Bioplastic petrochemicals recycling graphene 05-11-2018 - Arhive
-Report notes surge in recycled polyester use Recycled polyester chemically recycled polyester
Leading global apparel brands have notably ramped up the use of recycled polyester in their collections since signing a pledge in January.
US not-for-profit Textile Exchange has announced a collective 36 per cent increase by signatory companies following the launch of the rPet Challenge at the start of this year.
Adidas, Eileen Fisher, Gap Inc., H&M, IKEA, Lindex, Target and Timberland were among 45 brands to make the initial commitment, which was announced at last year’s Textile Exchange’s annual sustainability conference
-Crude Oil Prices Trend
-Polymers PET Resin Petrochemicals Prices
A team of scientists from Siberian Federal University (SibFU) together with foreign colleagues described the structural and physical properties of a group of two-dimensional materials based on polycyclic molecules called circulenes.
The possibility of flexible design and variable properties of these materials make them suitable for nanoelectronics. Exploring structure graphene polymers
The results are published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C (“Strong Topological States and High Charge Carrier Mobility in Tetraoxa[8]circulene Nanosheets”).
Among three types of nanosheets, only two demonstrate semiconducting properties exhibiting 1.37 and 1.84 eV direct band gaps, while another one is found to be a semimetal, which hosts strong topological states and enhances the band gap (∼87 meV) induced by spin–orbit coupling (SOC) that exceeds by several orders of magnitude that gap in graphene. (© ACS)
-Carbon fiber strength evaluated in first successful Polestar 1 crash test
The first series of crash tests of the Polestar 1 have been carried out. This was the first time the Volvo Car Group has assessed the strength of a carbon fiber-reinforced polymer body in a real crash situation.
“We were really excited about this. The first crash test of Polestar 1 has been about exploring the unknown,” said Thomas Ingenlath, CEO at Polestar.
“This was a crucial proof point in the development of Polestar 1; we needed to know that the ideas and calculations that have gone into building this car were right – and they were.”
-How Circular is the Circular Economy?
The circular economy – the newest magical word in the sustainable development vocabulary – promises economic growth without destruction or waste. However, the concept only focuses on a small part of total resource use and does not take into account the laws of thermodynamics.
The circular economy has become, for many governments, institutions, companies, and environmental organisations, one of the main components of a plan to lower carbon emissions. In the circular economy, resources would be continually re-used, meaning that there would be no more mining activity or waste production. The stress is on recycling, made possible by designing products so that they can easily be taken apart.
Attention is also paid to developing an “alternative consumer culture”. In the circular economy, we would no longer own products, but would loan them. For example, a customer could pay not for lighting devices but for light, while the company remains the owner of the lighting devices and pays the electricity bill. A product thus becomes a service, which is believed to encourage businesses to improve the lifespan and recyclability of their products.
-Trump re-imposes Iran sanctions: Now what?
Donald Trump has signed a document that reinstates sanctions against Iran
The re-imposition of the full panoply of sanctions against Iran that were waived under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear agreement marks a high-point for President Donald Trump’s foreign policy.
He had long objected to the agreement, which was seen by most analysts as one of the more significant foreign policy achievements of his predecessor Barack Obama.
-US October ethylene contracts settle down 7.4% on feedstocks
US October ethylene contracts settled for the majority of the market at a 2.5 cent/lb decline as costs for feedstock ethane eased.
The settlement puts October contract prices at 31.25 cents/lb ($689/tonne), down from 33.75 cents/lb in September. US ethylene contract prices are typically settled at the beginning of the prior month and take direction from production costs and spot prices.
September contract prices rose sharply on a spike in ethane feedstocks, which drove production costs and spot prices higher. Ethane prices was driven higher as stronger demand from new crackers and exports was met with the limited logistical systems in getting the ethane to market.
However, ethane prices weakened during October from the low 50s cents/gal to the mid 30s cents/gal amid an easing of demand and a downturn in the energy complex.
-China Focus: Recycled construction waste helps firms go from trash to cash
For many years, pieces of debris from building projects in China have been randomly disposed of. But now, many of them are being reborn.
In Shahe Town of Beijing’s Changping District, several trucks of construction waste are sent into waste recycling facilities and turned into new building materials for a new park nearby.
The waste was generated by the demolition and renovation work of the town. According to local official Song Yan, increasing demolition and renovation work has generated a large volume of construction waste, which is expected to reach 2.3 million tonnes by 2020.
“If all the construction waste is disposed of using traditional landfill methods, it will occupy 15 hectares of land with a depth of 10 meters, equivalent to 22 football fields,” Song said.
The US has allowed India to continue to buy oil from Iran after it agreed to cut the amount of crude oil imports by a third of the 2017-18 level.
The country is the second biggest buyer of Iranian crude after China.
During talks with the US officials, oil ministry sources said the country agreed to cap the oil import by a third to 15 million tonnes (mt), down from 22.6mt in 2017-18.
Sources, however, did not clarify whether the country would have to continue to cut the imports over a period of time and if so, by what percentage. They also did not disclose the payment method to be adopted for Iran crude.
-NUS researchers turn plastic bottle waste into ultralight supermaterial
World’s first PET aerogels cut plastic waste, and are suitable for heat and sound insulation, oil spill cleaning, carbon dioxide absorption, as well as fire safety applications
Researchers from the the National University of Singapore (NUS) have made a significant contribution towards resolving the global issue of plastic waste, by creating a way to convert plastic bottle waste into aerogels for many useful applications.
