Day: 3 February 2023

PET Recycling Coalition

-PET Recycling Coalition awards its first three grants

Resin company DAK Americas, recycled-content thermoforms producer Direct Pack and MRF operator Recycle Source have become the first three recipients of grants from the PET Recycling Coalition.

The Recycling Partnership’s PET Recycling Coalition launched a year ago to provide funding to boost PET recycling in the U.S. Modeled off the group’s Polypropylene Recycling Coalition, the PET counterpart is also funded by a mix of plastic producers and brand owners.

According to a press release from The Recycling Partnership (TRP), the first round of three grants will boost PET packaging capture and processing capacity, and they will unlock access to PET thermoform recycling for the Pittsburgh area. PET Recycling Coalition

Global plastics producer DAK Americas received funding to help install a robotic sorting system at its PET recycling plant in Richmond, Ind. DAK acquired that facility, formerly known as Perpetual Recycling Solutions, in February 2019. Since then, the company has invested tens of millions of dollars in upgrades at the plant.

According to TRP, the robot will be installed on one of the facility’s outbound lines, capturing PET bottles, thermoforms and pigmented opaque PET items missed by earlier sorting steps.

Another grant went to Direct Pack Recycling, which is part of Asuza, Calif.-based packaging producer Direct Pack, which is building a PET recycling operation in Mexicali, Mexico, just across the border from California. The company already invested $25 million in a Mexicali plant that produces recycled-content thermoforms.

In late 2021, Direct Pack announced another project to build a PET recycling plant adjacent to the thermoforming facility. TRP’s grant will assist in the construction of the recycling plant, which will source materials from MRFs across the U.S. In fact, the city of Phoenix on Jan. 27 noted in a press release that Direct Pack purchased 8.1 million pounds of PET scrap from Phoenix in 2022. PET Recycling Coalition

“With our newest recycling and recovery facility located only a few hours away from Phoenix, we can trace and recover all PET plastic collected in the area with a very low carbon footprint,” Craig Snedden, president of Direct Pack, Inc., stated in the press release, which focused on recovery efforts at the upcoming Super Bowl 57 in nearby Glendale, Ariz.

Direct Pack is one of the few larger-scale reclaimers that specialize in recycling thermoformed PET packaging.

Lastly, the PET Recycling Coalition awarded a grant to Recycle Source, which will upgrade the automated sorting technology at its Pittsburgh MRF. The release notes the upgrades will allow the facility to effectively sort PET thermoforms for recycling.

“These projects will deliver the types of improvements that we view as being essential to the future of PET recycling,” said Adam Gendell, director of system optimization at TRP, in a press release. “By helping MRFs and PET reclaimers capture and recover more of the material in their facilities, we will see meaningful gains in the amount of PET recycled in the short term, and by helping to grow reclamation capacity, we will ensure that there is robust infrastructure ready to handle future growth in PET recycling.”

The dollar amounts of the grants were not disclosed, but Heath Nettles, director of marketing and communications for TRP, said the grants averaged $250,000. The individual amounts were based on the PET Recycling Coalition’s assessment of the individual facilities’ needs and the value of the projects relative to the coalition’s goals for the system, he said. PET Recycling Coalition

The following PET Recycling Coalition Steering Committee members provide financial support for the coalition: Eastman, Indorama Ventures, the National Association of PET Container Resources (NAPCOR), Procter & Gamble and the Walmart Foundation. Additional members include The Coca-Cola Company, Danone, The Kroger Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation, Plastic Ingenuity and Niagara Bottling.

The PET Recycling Coalition expects to announce three additional rounds of grants in 2023.

PET Recycling Coalition

Bioplastic production went bankrupt 03-02-2023

Bioplastic production went bankrupt

-JV TAIF and Bio-on to create bioplastic production went bankrupt

The Tatarstan Arbitration Court declared bankrupt the joint venture of TAIF Group and the Italian Bio-on – 2Bio JSC, founded in 2018 to create a bioplastic production facility in Tatarstan under the license of an Italian company, Interfax reports.

“Recognize the debtor as bankrupt and open bankruptcy proceedings,” reads the operative part of the court’s decision, issued on January 27.

2Bio filed an application for self-bankruptcy with the Arbitration Court of Tatarstan in June 2022, indicating the amount of debt of 133.8 million rubles. In November 2022, an application for the inclusion in the register of creditors of 2Bio of claims for the same amount was filed by Kazanorgsintez PJSC, which acts as a creditor of the joint venture.

