its Channelview, Texas facility to produce new plastics which will be marketed under the CirculenRevive brand.

"Customers and brand owners need sustainable solutions to meet their 2030 recycling commitments, and this contract is a concrete step toward advancing partnerships across the value chain," said Yvonne van der Laan, LyondellBasell Executive Vice President, Circular and Low Carbon Solutions. "This agreement is aligned with our circularity ambitions, advancing us closer to our 2030 goal."

Nexus Circular is a commercial leader in advanced recycling with a proven proprietary technology and a leading process design that converts landfill-bound films and other hard-to-recycle plastics into high-quality liquids which are then used to produce virgin-quality plastics. Since 2018, Nexus has been consistently supplying commercial volumes of ISCC Plus certified circular liquid products, having diverted over 8 million pounds of used plastics from landfill.

Clint Thompson, Chief Commercial Officer at Nexus, stated, "We are pleased to collaborate with LyondellBasell to leverage our proven commercial solution that unlocks the full value of plastics and accelerates the transition to a circular economy."

We remind, LyondellBasell announced that PetroChina Jilin Petrochemical Company will again license LyondellBasell’s polyethylene technology at their facility located in Jilin City, Jilin Province, P.R. of China. The newly licensed technology will comprise of LyondellBasell’s leading high-pressure Lupotech process technology which will be used for both a 100 kiloton per year (KTA) Autoclave and a 300 KTA Tubular line. Both production trains will produce mainly low-density polyethylene (LDPE) with ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers (EVA). Furthermore, an additional 400 KTA Hostalen “Advanced Cascade Process” (ACP) line for the production of high density polyethylene (HDPE) will be built at the same time.

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Japanese oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co has shut the 150,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) crude distillation unit (CDU) at its Hokkaido refinery in northern Japan on Feb. 14 due to system trouble, said Hydrocarbonprocessing, citing a company spokesperson.

He declined to comment on details of the glitch, but said it expects to restart operations soon.

We remind, Toray Industries, Inc., and Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. have agreed to build a supply chain for plastics made from biomass naphtha. They would manufacture biomass styrene monomer derived from biomass naphtha and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resin made from that monomer.

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Sulzer has signed an agreement with circular technology company Fuenix Ecogy to acquire a strategic stake in its plastic upcycling business, said the company.

The partnership will drive the development, commercialization and adoption of advanced, fully integrated solutions for plastic waste processing. The move will allow Sulzer to offer complete recycling lines based on Fuenix’s Ecogy technology and Sulzer’s own proven separation and purification solutions. Sulzer Chemtech is an established licensor of reaction and separation technologies aimed at driving the chemical recycling of materials.

Fuenix Ecogy technology converts sorted end-of-life mixed plastic waste into high-value hydrocarbons with virgin-like properties. The solution offers high recovery and conversion rates, enabling a high degree of circularity in the plastic value chain.

With this strategic investment, Sulzer is sharing its leading technical expertise to support the scale up and commercialization of a cutting-edge pyrolysis technology. The agreement also expands Sulzer Chemtech’s technology licensing portfolio for polymer processing, in line with its overarching mission to help industry adopt more sustainable practices.

As the exclusive licensor of the technology, Sulzer Chemtech will be able to offer complete as well as partial recycling lines based on Fuenix’s Ecogy pyrolysis technology and its own proven separation and purification solutions. At the same time, Sulzer Chemtech will continue to offer its separation and purification know-how and solutions to other plastic recycling technologies.

We remind, Sulzer Chemtech is providing process engineering and key equipment for the expansion of Dongsuh Indonesia (DSI) naphthalene downstream sector. The delivery of an advanced separation unit to DSI’s plant in Serang, Indonesia, will enable the production of high purity naphthalene that can be used for applications with stringent quality requirements.

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MOL Group announced its financial results for Q4 and full year 2022, said the company.

The company generated USD 1,074mn in Q4 2022, bringing full-year EBITDA to USD 4,702mn. Upstream and Downstream together provided 95% of this result in half-half proportion, supported by the overall positive oil macro environment.

Chairman-CEO Zsolt Hernadi commented the results: “Last year was a real test from every possible aspect in our industry, I am proud to say that MOL managed to navigate successfully through the countless challenges and delivered both operationally and financially. The war in Ukraine and its consequences on supply security, the unpredictable macro conditions and regulatory measures have brought unprecedented challenges to MOL’s skilled employees who did great during the constant crisis situation.

The robust EBITDA in 2022 – even with the extreme high taxes, price caps and regulatory measures in place – gives the possibility to continue our transformational and development journey laid down in the Shape Tomorrow 2030+ strategy. Accordingly we made inaugural investments in green hydrogen production, and set foot in waste management that is a big step towards our circular economy-related strategic goals.

It is clear to us that 2023 will be no easier, but I believe that MOL’s proven resilience will help us navigate through these uncertain times with confidence.”

We remind, MOL Petrochemicals, a subsidiary of the Hungarian oil and gas giant MOL Group, recently laid the groundwork for a new propylene facility in Tiszajvaros, Hungary. The factory is constructed as a greenfield investment for roughly USD191 M and will generate 100,000 tonnes/y of propylene, meeting a quarter of MOL's chemical material demands and enhancing the company's self-sufficiency. The factory will supply propylene for the polyol site that is already under development. The new factory fits perfectly with MOL Group's aim of increasing the proportion of non-fuel goods in its range. MOL Group has contributed around USD4.5 bn to initiatives that will transform Tiszajvaros into the region's main chemical capital. The new facility will play an important part in the development process since it will offer a consistent supply of materials for MOL Petrochemicals' three product lines.

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