SK Geo Centric to Use ‘Blockchain Technology’ for Recycled Plastic Materials

SK Geo Centric has introduced Korea’s first platform utilizing ‘blockchain technology’ for recording and tracking the history of recycled plastic materials, said Process-worldwide.

By leveraging the tamper-proof nature of blockchain, it aims to ensure that customers can be rest assured when using recycled plastic materials and expand the materials’ range of use.

The recently launched history-management platform for recycled plastic materials by SK Geo Centric records and manages all processes, from the collection of waste plastics to their recycling and transformation into new products, using blockchain technology. Blockchain is a distributed data storage technology where the ‘blocks’ containing data are replicated and stored on multiple computers, and linked like a ‘chain’ to compare and verify each other’s authenticity. It is impossible to forge or alter the data without permission. Therefore, it is being used to increase trust in fields such as cryptocurrencies and financial certifications.

Recycling of waste plastic is gaining the limelight as an alternative solution to environmental pollution, but there are also some doubts about the source and safety of collected waste plastics. In addition, manufacturing companies want to confirm whether the components of parts using recycled materials are suitable for production. Such needs require more advanced information than what the existing ‘ISCC Plus certification’ provides. SK Geo Centric has identified these concerns from client companies and consumers while promoting its plastic recycling business. As a result, it introduced the history-management platform to address these concerns.

The history-management platform records all processes, from securing waste plastics to recycling them into materials, and finally producing the complete product. Intermediate producers and consumers can scan the QR code attached to the product with their smartphones to check the entire recycling history of plastics used for the product. The recycled plastic history information includes the types and sources of the waste plastics used as raw materials, as well as the proportions of each material used to make a new product. Similarly, detailed information needed by intermediate producers, such as the quality grade of a material, is also included. Therefore, the history-management platform can ease the difficulty of getting through the certification process regarding the suitability of recycled materials and reduce the cost required for the process.

We remind, SK Geo Centric Co announced that it will create a joint venture with Loop Industries of Canada to build a cluster for plastic recycling. The company will hold 51% of the JV and will create recycling facilities in Ulsan, South Korea by 2025. The plant will make 70,000 tonnes/y of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin for packaging and polyester fibre applications using Loop's depolymerisation technologies. The team intends to build three additional manufacturing facilities in Asia by 2030. SK Geo Centric is a petrochemical unit of SK Group.

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Kraton Corp. (Houston) announced the expansion of its manufacturing capabilities in Berre, France, to produce up to 100% ISCC PLUS certified renewable Styrenic Block Copolymers (SBC) as part of the CirKular+ ReNew Series via mass balance approach, said Chemengonline.

CirKular+ ReNew Series enables up to 85% cradle-to-gate carbon footprint reduction* (including biogenic carbon) compared to fossil-based products manufactured at Berre. This significant advancement reinforces Kraton’s commitment to the circular economy and offers customers sustainable, innovative solutions.

International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) is an independent multi-stakeholder initiative and leading certification system. ISCC employs a mass balance approach that tracks the amount of recycled or bio-based raw material in a value chain and attributes the amount based on verifiable bookkeeping to a given end product. This approach allows companies and consumers to evaluate the sustainability requirements of materials and products quantitatively.

The CirKular+ ReNew Series are ISCC PLUS Certified renewable polymers, further expanding Kraton’s existing suite of solutions designed to advance the circular economy. In 2022, Kraton successfully produced CirKular+ ReNew Series SBCs at the Berre plant using certified renewable butadiene to enable up to 70% ISCC PLUS certified content. With the recently expanded capability, the ReNew Series can offer up to 100% certified renewable content, including certified renewable styrene, and continues to enable customers to use the mass balance approach to produce renewable products.

We remind, Kraton plans a “significant expansion” of styrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymers (SBS) capacity at its plant in Belpre, Ohio, starting in 2024. By 2025, SBS production capacity is expected to increase by 24,000/year.

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PAO Novatek has launched its hydrocracking unit at the Ust-Luga complex at the port of Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea, said Ogj.

The unit was built under an agreement between the company and the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation to develop new processing infrastructure.

