Five Phillips 66 refineries capture AFPM safety awards

Five Phillips 66 refineries have been honored by the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers for outstanding safety performance in 2022, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Sweeny Refinery on the Texas Gulf Coast captured AFPM’s Distinguished Safety Award – the industry’s top safety honor – for a second consecutive year. Bayway Refinery in New Jersey, Borger Refinery in West Texas and the San Francisco Refinery’s Santa Maria Plant notched Elite Gold awards, and Ponca City Refinery in Oklahoma took home Elite Silver honors.

“Safety is at the core of everything we do at Phillips 66,” said Todd Denton, Phillips 66 Senior Vice President of Health, Safety and Environment and Field Operations Support. “Congratulations to our five safety award winners and their employees and contractors. The recognition by AFPM is a testament to their and the company’s steadfast commitment to the safety of our people and safe operation of our assets in our communities each and every day."

Sweeny, which is located approximately 65 miles southwest of Houston, also garnered AFPM’s Innovation Award for the refinery’s Maintenance Area Safety Team’s work to design, test and commercialize the GrateIt No-Touch Hand Safety Tool, which helps users avoid hand- and ergonomics-related injuries.

The Distinguished Safety Award is presented to eligible U.S.-based sites that demonstrate exemplary, long-term safety performance, program innovation and leadership. The Elite Gold Award is AFPM’s second-highest safety honor, and it recognizes facilities with safety performance in the top 5 percentile. The Elite Silver Award recognizes facilities with safety performance in the top 10 percentile.

Sweeny was one of only three sites to earn a Distinguished Safety Award for 2022. Nearly 250 AFPM-member refining and petrochemical facilities were eligible to apply for the safety awards.

Chevron Phillips Chemical, the joint venture between Phillips 66 and Chevron, picked up Elite Gold awards for its Borger and Orange, Texas, sites, as well as Elite Silver honors for its Port Arthur, Texas, and Sweeny operations.

AFPM is a leading trade association for U.S. refiners and chemical manufacturers. The awards are part of a program developed by the AFPM Safety and Health Committee to promote safe operations in the refining and petrochemical industries.

Sweeny’s award marks the seventh year in a row that a Phillips 66 refinery has captured the industry’s top honor.

We remind, in the oldest refining town in the American West, Phillips 66 is promising a greener future as it moves to halt crude-oil processing and build a massive renewable diesel plant, leading a global trend. That plan, announced in 2020, was initially welcomed by residents weary from a history of pollution and toxic leaks. But some have grown skeptical as the project’s details cast doubt on the environmental benefits of revamping the 127-year-old complex on 1,100 acres in Rodeo, California.

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LyondellBasell published its annual sustainability report titled, Unlocking Possibilities, said the company

The publication offers an in-depth review of the company's 2022 sustainability performance, focused on progress toward ending plastic waste in the environment, taking climate action and supporting a thriving society.

Ramping up circular and low carbon solutions through initiatives including growing the company's plastics recycling footprint globally to meet customer demand for more sustainable products and solutions.

Accelerating interim greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets for 2030, in line with science-based guidance and the Paris Agreement, by increasing scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction target to 42% and establishing a scope 3 emissions reduction target of 30%, relative to a 2020 baseline.

Contributing to a thriving society, including focusing on safety, advancing commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion, and continuing to contribute to and engage with the communities in which the company operates.

"The need to address climate and circularity has never been greater, and during my first year with LyondellBasell, we took decisive action to advance our sustainability goals and accelerate progress on existing commitments. We see opportunities to capture value from our actions and we are primed to unlock possibilities toward a more sustainable, low carbon future," said Peter Vanacker, CEO of LyondellBasell.

We remind, LyondellBasell NV said it was exploring strategic options for its U.S. Gulf Coast-based ethylene oxide & derivatives (EO&D) business. The company said it was analyzing the potential to retrofit the Houston refinery to build up its Circular and Low Carbon Solutions (CLCS) business.

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Aekyung Chemical, an affiliate of South Korea's Aekyung Group, has begun mass-producing eco-friendly plasticizers derived from recycled waste plastics, marking a first in South Korea, said Kedglobal.

The company succeeded in developing the plasticizers and built specialized production facilities. As an essential additive for softening polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics, the eco-friendly alternative has the potential to lower carbon emissions compared to traditional petrochemical-based production methods.

