Trinseo announces potential closure of Stade, Germany PC manufacturing facility

Trinseo, a specialty material solutions provider, announced it has initiated an information and consultation process with the Works Council of Trinseo Deutschland Anlagengesellschaft mbH regarding the potential closure of its virgin polycarbonate (PC) production site in Stade, Germany, said the company.

The Company expects to seek board approval of the closure in 2024 following the Works Council consultation process. If an agreement is reached, Trinseo will no longer produce virgin PC and will obtain PC for its downstream businesses entirely via external purchases. In comparison to 2023 results, the action is expected to increase annual profitability by USD15 million to USD20 million.

“Unfortunately, we continue to see demand soften, and price declines due to the oversupply caused by offshore producers pushing material into the EMEA market. We anticipate these conditions to continue in 2024 and beyond. Additionally, our fixed operating costs at Stade are significant, placing a further strain on our financial viability at this location,” said CEO, Frank Bozich.

In the third quarter 2023 earnings call, the Company identified Stade as a potential location for a PC dissolution facility. The Company is committed to the integration and application of modern recycling technologies, such as PC dissolution and depolymerization, to help customers develop more sustainable product offerings. Trinseo is exploring numerous options for viable locations to ensure recycling plants are both resilient and adaptive to customer requirements. Developing commercial scale operations in recycling remains a key pillar of the business strategy moving forward as evidenced by the polycarbonate-dissolution pilot facility recently opened in Terneuzen, the Netherlands.

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Companies from across the flexible food packaging supply chain have partnered to launch a new snack packaging that contains 50 percent-recycled plastic and meets stringent food contact requirements, said Recyclingtoday.

The new packaging was launched in late 2023 in the United Kingdom and Ireland for Sunbites, a snack brand owned by PepsiCo. The packaging is made using an advanced recycling process—a complementary approach to mechanical recycling—that enables the recycled materials to satisfy the demanding European Union regulatory requirements for applications such as food-contact packaging, contact sensitive and medical devices.

A number of companies were involved in developing the circular packaging: Germany-based GreenDot ensured the procurement and supply of postconsumer plastic packaging scrap, which was converted into a pyrolysis oil called Tacoil using Plastic Energy’s technology.

London-based manufacturing company Ineos Olefins & Polymers Europe used the pyrolysis oil as an alternative to traditional fossil feedstock to first produce recycled propylene before turning this into virgin-quality recycled polypropylene (PP) resin at its plant in Lavera, France.

Italy-based Irplast S.p.A., a producer of biaxially oriented PP films (BOPP), used the new resin to turn existing plastic packaging designs into new packaging films containing 50 percent-postconsumer-recycled materials and meet the food contact and performance requirements.

Switzerland-based packaging developer Amcor transformed the films into printed packaging that delivers the same technical performance for PepsiCo.

Using the new PP films, PepsiCo launched the Sunbites packaging in the U.K. The partnership is part of PepsiCo Positive, the company’s program to eliminate virgin fossil-based plastic in crisp and chip bags in Europe by 2030.

“At PepsiCo, we are proud to work with our industry partners towards more sustainable packaging solutions,” says Archana Jagannathan, chief sustainability officer at PepsiCo Europe. “We are excited about the new Sunbites packaging in the U.K., and we look forward to learning from this pilot market and expanding it across more countries in the near future. Collaboration is key to progressing on our ambition to eliminate virgin fossil-based plastic in all our crisp and chip packaging in Europe by the end of 2030.”

According to Ineos, the recycled polymer content is certified under the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC Plus) scheme.

Ineos says the upcoming EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is expected to set out ambitious targets for recycling packaging waste for 2025 and 2030 across a range of materials and recycled content targets for plastics. The company adds the development of the new packaging demonstrates that advanced recycling technologies can play a critical role in meeting the growing demand for the safe, circular use of recycled materials in food contact products, helping the EU achieve its 10 percent-recycled content objective for contact-sensitive plastic packaging by 2030, as well as help to reduce total emissions.

