Mitsui Chemicals builds new elastomer project

Mitsui Chemicals recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new plant to produce the high-performance elastomer Tafmer at its Singapore-based wholly owned subsidiary Mitsui Elastomers Singapore, as per Process-worldwide.

The ceremony was held on 28 July, 2023. As part of Mitsui Chemicals’ Vision 2030 Long-Term Business Plan, the Mobility Solutions business aims to help solve social challenges and achieve sustainable business growth by providing unique materials, features and services.

Tafmer is used both as a soft molding material and as a resin modifier that dramatically improves resin properties. Its flexibility and lightness have resulted in Tafmer being used across a wide range of fields, including solar cell components, packaging materials, engineering plastic modifiers, sports shoes and automotive parts.

Demand for Tafmer is set to remain strong as the global economy grows, and is expected to rise further on the back of efforts to achieve a circular economy by stepping up the introduction of clean energy. Via the supply of Tafmer, which meets these needs, Mitsui Chemicals aims to become a global solutions company that leads change and contributes to the sustainable societies of the future.

We remind, Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. announced that new affiliate Mitsui Chemicals EMS Corporation has begun doing business after its establishment on July 1, 2023. Created to take over the pellicle business acquired from Asahi Kasei Corporation, Mitsui Chemicals EMS is the No. 1 player in the market for FPD pellicles, which are used in the LCD panel exposure process.

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Braskem and Vitol S.A. have announced an agreement for circular feedstock derived from plastic waste. Under the agreement, Vitol will start to supply Braskem Netherlands B.V. with pyrolysis oil produced in the chemical recycling process at the facilities of WPU – Waste Plastic Upcycling A/S, in Denmark, said the company.

Chemical recycling is a complementary process to traditional mechanical recycling. It enables plastic waste that is unfit for mechanical recycling to be recovered and turned into valuable raw materials for the chemical industry, an alternative to fossil fuel-based feedstock.

The agreement with Vitol helps Braskem increase the circularity of its products around the world. It is part of the Wenew ecosystem, a concept that represents and consolidates Braskem’s efforts in the circular economy on four pillars – products, education, technology, and circular design. The initiative has a significant impact on the company’s growth strategy and the achievement of plastic waste reduction targets. By 2030, Braskem plans to sell 1 million tons of products with recycled material and recover 1.5 million tons of plastic from the environment.

“The circular economy is an objective linked to Braskem’s business strategy. Adopting initiatives that include plastic waste recovery, and mechanical, and chemical recycling in our production processes is connected to our company’s purpose to provide a more circular and sustainable future. We believe that Vitol’s infrastructure and expertise combined with WPU’s plastic waste recycling technology will enable Braskem to take an important step towards developing sustainable solutions for our clients,” said Walmir Soller, VP of Olefins and Polyolefins at Braskem Europe & Asia.

Global Head of Naphtha trading at Vitol, Tom Baker, said: “We are delighted to supply Braskem with pyrolysis oil from WPU, which complements Braskem’s desire to further the circularity of its products globally. Incorporating waste-derived feedstock into the supply chain is a cost-effective upcycling solution that will ensure Braskem can meet its clients’ sustainable needs.”

For Niels Stielund, chairman of the board at WPU – Waste Plastic Upcycling A/S, the agreement with Braskem is an important step. “We are delighted that we can support Braskem’s efforts to achieve sustainability using the pyrolysis oil we produce at our factories. That a world-renowned actor like Braskem will now use our feedstock is a milestone for us and a stamp of approval for our proprietary technology. It also highlights how end-of-life plastic can be a valuable resource in a circular process instead of ending up in incinerators or landfills, and we are humbled and happy to embark on this journey with Braskem and Vitol,” says Stielund.

We remind, Braskem and the University of Sao Paulo (USP) have announced a partnership to develop lines of research for converting CO2 into other chemical products. CO­2 is one of the greenhouse gases and among the biggest contributors to climate change.

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Songwon Industrial Co., Ltd. is pleased to announce the appointment of Steffen Dobberstein as the new Leader Business Unit (BU) Coatings effective September 11th, 2023, said Pressreleasefinder.

As Leader BU Coatings, Steffen Dobberstein will play a pivotal role in defining and driving the Coatings strategy and further advancing SONGWON's position in the Coatings industry worldwide. He will directly report to Hans Werhonig, Leader Group Commercial.

