Solvay and Hegen partner to bring the first baby bottle made with recycled content to the market

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay, a leading global supplier of specialty materials, has entered into a strategic partnership with Hegen Pte Ltd for the use of sustainable Duradex™ polyphenyl sulfone (PPSU) mass balance attributed in Hegen’s premium line of Press-to-Close, Twist-to-Open™ (PCTO™) baby feeding bottles, said the company.

The circular, non-fossil feedstock content of the PPSU grade is third-party mass balance certified, meeting the end customers' expectations for more sustainable products. Duradex™ PPSU is an amorphous, naturally amber-transparent polymer, free of artificial pigments, phthalates and bisphenols, such as BPA.

“Brand owners and manufacturers in the child care market are increasingly seeking to improve the sustainability of their products without compromising safety, efficiency or convenience,” says Guillaume Meunier, Head of Marketing, Life Solutions at Solvay Materials. “Hegen’s baby feeding and drinking bottles are widely acknowledged for their high quality and use the highest-purity materials to ensure a healthy and comfortable feeding experience for both mother and child. We are very pleased to announce that the company has decided to adopt our mass-balance certified PPSU for molding their iconic bottles.”

“We are excited about this strategic material partnership with Solvay, which will help us further reduce the environmental impact of our baby feeding bottles in line with our ambitious sustainability roadmap,” adds Yvon Bock, founder and CEO of Hegen. “The circular Duradex™ polymer exhibits the same high-performance properties as the previous material used in molding our premium Hegen PCTO™ bottles, including excellent processability and uncompromising durability, which makes it a very efficient drop-in alternative to all-fossil PPSU solutions.”

Duradex™ PPSU MB is linked to 54% allocated circular, non-fossil feedstock, which is third-party mass-balance (MB) verified under the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification PLUS (ISCC PLUS) mass balance accounting regime.The MB accounting approach provides a reliable method of tracing the feedstock content from the material production to the final application.

In addition, Solvay’s Duradex™ PPSU MB polymer is high scratch resistant and stain resistant, does not absorb odors and delivers an inherently non-stick surface. It combines exceptional hydrolytic stability and shatter-proof toughness with high heat resistance. These properties also qualify the lightweight, ergonomically shaped and wide-opening bottles for more than 1,000 steam or hot water sterilization as well as dishwasher cycles without the risk of any damage.

Hegen’s PCTO baby feeding bottles will be showcased at Solvay’s booth at the Fakuma 2023 show (Booth 4213 in Hall B4) and both companies are committed to bringing the first mass balanced PPSU baby bottle to the market by 2024.

We remind, Solvay, a leader of high-performance and sustainable polyamide 6.6 polymers, continues to drive innovation in its portfolio with the introduction of a new, specialized grade of Rhodianyl, made of 100% pre-consumer recycled polyamide, which is produced at its Santo Andre plant in Brazil.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lummus Technology, a global provider of process technologies and value-driven energy solutions, announced the commercial availability of its ethanol to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) process technology, said the company.

The technology provides operators with a large-scale, commercially demonstrated solution to reduce the aviation industry’s greenhouse gas emissions.

“Lummus’ extensive commercial experience in all steps, including conversion of ethanol feedstock and production of the SAF process, gives us a unique advantage to help our customers produce sustainable fuels,” said Leon de Bruyn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lummus Technology. “Our process leverages proven, commercial-scale technologies that we integrate to meet the aviation industry’s growing demand for SAF and support its decarbonization efforts.”

Lummus’ ethanol to SAF technology offers a safe and reliable solution by integrating ethanol to ethylene (EtE), olefin oligomerization and hydrogenation technologies in a process configuration that maximizes the final yield to SAF while minimizing CAPEX, OPEX and carbon emissions.

Central to this process is Lummus and Braskem's technology partnership for producing green ethylene, which accelerates the use of bioethanol and supports the industry’s efforts towards a carbon neutral economy. Since 2010, Braskem has been operating an ethanol dehydration unit in Brazil. Using EtE EverGreenTM technology, the unit provides a proven and reliable foundation for producing 260 kilotons per year of ethylene from ethanol. Lummus has integrated this world-scale dehydration process with its light olefins oligomerization and advanced hydroprocessing technologies through Chevron Lummus Global, a joint venture with Chevron.