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Radius Recycling Inc., headquartered in Portland, Oregon, has announced preliminary results for the second quarter of its 2024 fiscal year, which ended Feb. 29, said Recyclingtoday.

The company is anticipating net losses to be approximately $35 million, with the loss per share from continuing operations to range from $1.19 to $1.24. Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) are expected to be nearly $2 million, with the adjusted loss per share ranging from $1.05 to $1.10.

Radius says tight supply flows for recycled metals and unusually wet winter weather affected sales volumes and metal spreads for recycled metals and finished steel during its second quarter. Ferrous sales volumes are expected to decrease sequentially by 15 percent given the lower supply flows, including delays of certain bulk shipments at quarter-end. Nonferrous sales volumes are expected to be down 3 percent sequentially but up 7 percent year-over-year, supported by additional production from the company’s advanced nonferrous recovery technologies and expansion of its platform.

“Without question, current market conditions remain challenging as cyclical headwinds are creating tighter supply flows and compressing metal spreads,” Radius CEO Tamara Lundgren says. “We have navigated effectively through these periods of tight scrap availability before, and we are focused on what we can control: costs, operating efficiencies and execution of our strategic priorities to increase our nonferrous production and expand our recycling services platform.”

Lundgren says scrap supply flows should improve with normal seasonality and as U.S. interest rates decline and global manufacturing activity recovers.

“On the demand side, decarbonization trends continue to be a positive driver for our products and services,” she says. “Many low-carbon technologies are more metal-intensive than the technologies they are replacing, and recycled metals require less carbon to produce than mined metals.

"With our 100-plus operating facilities producing recycled ferrous volumes of over 4 million tons and nonferrous volumes of over 700 million pounds annually, our low-carbon and net-zero carbon emission GRN finished steel products, and our 3PR [third party recycling] service and supply chain solution that enables our customers to increase their recycling rates, we are well-positioned to benefit from market improvements and these positive structural demand trends.”

Finished steel sales volumes are expected to increase by 5 percent year-over-year and steel mill use is expected to be 81 percent versus 75 percent in the prior-year period, Radius says, noting this reflects the continued strength of nonresidential and infrastructure demand in the western U.S. Sequentially, finished steel sales volumes are expected to decrease by 11 percent from seasonally lower construction demand exacerbated by a prolonged period of rain on the West Coast.

Radius expects average net selling prices for ferrous scrap to be up 8 percent sequentially, benefiting from strengthening global prices in the early part of the quarter driven by restocking. However, prices softened later in the quarter from lower demand and continued elevated levels of Chinese steel exports. Average net selling prices for nonferrous scrap are expected to increase by 3 percent sequentially and to be flat for finished steel products. Results for the second quarter are expected to include a benefit from average inventory accounting of approximately $2 per ferrous ton, the company adds.

During its second quarter, Radius says it implemented a plan to reduce selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses by 10 percent and increase production cost efficiencies to deliver $40 million in aggregate annual benefits, which are in addition to the $30 million in annual benefits previously announced that were implemented in the second quarter. The new measures include reductions in headcount and other employee-related expenses, as well as decreases in nontrade procurement spend, transportation and logistics and other outside services.

Approximately half of the targeted quarterly run-rate benefits from these initiatives are expected to be achieved in the third quarter, with substantially all the remainder by the end of its next fiscal year. The company says it expects to incur related restructuring charges and other exit-related costs in the range of $6 million, of which $3 million are expected to be incurred during the second quarter.

Radius will report its financial results for the second quarter of its 2024 fiscal year April 4.

We remind, Armando Alvarez Group (AAG), a Spain-based global solutions provider with a focus on sectors including packaging, containers and agriculture, has collaborated with Irving, Texas-based ExxonMobil Corp. to develop silo bags primarily made with polyethylene (PE) resin the companies say improves their recyclability in locations where film is accepted.

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Trinseo , a specialty material solutions provider, and its affiliate companies in Europe, announced a price increase for all polystyrene (PS), ABS and SAN grades, said the company.

