Controversial EU packaging and packaging waste regulation approaches adoption

Controversial EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation approaches adoptionControversial EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation approaches adoptionDetails of the provisional agreement on the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) have been published, containing a number of wide-ranging elements which will reshape the packaging sector across the next two decades.

The regulation is now reaching its final stages but has faced a fraught journey through the various legislative chambers of the EU and has remained divisive among both legislators and the markets.

Under the provisional agreement the regulation will introduce: mandated packaging recyclability, minimum recycled content and reuse targets across packaging – albeit with potential derogations based on availability of recycled materialm, mandatory deposit return schemes (DRS) and separate packaging collection targets, new reporting and labelling obligations, the extension of extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes, a restriction on the placing on the market of food contact packaging containing per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) above certain thresholds, a restriction on plastic collation films except for transportation purposes, the possibility of bio-based plastic contributing to recycling targets, the allowance of imports to count towards recycling targets provided they are of similar quality as domestic material and have been separately collected.

The Committee of the Permanent representatives of the Governments of the Member States to the European Union (Coreper) endorsed the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation on 15 March following amendments to the provisional agreement reached by the EU Parliament and EU Council (but not endorsed by the EU Commission) during the trilogue negotiations.

The European Parliament Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) endorsed the provisional agreement on 19 March.

By 1 January 2030, 40% of most transport packaging used within the EU – including e-commerce – will need to be reusable and ‘within a system of reuse’. This includes pallets, foldable-plastic boxes, boxes, trays, plastic crates, intermediate bulk containers, pails, drums and canisters of all sizes and materials, including flexible formats or pallet wrappings or straps for stabilisation and protection of products put on pallets during transport.

From 2040 this will increase to 70%. Some players said that this amounted to a defacto ban on flexible plastic transport packaging because of the difficulty in reaching the reuse target.

By 2030, 10% of grouped packaging boxes for stock keeping or distribution will need to be re-usable.

We remind, Shantou Mingca Packaging Co Ltd and ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Research & Development Co., Ltd (ExxonMobil) announced an innovative double bubble Polyethylene-based Shrink Film solution, the next generation of Polyolefin Shrink Film, created using ultra-low density Exceed XP performance polyethylene. PEF can be used to package products in a variety of shapes, such as electronics, household and personal care products, medicines, food, books and magazines, plastic utensils, and toys.

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US exporters of post-use low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film bales were processing the effects of a bridge collapse at Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26, said Chemweek.

A container ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing the structure to collapse and shutting down the fifth-busiest container ship port on the US East Coast.

“Anyone with cargo on that ship is liable for damage,” said one exporter, adding that the insurance departments of commodity brokerages were scrambling to understand the impact of the collision.

Another exporter said the indeterminate closure of the port would impact its post-use LDPE bale shipments out of Baltimore. Although the volumes exported from Baltimore represent only a small portion of total US scrap plastic ethylene derivative exports, according to US International Trade Commission (ITC) data, a third exporter said the port closure could add delays to the next closest ports, such as New York and Norfolk, Virginia.

In all of 2023, Baltimore saw only 1,125 metric tons of scrap plastic exports, or less than 1% of the total 153,575 metric tons exported by the US. Three East Coast ports — New York and Norfolk, as well as Savannah, Georgia — handled more than half of the total 2023 export volumes.

For one shipper, New York is the best alternative while the port is closed, and a second said Norfolk is smaller but less complicated to navigate than Philadelphia. Regardless of the alternative port chosen, the sources agreed that the extra logistical steps to get to a more distant port could increase overall costs, including trucking and demurrage.

And although shipping on a cost, insurance and freight basis covers damages arising from such an incident, the first exporter said some shippers opt not to pay extra for the insurance coverage. In such cases, the incident could cause lasting and catastrophic financial damage, the source said.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, last assessed post-use A-grade LDPE film bales at 16 cents per pound (lb) FOB Chicago on March 25. Sources said before the collision that exporters’ bids were firming slightly on the week — last heard at 17 cents per lb FAS Chicago. Although cargoes for export tend to be priced higher than domestic bids to account for transportation costs ex-warehouse to port, domestic buying ideas do not have much room to go lower before sellers prioritize volumes for export, said a broker.