In the explanations to the financial statements of 2Bio for 2022, it is stated that in 2021 the joint venture learned about the bankruptcy procedure conducted by the Italian court in respect of Bio-On, but the interim managers of Bio-On assured 2Bio of continuing to operate. Bioplastic production went bankrupt

In 2022, 2Bio “strengthened the understanding” that the change of ownership of Bio-On will not happen and work with it will not resume. Bio-On refused to return the advance payment for the license due to its bankruptcy, while 2Bio does not have the funds to conduct litigation with Bio-On and its guidance on recovering damages, the explanations for the financial statements say. In 2021-2022, 2Bio did not conduct economic activities and cannot repay the debt to Kazanorgsintez PJSC, which is a party to the agency agreement, for executed payments to the licensor, the document says.

In October 2018, TAIF signed an agreement on the establishment of bioplastic production, as well as a license agreement with Bio-on. It was assumed that the plant in the SEZ “Alabuga” will produce 10 thousand tons of PGA (polyhydroxyalkanoates, promising completely degradable polymers) per year on the basis of a by-product of sugar production from sugar beets. In December 2018, TAIF PSC and Investire Italia s.r.l. (Milan, represented Bio-on in the project) established a joint venture 2Bio PSC to implement the project.

In December 2019, Bio-on reported that the Bologna court had ruled on the company’s bankruptcy, while at the same time allowing it to temporarily continue economic activities “in order to maintain business continuity in order to avoid the collapse of the production organization.” Bioplastic production went bankrupt

In anticipation of the decision of the Italian authorities on the situation with Bio-on, TAIF began to study in parallel other technologies for the production of biopolymers. In April 2021, Kazanorgsintez (then part of TAIF, bought by SIBUR in October 2021) announced the conclusion of a memorandum of understanding with NextChem and MET Development, which are part of the Italian Maire Tecnimont Group, on the joint development of the project of a biopolymer plant in Tatarstan.

In May 2022, a report by Maire Tecnimont SpA indicated that the company had stopped entering into new contracts in Russia. In the report, the company noted that the financial situation of Russian projects remains largely balanced and significant changes in this situation are not expected even after a complete suspension of work in the country.

Earlier it was reported that the net income of TAIF Group of Companies for 2021 amounted to 1.1 trillion rubles.

in October 2021, SIBUR closed the deal on the acquisition of TAIF with its petrochemical companies Kazanorgsintez, Nizhnekamskneftekhim and the energy company TGC-16 JSC. TAIF-NK was not included in this transaction. Bioplastic production went bankrupt

TAIF PSC was established in 1995 and is the parent company of the eponymous group, which includes enterprises structured in four business areas: oil and gas refining, chemistry and petrochemistry (energy); investment and financial services; construction; telecommunications and comprehensive services, including trade. TAIF Group of Companies is a large Russian holding company that controls 96% of the chemical, petrochemical and oil and gas processing industries of Tatarstan. The most important of its areas is the division “Chemistry, Petrochemistry and Oil and Gas Refining”, which includes the leading Russian polymer producers Nizhnekamskneftekhim and Kazanorgsintez.

Bioplastic production went bankrupt

Carbon Fiber – PET Recycling 03-02-2023

Carbon Fiber – PET Recycling

Crude Oil Prices Trend

-Alpla Launches PET Recycling Center in Romania’s City of Targu Mures

Alpla Group, an Austrian packaging and recycling firm, has opened their first Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) recycling plant in Targu Mures, Romania. This advanced facility can produce up to 18,000 tonnes of rPET from household waste per year – a move intended to promote the circular economy in South-East Europe and create a reliable source of food-grade recycled PET.

Alpla, Ecohelp and United Polymer Trading recently completed construction on a new €7.5m ($8.2m) plant. This was a collaborative effort between the three partners as they worked together to bring the plant to life after nine months of hard work.

Georg Lasser, the director of recycling for Alpha’s business development, procurement, and sales, stated “The growing importance of local recycling processes calls for increased commitment in the region. Carbon Fiber – PET Recycling

“Together with our partners, we combine strengths, increase the processing quality of the recycled PET material and ensure the long-term supply of the southeast European market.”

Alpla and its partner celebrated the official opening of a new plant that produces high-quality rPET granulate from PET flakes. With one extrusion line already operating, the facility has enough space to add another, which could double its capacity. The occasion marked more than just a production milestone as the plant also created around 20 jobs. On 4 May, Alpla will host a ceremony at the site to commemorate the occasion.

Mihail Moloiu, general manager of PET Recycling Team Targu Mures, stated “The collaboration is a great example of how to improve local recycling and ensure sustainable economic development.