Effective March 1, 2024, or depending on existing contract terms, the prices for the products listed below will increase as follows:

STYRON™ and STYRON™ X-TECH general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) by +235 Euro per metric ton
STYRON™ and STYRON™ A-TECH, STYRON™ C-TECH and STYRON™ X- TECH high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) by +235 Euro per metric ton
MAGNUM™ ABS resins by +180 Euro per metric ton
TYRIL™ SAN resins by +180 Euro per metric ton

We remind, Trinseo PLC (Wayne, Pennsylvania) has advanced plans to divest its styrenics businesses by initiating the sale of its 50% stake in Americas Styrenics LLC (AmSty; The Woodlands, Texas), said the company. Trinseo, which expects to find a buyer within a year, said the proceeds will be used to pay down a portion of the recently issued $1.077 billion of term loans maturing in 2028.


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Images of plastic mountains at landfills and islands of floating plastics in our oceans demonstrably show that we are living in an age of immense consumer consumption, said Recyclingtoday.

A rising worldwide population coupled with an increasing desire for goods mean that the global production of plastic is set to nearly triple in the coming decades from around 460 million metric tons in 2019 to 1,231 million metric tons in 2060, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Despite international concern that more waste generated equals more harm to the environment, the problem continues to grow. Additionally, as increasing volumes of plastic enter the food chain via animals and fish feeding on discarded materials, the threat to public health increases. In short, we are in the middle of a plastics crisis.

Various international policies aimed at tackling the issues have been adopted or proposed, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) draft National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution, the European Commission’s ban on single use plastics and its commitment that 55 percent of end-of-life plastic be recycled by 2030 via the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. The U.K. government recently increased its Plastic Packaging Tax which is levied on components with less than 30 percent recycled plastic that are roduced in or imported into the U.K.

We must consider, though, whether these measures adequately deal with the issues. One of the main factors is that less than one-fifth of plastic is recycled. Households and businesses diligently might put out their refuse for recycling collections, but if the majority of this material is not converted into new products, environmental and health problems will increase exponentially.

Mechanical recycling has certainly been useful as the prevalent mechanism employed by municipal authorities to manage plastics in recent years. However, mechanical recycling technologies are facing challenges in treating plastic streams, limiting their scope. In contrast, chemical recycling technologies can have higher tolerances to treat contaminated and complex mixed plastics streams. Those highly contaminated mixed plastic streams are not recycled yet given the limitations of current mechanical recycling technologies.

Chemical recycling through pyrolysis (often referred to as “advanced recycling”) is gaining traction as an alternative to mechanical recycling and incineration because of the wider scope of what can be processed. Pyrolysis involves heating mixed plastics to temperatures of 400 to 600 C (750 to 1,110 F) in the absence of oxygen, with or without a catalyst, to convert polymers into a mixture of liquid hydrocarbons.

The initial steps are similar to mechanical recycling with sorting, pretreatment (acid washing) and shredding before the material is transferred to a reactor to be melted. The high temperatures cause the complex hydrocarbon chains to break into smaller molecules. The resulting oil-gas mixture is transferred to a condenser to be cooled into pyrolysis oil. This oil can be further refined to produce approximately 80 percent liquid, 15 percent gas and 5 percent carbon black (ash).

The resulting products from pyrolysis can be used in a number of ways. The gas can be fed back into the system to heat the reactor’s furnace, and the carbon black can be used for a variety of purposes, such as the production of rubber goods, automotive parts and coatings, batteries, cables and printer inks.

The oil, the majority product by volume, can be used as feedstock for the chemical and petrochemical industries to produce new plastics that have the same chemical structure as first-generation plastics with virgin quality. Moreover, research by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory shows that production of plastic using just 5 percent pyrolysis oil reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 23 percent compared with plastic made using crude oil.

