Versalis, Bridgestone join partnership to create closed-loop ecosystem for tire recycling

Versalis SpA, the chemicals subsidiary of Eni (Rome), has signed an agreement with Bridgestone EMEA, a subsidiary of tire manufacturer Bridgestone Corp. (Tokyo), and recycling technology firm Grupo BB&G (Esposende, Portugal), aimed at establishing a closed-loop ecosystem to transform end-of-life tires into new tires, said the company.

The agreement will bring together the innovation, experience and technological skills of all three companies, they said in a statement Sept. 2. The partnership aims to develop a model for the creation of a scalable and increasingly sustainable supply chain, the companies said.

About 1 billion tires reach the end of their useful service life every year, according to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s tire industry project, quoted by Bridgestone, BB&G and Versalis. The three partners said they are seeking a solution that provides innovative and more environmentally responsible ways to address increased sustainability in the synthetic rubber business, helping to maximize the complete life cycle of a tire.

Under the terms of the agreement, end-of-life tires will be transformed, through pyrolysis, into tire pyrolysis oil (TPO) to create elastomers comparable with those obtained from traditional feedstock for the production of new tires. The three companies’ collaboration aims to boost the development of pyrolysis technology and TPO, as well as the market scaling of the elastomers as a valuable circular resource for new tires.

The partnership will leverage BB&G’s thermomechanical pyrolysis process to recycle end-of-life tires on a commercial scale. BB&G has built and operated two generations of pilot plants in the past 10 years and has recently commissioned its first commercial-scale tire pyrolysis production to validate the feasibility and quality outputs of the process. BB&G’s TPO unit is located at Fatima, Portugal, and has been running since mid-July 2024. In the coming months, initial amounts of BB&G oil will be fed into Versalis production plants to manufacture the circular elastomers that Bridgestone will use to create a first batch of tires in early 2025.

Versalis has been developing circular technologies and processes through polymer recycling. This includes complementary mechanical and chemical recycling. The company is also engaged in the diversification of feedstock, with renewable sources and secondary raw materials.

Through the collaboration and based on its own technological expertise for recycled materials, Versalis will integrate BB&G’s pyrolysis oil into its own supply chain, expanding Versalis’ branded Balance product range, including elastomers, which is ISCC PLUS certified. Bridgestone can transform these elastomers into tires with an enhanced percentage of rubber obtained from secondary raw materials, the companies said.

As part of the collaboration, all three companies will work together to research and develop the best technical solutions to establish an ecosystem for future recycling of end-of-life tires on a large scale.

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Due to a lack of profitability, BASF intends to discontinue the production of adipic acid, cyclododecanone (CDon) and cyclopentanone (CPon) at the Ludwigshafen site by 2025, said the company.

Around 180 employees will be affected by the closures. The measure is part of a strategic realignment of the site under changed market conditions. BASF aims to improve the profitability of the Ludwigshafen site with structural adjustments and plant closures.

The chemical company BASF plans to discontinue the production of adipic acid, cyclododecanone (CDon) and cyclopentanone (CPon) at the Ludwigshafen site. The production plants for CDon and CPon are to be shut down in the first half of 2025. The remaining adipic acid production in Ludwigshafen will be closed in the course of 2025. The company has taken this decision as part of the ongoing strategic review of its production facilities at the Ludwigshafen site. According to BASF, the measures are intended to ensure competitiveness under changing market conditions.

The production capacity for adipic acid had already been reduced following the adjustment of the Verbund structures at the Ludwigshafen site announced in February 2023. The remaining adipic acid production was partially continued to secure the raw material supply for the production of CDon and CPon. BASF will finalise the supply of CDon and CPon in close coordination with customers. Around 180 employees are affected by the plant closures. BASF will support the affected employees in their search for new employment opportunities within the BASF Group.

“These closures are part of the development of a long-term target picture for the transformation of the Ludwigshafen site,” says Dr Katja Scharpwinkel, member of the Board of Executive Directors, Labour Director of BASF and Head of the Ludwigshafen site. CDon is the main raw material for the production of lauryllactam, a precursor for the high-performance plastic polyamide 12 (PA 12). CDon is also used for the synthesis of musk fragrances and UV stabilisers. CPon is used as a building block for the synthesis of pesticides and active pharmaceutical ingredients, as a solvent in the production of semiconductors and as a precursor for the production of special fragrances. Adipic acid is used in the production of polyamides, polyurethanes, coatings and adhesives, among other things.

It was previously reported that sales in the chemicals segment of the BASF concern in the second quarter of 2024 increased by 6.0% compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching EUR 2.8 billion. At the same time, compared to the second quarter of 2023, sales in the plastics segment decreased by 5.3%, to EUR 3.4 billion.