“We are filling a gap in the market for high-quality recycled material in Romania and neighbouring countries.” Carbon Fiber – PET Recycling

Alpla Group announced a joint venture between Alpla, UPT and Ecohelp this autumn. This venture combines the company’s recycling expertise, distribution networks and materials supply networks to produce food-grade rPET granulate that is then used as the starting material for new preforms and bottles. The production site of the venture was opened last October in Lanseria, South Africa – located in the industrial area north of Johannesburg, the site features 35,000m² of covered production, administration, and storage space.

Alpla Launches PET Recycling Center in Romania's City of Targu Mures

-Toray Develops High-Speed Thermal Welding Technology for Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics that Contributes to High-Rate Production and Weight Savings of Aircraft

Toray Industries, Inc., announced today that it has developed a technology that thermally welds carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) at high speed. This technology will enable high-rate production and weight savings of CFRP airframes. The company will push ahead with demonstrations with a view to commercializing airframes after 2030 while further expanding CFRP applications. Carbon Fiber – PET Recycling

Global aircraft demand should recover through 2025 after stagnating amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Demand for next-generation aircraft with 120 to 240 seats should be heavy from 2030. Thermosetting CFRP is the primary structural material for aircraft main frames because of its long use and high reliability. The downside is that complicated adhesive bonding and bolt fastening processes of CFRP have become assembly bottlenecks. CFRP production times greatly lag those for aluminum alloy airframes. High-rate production and weight savings that help enhance fuel efficiency to will be important to capture prospectively large demand.

Carbon Fiber - PET Recycling

-DSM Engineering Materials launches Lucidiris™, a color and mechanical properties prediction tool powered by (AI)

DSM Engineering Materials announces the launch of Lucidiris™.

Lucidiris™ helps customers reduce time to market when developing colors of high-performance materials for a variety of applications. Besides predicting color and mechanical properties, it can predict the envelope of potential color space within critical mechanical properties and prescribe recipes for targeted color properties.

Lucidiris™ has been developed for several high-performance material grades and will be extended, including recycled-based and repurposed materials. It is a next step in DSM Engineering Materials’ journey to make product development for their customers quicker and easier via advanced digital solutions. Carbon Fiber – PET Recycling

This state-of-the-art patent protected Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology facilitates the development of material recipes with targeted optical properties while assuring mechanical properties.

With Lucidiris™ customers will be supported by its ability to:

Predict color and mechanical properties of polymer compounds upon addition of color ingredients.
Predict envelope of potential color space that can be produced within critical mechanical properties.
Prescribe color ingredients to add to a polymer compound to meet targeted properties.

“Lucidiris™ changes our design-build-test-learn development cycle for the customer applications of our materials fundamentally,” said Erwin Houben, R&T Manager Digitization DSM Engineering Materials. “This state-of-the-art AI based digital tool reinforces our strengths in colored materials development and enables to take on some tough challenges for reusing circular materials.” Carbon Fiber – PET Recycling

“And there is more to come,” said Angelika Schmidt, Global R&T Manager of Performance Polymers, DSM Engineering Materials. “Lucidiris™ is our next step into digitization of product development. What we can do for color development already today, will be possible for product development in the future.

Combining human intelligence with machine learning will enable us to get to the successful recipes with much less iterations and therefore much shorter development times for our customers.” Carbon Fiber – PET Recycling

Carbon Fiber - PET Recycling

-JV TAIF and Bio-on to create bioplastic production went bankrupt

“Recognize the debtor as bankrupt and open bankruptcy proceedings,” reads the operative part of the court’s decision, issued on January 27. Carbon Fiber – PET Recycling

2Bio filed an application for self-bankruptcy with the Arbitration Court of Tatarstan in June 2022, indicating the amount of debt of 133.8 million rubles.

In November 2022, an application for the inclusion in the register of creditors of 2Bio of claims for the same amount was filed by Kazanorgsintez PJSC, which acts as a creditor of the joint venture.

Carbon Fiber - PET Recycling

-PET Recycling Coalition awards its first three grants

Resin company DAK Americas, recycled-content thermoforms producer Direct Pack and MRF operator Recycle Source have become the first three recipients of grants from the PET Recycling Coalition.

PET Recycling Coalition awards its first three grants

-Origin Packaging spotlights its robust capabilities and new Eco-Friendly initiatives

Origin Packaging, a leading, family-owned, full-service packaging manufacturer, attributes its success and competitive advantage to its storied 100-year history affording it unparalleled industry knowledge, creative insight, technical expertise, professional networks, and access to world-class resources with a focus on a solutions-oriented, customer-focused approach to packaging. Carbon Fiber – PET Recycling

Origins’ 100-year history in the industry began with the immigration of a successful textile businessman to the United States who made a living selling glass bottles, jars, paper cartons, and later flexible food containers.