The pyrolysis process is not without its challenges, however. With respect to the pyrolysis technology and the plastic feedstock used, the concentration of downstream contamination and its nature can differ significantly. Numerous types of plastics and nonpolymeric sources are combined in mixed plastic feedstocks. Those feedstocks contain coarse to fine particles (e.g., filler, flame retardants, etc.) and other materials that are detected in the oil produced in the pyrolysis process (e.g., coke). Besides the particulate matter, a variety of additional contaminants, such as organic gels, dissolved metals and dispersed liquids, can be found in pyrolysis oil. This complex mixture of contaminants must be extracted from the oil.

Appropriate filtration media and coalescer technologies are key at various stages of the process to remove particles and separate water from pyrolysis oil or liquids from gas. The retention and separation of contaminants not only purifies the oil and gas, making them more suitable for downstream processing but also helps prevent fouling of equipment and unnecessary downtime for maintenance.

To refine the pyrolysis oil further for use as fuel or a feedstock for plastic production, it must be transferred to a steam cracker to convert the oil into lighter olefins. The presence of particles and metal contaminants in crude pyrolysis oils could have significant negative impacts on the steam cracker‘s furnace and recovery section such as furnace run-length reduction from the coking increase.

However, using depth filtration can be an effective method to remove harmful contaminants and reduce the contamination in pyrolysis oils to the thresholds accepted for crude naphtha feed in steam crackers. It is an efficient and cost-effective way to remove particle content from the oils.

Recently published work by Kevin M. van Geem (et. al., including me) highlights that when the filtered pyrolysis oils were subjected to steam cracking, radiant coil coke formation was reduced by 40 percent to 60 percent compared with unfiltered oil. Additionally, this reduction occurred without any changes in product selectivity, thus confirming the significant impact of particulate contamination on coke formation during steam cracking.

This filtration step can occur in the plastic oil production site, in a separated oil upgrade unit or directly in the steam cracker, before blending the oil with naphtha. This technology can accommodate different filtration grades to mitigate the potential evolution of the pyrolysis oil with an increase in solid contamination that could occur from degradation and polymerization.

We know that we need to minimize our use of the earth’s natural resources and reduce the amount of waste generated to prevent environmental damage. Recycling of mixed plastics via pyrolysis and subsequent steam cracking toward light olefins is a promising solution for the ever-growing plastic waste crisis. It can be understood as a substituent of crude fossil oil.

The more that plastics and other items are chemically recycled, the less pollution there will be in waterways and oceans. Consequently, this should reduce harm to wildlife and minimize the volume of microplastics entering the food chain that pose a threat to human health.

Universal collection, sorting, pretreatment and design of plastic products for recycling are keys to using mechanical recycling methods as the most established technology in industry. However, many end-of-life plastic streams remain unsuitable for mechanical recycling. To apply circularity to an increased share of end-of-life plastics, chemical recycling must be scaled up.

International government perspectives on the role of chemical recycling technology should be reviewed and acknowledged as being crucial to improve plastic circularity and recycling rates. Pyrolysis providers’ R&D also must clarify the role, performance and use of these technologies at an industrial scale.

If these elements are in place, the price of pyrolysis oil production could come down. If it falls to a level equal to the cost of current liquid fossil feedstocks, there will be less impetus to create first-generation plastics from fossil fuels. As such, chemical recycling could become the default option in the plastics value chain, waste and pollution would be reduced, and we would all be living in a more sustainable world.

Emmanuelle Biadi is a petrochemicals and recycling expert at Pall Corp., Port Washington, New York. She is a co-author of the scientific paper “Contaminant removal from plastic waste pyrolysis oil via depth filtration and the impact on chemical recycling: A simple solution with significant impact.”

We remind, Royal Dutch Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil and gas giant, has officially lifted the force majeure on the supply of phenol and acetone to Deer Park, Texas, USA. According to market sources, the line, boasting a substantial capacity of 363,000 tonnes of phenol and 225,000 tonnes of acetone annually, has resumed full operational status. The declaration of force majeure, made in mid-October the previous year, had stemmed from a technical malfunction that temporarily disrupted the supply chain.

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