Aekyung Chemical's product has received the international "ISCC PLUS" certification, recognizing its contribution to a circular economy in the entire production process.

"Our eco-friendly plasticizer offers a sustainable solution for addressing climate change in the widespread use of PVC materials in daily life," the company said.

We remind, Aekyung Chemical plans to expand its surfactant plant in Vietnam, with the aim of targeting global markets in Southeast Asia. The expansion of the plant, operated by the company's subsidiary AK VINA, will include the addition of high-value-added production lines for eco-friendly, low-stimulus, and natural surfactants.

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Trinseo has added a new grade to its Magnum ABS family. Complementing the bio formulations of the material made with 60 and 80 percent bio-attributed content made available in late 2022, the company has now launched a version with 95 percent mass-balanced renewably sourced content, said Sustainableplastics.

“As customers focus on sustainable solutions, Trinseo continues to invest in technologies that offer an alternative to materials based on traditional feedstocks,” said Romulo Bouzas, product manager, Copolymers EMEA. Equivalent to their fossil-based counterparts with identical physical properties, Trinseo’s bio ABS materials can serve as drop in replacements and can be used with existing tooling and equipment under the same processing conditions, requiring no adjustments.

During polymerisation, fossil-based polymers are combined with renewable raw materials - an approach that has now enabled the creation of the new Magnum Bio ABS resin with 95 percent bio-attributed content, based on the ISCC mass balance approach. As a result, the material offers a 92% lower product carbon footprint (PCF). In the Bio 60 and Bio 80 formulations, fewer feedstocks are replaced, and the PCF reduction is 58% and 77% respectively.

Trinseo’s family of bio-attributed ABS are part of the new Trinseo CO2NET portfolio established earlier this year. These products all undergo a Product Carbon Footprint Assessment, a systematic cradle-to-gate analysis of the product’s potential environmental impact and ensures that their carbon footprint can be gauged correctly. Materials qualifying for the CO2NET product portfolio are required to generate at least 50% fewer carbon emissions compared to their fossil-derived counterparts, with the goal of lowering emissions to net zero carbon. The company’s Tyril CO2NET bio SAN also belongs to the portfolio, which, said Trinseo will continue to expand in the future.

We remind, Trinseo reported a Q4 net loss of USD365.3m largely because of a pre-tax, non-cash goodwill impairment charge of USD297m related to its PMMA business and Aristech Surfaces reporting units. The company saw Q4 sales fall by almost 25% compared with the same quarter a year go while costs fell at a slower pace. The following table shows the company's Q4 financial performance. Figures are in millions of dollars.

Trinseo, a specialty material solutions provider, partners with companies to bring ideas to life in an imaginative, smart and sustainably focused manner by combining its premier expertise, forward-looking innovations and best-in-class materials to unlock value for companies and consumers.
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Dow reported a net loss of USD73m for the first quarter (Q1) on a slump in volumes and sales prices in key segments and important geographies, said the company.

Net sales for the largest US chemical company were down 22% at USD11,851m reflecting, Dow said, declines in all its operating segments driven by lower macroeconomic activity.

Sales were flat sequentially, however, with sales gains in performance products and plastics packaging products offsetting a decline in sales of more durable products and those for industry and for infrastructure. Lower consumer demand hit Dow’s Plastics & Packaging segment hard in the first quarter particularly outside the US and Canada, and lower polyethylene (PE) margins hit earnings.

Lower demand from industrial customers, from building and construction and for consumer durables, impacted Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure sales. Performance Materials & Coating segment sales were down also.Dow said its group-wide sale volumes were down 11% compared with the year earlier period led by a 15% decline in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India (EMEAI) but were up 2% sequentially.

Prices in local currencies were down 10% year on year and 4% sequentially “with declines in all operating segments and regions due to industry supply additions amidst continued soft global economic conditions”.

Operating earnings before interest and tax, at USD708m, were down USD1.7bn year on year due to lower local prices and the fact that operating rates had been reduced to match market dynamics.

We remind, Dow announced it has selected Linde as its industrial gas partner for the supply of clean hydrogen and nitrogen for its proposed net-zero carbon emissions integrated ethylene cracker and derivatives site in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada.


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