Four generations later, Origin now finds itself at the forefront of the packaging industry, manufacturing packaging with a wide variety of materials for a myriad of industries with a distribution of more than 5K SKUs! As times change and life evolves, so does the need for innovative packaging solutions. Carbon Fiber – PET Recycling

With a focus on preserving our planet, Origin is proud to offer a complete collection of cutting-edge, eco-friendly, and compostable packaging solutions in an endless array of sizes, shapes, and materials, ensuring our planet remains green and healthy for generations to come. https://originpac.com/about/

Origin Packaging spotlights its robust capabilities and new Eco-Friendly initiatives

-Resin Price Report: Week Marked by Sluggish Trading, Force Majeures

Spot resin activity has been uncharacteristically slow for a January; meanwhile, Ineos and Chevron Phillips wrangle with weather-related disruptions.

Resin buyers stayed stuck in the doldrums last week. Spot resin market activity was slower than a typical January, with completed volumes again below average.

There was some rejuvenated demand, at least for polyethylene (PE), following severe weather and tornados in the greater Houston area. That affected some petrochemical complexes and led one producer to declare another force majeure on PE and polypropylene (PP). Carbon Fiber – PET Recycling

Resin prices were flat to slightly higher at the PlasticsExchange, holding on to gains established earlier in the month, but not advancing further. Fresh resin offers were again thin last week: Very few prime PE and PP railcars have been made available to the domestic spot market this month, although several more groups of lower quality and transitional PE and PP railcars squeezed through, reports the PlasticsExchange in its Market Update. Most producers had already sold out of their spot export availability in early January. Chinese demand then waned ahead of the Lunar New Year, while stronger demand from Latin America picked up some of the slack.

Robust export demand from China is expected to return in early February following the holiday. Carbon Fiber – PET Recycling

Nickel increase for PE contracts could be a stretch

January resin contracts should settle soon. PE producers seem to be relaxing their stance with the softest splitting the increase to $0.05/lb in January and February. Despite a much more balanced supply/demand dynamic after at least four months of significantly reduced resin production, a nickel could still be a big stretch. However, adds the PlasticsExchange, there is a solid chance for implementation of a $0.03/lb increase.

PP contracts will see a large cost-push price increase as it follows polymer-grade propylene (PGP) contracts a dime or so higher.

Producers are also seeking a $0.03/lb margin increase this month, with another $0.06/lb now nominated for February. Carbon Fiber – PET Recycling

Resin Price Report: Week Marked by Sluggish Trading, Force Majeures

Carbon Fiber – PET Recycling

Thermal Welding for-Carbon-Fiber 03-02-2023

Thermal Welding for-Carbon-Fiber

-Toray Develops High-Speed Thermal Welding Technology for Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics that Contributes to High-Rate Production and Weight Savings of Aircraft

Toray developed a thermal welding technology that swiftly and robustly joins thermosetting CFRP components for aircraft like conventional welding would do.

This simple bonding approach employs Toray’s technology to form a thermally weldable layer on the surface of thermosetting CFRP, instantaneously heating part surfaces to bond them. This technology enables high-speed assembly of thermosetting CFRP parts or thermosetting and thermoplastic CFRP parts without the need for adhesive bonding and bolt fastening.

Using this technology to thermosetting CFRP with thermally weldable layers offers the same mechanical properties as CFRP for current aircraft models. Toray demonstrated that the joint strength of thermally welded structures is equivalent to that of co-cured CFRP structures for current aircraft models, ensuring the reliability of bonding technology for practical application studies. The company assembled a demonstrator simulating the elemental structure of an aircraft at high-speed using thermally weldable thermosetting CFRP parts. Thereby, its elemental technology concept was confirmed. Toray’s technology should achieve a high-rate production that matches or surpasses that for aluminum alloy airframes. Thermal Welding for-Carbon-Fiber

A CFRP airframe using Toray’s technology should reduce carbon dioxide emissions across the life cycle compared with those for an aluminum alloy airframe. Cutting the weight of bolt fasteners should lighten airframes, and further reducing these emissions.

Toray has partnered with Boeing to promote a number of technological development projects in the fields of aircraft manufacturing and materials technology.

Some of Toray’s progress through this development effort is based on results obtained from a project, “Development of New Innovative Composite Materials and Forming Technologies,” supported by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). Thermal Welding for-Carbon-Fiber

Under the Toray Group Sustainability Vision, the company committed itself to helping resolve environmental, resources, and energy issues through business. In keeping with its corporate philosophy of contributing to social progress by delivering new value, the company will keep creating advanced materials and innovative technologies that contribute to a carbon-neutral economy.

Thermal Welding for-Carbon-Fiber