In virgin resin, only 1,236 metric tons of polypropylene, PE and polyvinyl chloride left from Baltimore in 2023, out of the 12.3 million metric tons of total US outflows, according to ITC data.

We remind, the US Department of Energy (DOE) has selected ExxonMobil’s Baytown, Texas, olefins plant carbon reduction project to receive up to USD331.9 million in funding under the USD6-billion Industrial Demonstrations Program (IDP). The announcement comes one month after a report in the Houston Chronicle that ExxonMobil might have to cancel the project if proposed federal tax incentives for the production of clean hydrogen exclude the use of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS).

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MEGlobal announced that its Asian Contract Price (ACP) for monoethylene glycol (MEG) will be USD840/tonne CFR Asian main ports for arrival April 2024.

The April 2024 ACP reflects the short-term supply and demand situation in the Asian market.

The price is on a CFR (cost & freight) Asia basis.

We remind, MEGlobal announced that its Asian Contract Price (ACP) for monoethylene glycol (MEG) was USD850/tonne CFR Asian main ports for arrival March 2024.

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EQUATE has nominated its April 2024 MEG India Contract Price (ICP) at USD538/tonne CFR (cost & freight) India Main Ports, said the company.

The April nomination was USD25/tonne lower than March number.

We remind, EQUATE has nominated its March 2024 MEG India Contract Price (ICP) at USD563/tonne CFR (cost & freight) India Main Ports. The March nomination was USD11/tonne higher than February number.
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Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a new catalyst reactor that can produce propylene from natural gas, as an alternative to crude oil, said European-rubber-journal.

The reactor resembles a nested pair of tubes, wherein propane (C3H8) from shale gas flows through the innermost tube, explained the university in a 21 March report.

The reactor splits propane into propylene (C3H6) and hydrogen gas (H2), providing a ‘cleaner’ alternative with reduced manufacturing costs, compared to propylene derived from oil.

According to the University of Michigan, current processes available to source propylene from natural gas are “still too inefficient to bridge the gap in supply and demand”.

“It’s very hard to economically convert propane into propylene,” said Suljo Linic, the Martin Lewis Perl Collegiate professor of chemical engineering.

“You need to heat that reaction to drive it, and standard methods require very high temperatures to produce enough propylene,” added Linic, corresponding author of the study published in Science.

At such high temperatures, he explained, solid carbon deposits and other undesirable products that impair the catalyst are produced in addition to propylene.

And to regenerate the reactor, he added, we need to burn off the solid carbon deposits often, which makes the process inefficient.

According to the University of Michigan, the new reactor system efficiently makes propylene from shale gas by separating propane into propylene and hydrogen gas.

It also gives hydrogen “a way out”, changing the balance between the concentration of propane and reaction products in a way that allows more propylene to be made.

Once separated, the hydrogen can also be safely burned away from the propane, heating the reactor enough to speed up the reactions without making any undesirable compounds.

This separation is achieved through the reactor’s nested, hollow-fibre membrane tubing, according to the report.

The innermost tube is made up of materials that splits the propane into propylene and hydrogen gas.

While the tubing keeps most of the propylene inside the innermost chamber, the hydrogen gas can escape into an outer chamber through pores in a membrane layer of the material.

Inside that chamber, the hydrogen gas is controllably burned by mixing in precise amounts of oxygen.

Because the hydrogen can be burned inside the reactor and can operate under higher propane pressures, the technology could allow plants to produce propylene from natural gas without installing extra heaters.

According to the researchers’ estimate, a plant that produces 500 kilotonnes per annum of propylene could save as much as USD23.5 million (EUR22 million) over other methods starting with shale gas.

The savings are in addition to the operational savings from burning hydrogen produced in reaction, rather than other fuels.

The research was funded by the US department of energy’s office of basic energy sciences, the RAPID manufacturing institute and the National Science Foundation.

The team is pursuing patent protection with the assistance of U-M Innovation Partnerships and is seeking partners to bring the technology to market.

We remind, the US Department of Energy (DOE) has selected ExxonMobil’s Baytown, Texas, olefins plant carbon reduction project to receive up to USD331.9 million in funding under the USD6-billion Industrial Demonstrations Program (IDP). The announcement comes one month after a report in the Houston Chronicle that ExxonMobil might have to cancel the project if proposed federal tax incentives for the production of clean hydrogen exclude the use of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS).

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