We remind, Lummus Technology, a global provider of process technologies and value-driven energy solutions, and MOL Group, the leading integrated Central Eastern European oil and gas corporation, have announced their agreement to cooperate in the deployment and integration of chemical recycling of plastics at MOL's assets in Hungary and Slovakia.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Several employees were injured at an Archer-Daniels-Midland facility in Decatur, Illinois, after an explosion within its processing complex, the company said in a statement on Sunday night, said Reuters.

Eight ADM personnel were taken to hospital via ambulance, with the extent of their injuries unknown at the time, fire department official Dan Kline said in an emailed statement, adding that the fire that was now under control.

ADM said the incident happened at 7:11 p.m. CDT (0011 GMT) and that the injured had been taken to a hospital. The company said it did not have a confirmed cause of the incident as of Sunday night.

The Decatur site, ADM's North American headquarters and its largest facility globally, houses a soybean crushing plant and one of the largest corn wet mills in the world.

It also has the capacity to produce 375 million gallons of ethanol biofuel annually, making it the largest in the country, according to the Renewable Fuels Association.

It was not immediately clear whether the blast would impact the processing facilities. The company did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.

We remind, Russia is shipping its first crude oil cargo to Brazil, as it seeks to diversify its list of buyers, which has been drastically limited by U.S. and EU sanctions. Russia has been heavily relying on India and China as main buyers of its crude after European embargo and price cap policies were imposed in December last year after Russia's action in Ukraine that Moscow calls a special military operation.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petrobras’ refining units reached a Total Utilization Factor (FUT) of 97.3% in August, the best result since December 2014, said the company.

Total diesel production for the month was 3.78 billion liters, the highest in 2023. Production of S10 diesel, a more modern, sustainable and low-sulfur product, reached 2.37 billion liters in the same period. Spotlight for the record monthly production of S10 achieved at the Alberto Pasqualini Refinery (REFAP), with 258 million liters; at the President Bernardes Refinery (RPBC), which achieved 329 million liters; and at the Paulinia Refinery (REPLAN), where the 609 million liter landmark was achieved.

The results are important for damping price volatility in the foreign market. According to Petrobras' Director of Sales, Logistics and Markets, Claudio Schlosser, “the S10 diesel production increase in our refineries contributes to our commercial strategy, which provides for the practice of competitive prices in a profitable and sustainable way”, he celebrates.

According to Petrobras’ Director of Industrial Processes and Products, William Franca, the landmark achieved is the result of the reliability and quality of Petrobras’ operations. “The optimization of our processes is allowing us to expand production in our units and offer derivatives with profitability in the domestic market”, he says.

Petrobras’ refineries have been achieving successive records in FUT since May of this year. The calculation of the refining utilization factor takes into account the volume of oil processed and the reference capacity of the refineries, within the design limits of the assets, the safety, environmental and quality requirements of the derivatives produced.

We remind, Petrobras remains eager to repurchase a refinery from Abu Dhabi state investor Mubadala despite antitrust barriers, and a new biofuels partnership could open the door to future talks. Petrobras on Monday announced a memorandum of understanding with Mubadala for potential investment in a biofuel refinery under development in Bahia state by Mubadala-owned Acelen.

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MOSCOW (MRC) - The fire-damaged, gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) at Marathon Petroleum's 593,000 bpd Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, is expected to be shut until late this week, said people familiar with plant operations, said Reuters.

Repairs to ductwork damaged in a last Thursday fire on the 140,000-bpd FCC will last into next week, the sources said. The restart of the unit will follow the successful completion of the repairs. Marathon spokesperson Jamal Kheiry declined to comment.

The Thursday night fire in the FCC's regenerator began from a packing leak on a slide valve, the sources said. The fire was short in duration with the unit's operators putting it out before firefighters arrived.

Investigators from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are beginning a probe of the fire, the sources said.

No injuries were reported from the Thursday fire. In the regenerator, carbon is removed from the fine powder catalyst that converts gas oil into unfinished gasoline in the FCC's reactor. Removing the carbon extends the life, improving the efficiency of the catalyst.

The Galveston Bay Refinery is the fourth largest by capacity in the United States.

In a May 15 fire on a reformer at the Galveston Bay Refinery, a Marathon employee was killed and two contract workers were injured.

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