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Last week, styrene monomer prices gained in the Asian region, as per Polymerupdate.

An industry source in Asia on condition of anonymity informed a Polymerupdate team member, "Prices gained primarily on the back of supply concerns with some participants seeking spot cargoes. However, weak downstream demand fundamentals mean that the price rise is not likely to be tenable.

The source added, "A week on week rise in feedstock benzene values also pulled prices higher in the region". On Friday, CFR India SM prices were assessed at the USD 1170-1180/mt levels, a week on week rise of USD (+30/mt).

FOB Korea SM prices were assessed at the USD 1130-1140/mt levels, while CFR South East Asia SM prices were assessed at the USD 1190-1200/mt levels, both higher by USD (+30/mt) from the previous week.

CFR Taiwan SM prices were assessed at the USD 1180-1190/mt levels and CFR Japan SM prices were assessed at the USD 1150-1160/mt levels, both week on week increased by USD (+30/mt).

CFR China SM prices were assessed at the USD 1150-1160/mt levels, a rise of USD (+30/mt) from the previous week.

Benzene feedstock prices on Friday were assessed at the USD 1025-1035/mt FOB Korea levels, a gain of USD (+25/mt) week on week.

In plant news, Fujian Gulei Petrochemical has halted production at its Styrene monomer (SM) plant on August 30, 2024 owing to a production issue. Further details on the duration of the shutdown could not be ascertained. Located in Fujian, China, the plant has a production capacity of 600,000 mt/year.

SP Chemicals has restarted its Styrene monomer (SM) plant on August 25, 2024. The plant was shut for a brief maintenance on August 20, 2024. Located in Jiangsu, China, the plant has a production capacity of 320,000 mt/year.

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State-owned petrochemicals producer and gas utility GAIL India Ltd. (New Delhi) has inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Petron Scientech Inc. (PSI; Princeton, New Jersey) to study a potential 500,000 metric tons per year bio-ethylene project in India.

The companies will jointly explore setting up an equal joint venture to operate the plant and its downstream derivative units, based on feedstock bio-ethanol produced at the facility, Gail said on Aug. 22. A specific location, schedule and investment amount were not given.

GAIL and PSI will undertake feasibility studies “to ascertain technical viability and financial prospects of the project,” GAIL said. Both firms will endeavor to secure investment approval from their respective management for the project investment and the formation of the JV, it said.

In June, GAIL announced it would build an ethane cracker and derivatives complex at Sehorein Madhya Pradesh state, India, with a nameplate capacity for 1.5 million metric tons per year of ethylene. The estimated cost of the project is 600.0 billion Indian rupees ($7.2 billion).

Petron is a licensor of technologies for producing bio-ethanol, bio-ethylene and other bio-chemicals. In December 2022, the firm signed an MOU with Mitsui & Co. to explore construction of a bio-based ethylene plant in the US. The bio-based ethylene would be used to manufacture polyethylene terephthalate (PET), PSI said at the time of the announcement.

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Production of diesel in Russia could decline by around 7.5% in August from July to 7.1 metric MMt due to outages and maintenance work at refineries, calculations, based on assessments of two industry sources, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The sources expected Russia to give priority to trying to meet domestic diesel demand during the harvesting campaign, and that could mean diesel exports will fall by a fifth from July.

Russia's seaborne diesel and gasoil exports have already shrunk in August to about 2.7 MMt–2.8 MMt, the lowest since September 2023, as a result of refinery maintenance and high domestic fuel demand, data from LSEG and the sources that could not be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly show.

Oslo-based consultancy Rystad Energy on Friday reported a deeper drop to the lowest level since October 2020 according to initial estimates based on vessel tracking systems.

It said seaborne exports of Russian diesel and gasoil declined to around 690,000 bpd on Aug. 1–25 from 960,000 bpd in July.

"The decline in refined product exports may reflect strong demand in Russia in August or continued potential problems in the refinery sector, which is possible given the opacity of Russian data. In both cases, this is more of a bullish signal for the oil products and diesel market," it said.

The biggest contributor to the fuel output decline could be the Ryazan plant, controlled by Rosneft, which idled more than half the diesel hydrotreater capacity. The industry sources said they expected high-quality diesel production at the plant to decline by 60% this month.

Output at the Gazprom Neft-owned Omsk refinery will fall due to the outage at the CDU-11 primary unit following a fire this week that killed one worker and injured six more.

The Perm and Volgograd oil plants, which halted their hydrocracker units, as well as the Novokuybyshev refinery, will also see their diesel output declining, industry sources said.

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