With the hydrocracker in operation, Novatek will be able to process heavy fractionation residuals (fuel oil) at its gas condensate fractionation infrastructure in Ust-Luga to reach a 99% yield of marketable light petroleum products, the company said in a release last week.

The Ust-Luga complex processes stable gas condensate into light and heavy naphtha, jet fuel, ship fuel component (fuel oil) and gasoil to ship to international markets. The Ust-Luga complex also allows for transshipment of stable gas condensate to the export markets.

In 2022, the complex processed 6,943 metric tonnes of stable gas condensate into 6,825 metric tonnes of end products, including 4,208 metric tonnes of light and heavy naphtha, 1,052 metric tonnes of jet fuel, and 1,487 metric tonnes of ship fuel component (fuel oil) and gasoil, 78,000 tons of LPG.

We remind, PAO Novatek, Russia’s second largest gas producer, signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with India’s Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corp. Ltd. for supply of LNG and low-carbon ammonia.

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BASF has officially opened its new Biodegradation and Microplastics Center of Excellence at its site in Wyandotte, Michigan. The new centre includes a biodegradation laboratory, which BASF inaugurated at a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by BASF representatives from across North America within research and business divisions, said the company.

BASF said the centre had been established to ‘help customers across North America achieve their circularity and sustainability goals’. “The Wyandotte site houses a broad range of business, manufacturing and R&D activities within BASF. I’m excited to see the center at the site furthering BASF’s support to our customers and our company’s goals toward a sustainable future,” said Benjamin Knudsen, vice president of Research North America. The Wyandotte site has an interdisciplinary setup, and has a broad R&D portfolio including chemicals, materials, formulations, analytics, and piloting.

The Wyandotte labs are expected to yield valuable information on processes ranging from the disintegration performance of compostable materials to biodegradation performance of novel chemistries, as well as insights into microplastics and the behaviour of plastics through their life cycles.

“By advancing our understanding of current materials and the characterization techniques needed to examine next generation materials, we help pave the way for a more sustainable future,” said Dr. Jeanne Hankett, Leader for the Center of Excellence and the Microplastics Research Liaison for North America.

The biodegradation laboratory will work closely with customers to address the end-of-life performance of their products. It will enable BASF to directly support its customers ‘by accelerating their product development processes with measurable data they would not have had access to in-house’, according to Dr. Jeanette Hanna, Biopolymers Market Development Manager for North America.

The new laboratory will support biodegradable product development primarily in food service and packaging, agriculture, detergents, cleaning, and cosmetics industries. Furthermore, the lab will have the capability to assess rates of disintegration for novel compostable products designed to divert food waste to composting facilities. It is part of a broader network of similar labs at BASF globally.

We remind, BASF has broken ground on a polyethylene (PE) plant at its Verbund site in Zhanjiang, China. The new plant with a capacity of 500,000 metric tons of PE annually will serve the fast-growing demand in China, said the company. The plant is scheduled to start up in 2025.

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An explosion at a chemical plant belonging to Braskem, in ABC, left at least four people injured this Thursday morning (22). The Capuava Petrochemical Complex, as it is known, is located on the border between the cities of Maua (SP) and Santo Andre (SP), in Greater Sao Paulo, as per Perlid.

According to the Fire Department, the outbreak began around 9:21 am. The fire has now been brought under control. The first victim is in serious condition, with 90% of his body burned. The second victim had airway burns. Two other injured workers were confirmed by the ABC Chemists’ Union, affiliated with the Single Workers’ Union of Sao Paulo (CUT-SP).

The company works with ethyl acetate derivatives, a flammable product that is harmful if inhaled. “There was an explosion in a toluene storage tank, which was without the product, because it was being painted. The service was external and had a worker on the roof. We confirmed four victims, one in serious condition”, says coordinator of the regional Santo Andre from the ABC Chemists Union, Joel Santana de Souza.

We remind, Braskem's Q1 main chemicals sales in Brazil fell 15%, year on year, while resin sales were stable, the Brazilian petrochemicals major said. Braskem puts under the main chemicals umbrella the following: ethylene, propylene, butadiene, cumene, gasoline, benzene, toluene and paraxylene. Main chemicals sales volume compared with 1Q 2022 decreased 15% due to lower demand in the period, which reflected in the utilisation rate of petrochemical crackers, the company said.

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