A seasoned professional, Steffen Dobberstein brings in-depth expertise in B2B and marketing/pricing strategy as well as extensive leadership experience and 10 years of Coatings industry knowledge to his new role. Prior to joining SONGWON, his past positions included Vice President Strategic Pricing at Dormakaba, Head of International Sales, Geberit AG and Global Business Unit Manager for coatings at Synthomer. He holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and Economics from the University of Berlin. Working for over 10 years in the Coatings industry.

Steffen Dobberstein takes on the role of Leader BU Coatings from Rosanna Telesca, who successfully built SONGWON's BU Coatings over the past 9 years. The Board of Directors and the Executive Committee thank her for her contribution to SONGWON's success and wish her all the best for her personal and professional future.

We remind, Songwon appoints Omya to represent their PVC stabilizers SONGSTAB in Australia & New Zealand, said the company. This is an expansion of the strategic partnership of Omya with Songwon and also with their other business units, said the company.

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SIBUR has launched an invitation to the holders of the Company’s Eurobonds maturing in 2023, 2024 and 2025 to tender their Notes for purchase, said the company.

Tender offer announcement with all the details is available at EURONEXT website.

Tender Instructions should be sent to the Tender Agent (i2 Capital Markets) by first registering on the website at:

If you need further information about the Offer, please contact the Information Agent (Alliance Advisors), the Tender Agent or SIBUR IR team.

We remind, IBUR has completed its first deal to sell carbon offsets produced as part of a climate project at ZapSibNeftekhim. The deal helped QIWI, a leading provider of new generation payment and financial services, fully offset its 2022 GHG emissions (Scope 1 and 2).

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Evonik is one step closer to its goal of closing the material cycle in the polyurethane industry: The company has joined forces with the REMONDIS Group, one of the world's leading recycling companies to secure the supply of end-of-life mattress foams, said the company.

The cooperation will support Evonik as it develops its chemical recycling process to the next level. Evonik’s innovative hydrolysis process makes it possible to recover the main components of polyurethane foam and reuse them as high-quality building blocks in the production of new mattresses. This process is currently being tested in a pilot plant in Hanau, and in a next step, the recycling process will be tested in a larger demonstration plant.

According to estimations, more than 250 kilotons of PU foam from old mattresses are incinerated or landfilled in Europe every year. Evonik and REMONDIS want to help reduce this with the goal of ensuring fewer fossil raw materials are used in the PU value chain by returning valuable materials to the raw material cycle. "Circularity in the field of flexible polyurethane foams is very important both for the environment, and for the future viability of our business. It gives us the opportunity to act in the interests of the environment, the industry, and consumers," said Thomas Wessel, the member of Evonik's Executive Board responsible for sustainability.

The REMONDIS Group contributes its expertise in sorting PU flexible foams from waste and feeding them into the cycle in constant quality so that they can be converted into chemical recyclates using Evonik's hydrolysis process. "By working together with REMONDIS, we can evolve from the current linear value chains to functioning circular loops. True circularity only works in networks, that’s why we are actively expanding our collaborations," said Dr. Patrick Glockner, Head of Evonik's Global Circular Economy Program.

The cooperation with the flexible foam producer The Vita Group, started in 2021, has already successfully demonstrated that Evonik's hydrolysis process recovers raw materials of significantly higher quality, and thus improved usability compared with previous recycling technologies. Increased use of recycled materials lowers the dependence on fossil raw materials and reduces the ecological footprint of the PU industry. According to findings so far, Evonik's process significantly reduces the CO2 footprint compared with mattress production using fossil raw materials. The demonstration plant intends to prove that this also applies on a larger scale.

"For us, closing material life cycles is not only a business objective but also an expression of our responsibility towards society as a whole. Conserving raw materials around the world and processing them again and again is a fundamental prerequisite for sustainable environmental and climate protection," said Jurgen Ephan, Managing Director of REMONDIS Recycling GmbH & Co. KG. "REMONDIS reintegrates enormous quantities of materials back into the production cycle. Every year, we collect more than 30 million tons of recyclable materials, process them and make them available to the industry as raw materials, with the numbers continuing to increase. What drives us is the constant development of new processes to close or optimize material cycles. Therefore, we are very pleased to be working with Evonik to tackle the challenge of finding an efficient solution for the raw material recovery of foam mattresses."

The initial focus of the project is on the region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. However, the goal is to develop a scalable technology and a business model that can be expanded internationally.

We remind, vonik Industries has completed the relocation and expansion of its precious metal powder catalyst plant in Shanghai Chemical Industrial Park (SCIP). Production is scheduled to commence in Q4, 2023. Precious metal powder catalysts are widely used in industrial chemicals, life sciences and fine chemicals and are sold under Evonik’s Noblyst P brand name.

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