Plastic bottles are commonly made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is the most recycled plastic in the world. The PET aerogels developed by the NUS-led research team using plastic bottle waste – a world’s first – are soft, flexible, durable, extremely light and easy to handle. They also demonstrate superior thermal insulation and strong absorption capacity. These properties make them attractive for a wide range of applications, such as for heat and sound insulation in buildings, oil spill cleaning, and also as a lightweight lining for firefighter coats and carbon dioxide absorption masks that could be used during fire rescue operations and fire escape.
-Plastics recycling technology roundup
A project seeks to inspire improvements in PA and PU recycling, ocean plastics make their way into surfboards, and a depolymerization startup inks a deal with PepsiCo.
System demonstrations: Equipment supplier Erema reports 130 plastics recycling industry professionals attended its Discovery Day in Ipswich, Mass. in late September. Three Intarema brand recycling systems for different applications were demonstrated: the RegrindPro with ReFresher and Erema Laserfilter (for HDPE bottle recycling), the TVEplus with SW RTF (for EPS), and the TVEplus with Erema laserfilter (for heavily contaminated LLDPE films).
-Brazil kills off the BRICS dream with election of strongman Jair Bolsonaro
The bright future that then-Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill envisioned 17 years ago has had a rough few months.
In July, nations comprising the BRIC acronym held their annual summit. Yet by the time leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and China converged in Johannesburg, the investment world was already sensing the BRICs lacked economic mortar.
Growth was losing momentum, members were turning inward and the much-vaunted convergence O’Neill predicted in November 2001 was nowhere to be found. America’s trade war, meanwhile, pushed emerging markets back to the brink of contagion. Time, pundits agreed, to put to rest talk of developing economies trumping the majors.
-Equipment spotlight: AI capabilities boost sortation system
The Heavy Picker from ZenRobotics making a pick on a sort line.In order to achieve the cleanest possible stream, the Heavy Picker from ZenRobotics maximizes separation of heavy plastics before shredding.
The equipment can perform up to 2,000 picks per hour, per robotic arm, and the system can include up to three arms. The Heavy Picker uses an artificial intelligence system ZenRobotics calls ZenbrAIn.
The equipment can separate large objects that weigh up to 30 kilograms, according to the manufacturer. It employs a sensor unit that includes near infrared spectrum sensors, a 3D sensor system, a high-resolution camera, an imaging metal detector and a visual light spectrum sensor.
Other components include the robot’s control system, robotic arms with grippers that open up to half a meter, and a safety cage.
PTI has entered into a business alliance with Big 3 Precision Products, Inc., Centralia, Illinois, to help brand owners achieve quality and speed-to-market goals for products sold in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles.
For the past three decades, PTI has been the confidential development engine behind many well-known PET bottle commercializations. Big 3’s Mold Services Group has been a leader in producing molds for single-stage PET blow molding machines, as well as injection blow molding equipment.
“With this alliance in place, we will now be able to seamlessly pair our PET bottle development services with the mold making capability necessary to run production quantities. Integrating the mold supplier into the early stages of the development process eliminates compatibility issues.
-LANXESS offers new polyamides and polyesters for laser transmission welding
LANXESS is expanding its range of laser-transparent polyamide 6 and polyamide 66 as well as PBT compounds (polybutylene terephthalate) for Laser transmission welding.
Frank Krause, welding technology expert in the High Performance Materials (HPM) business unit at LANXESS, said: “With these new products, we are primarily targeting the growing demand for housings for sensors, control units, and display systems, for example, which are needed for electrification of vehicle drives and for applications in driver assistance systems through to autonomous driving.”
India becomes one of 8 countries to get waiver on Trump’s Iran sanctions; here’s how
India has become one of the eight countries to get a waiver on the sanctions imposed on Iran by the Donald Trump administration.
India is one of the eight countries to get a waiver on the sanctions imposed on Iran by the Donald Trump administration.
India one of the eight countries to get a waiver on the sanctions imposed on Iran by the Donald Trump administration. (Image: Reuters)
India has become one of the eight countries to get a waiver on the sanctions re-imposed on Iran by the Donald Trump administration. United States secretary of state Michael Pompeo on Friday said that eight governments that have taken “important moves” towards reducing Iranian oil imports to zero are going to receive temporary waivers.
-When it comes to recycling, plastic bottles are mre eco-friendly than glass
What is the environmental impact of choosing between glass or plastic bottles? In terms of recycling, the answer is clear: plastic.
Plastic bottles are easily recyclable if they are made from polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, which is usually labeled with the number “1” in a triangle made of chasing arrows. Soda and water are typically packaged in PET plastic.
High-density polyethylene, or HDPE, bottles (labeled with #2) are also easily recyclable. HDPE is used to package milk, laundry detergent and other products less likely to have glass alternatives.
Facilities for recycling these two plastic types are available in California, mitigating some of the recent concerns with China rejecting imports of certain types of American recyclables.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will make an official visit to China, during which he will attend the opening of the first China International Import Expo (CIIE 2018) and hold his 23rd meeting with Prime Minister Li Keqiang.
On the one hand, the visit is designed to boost China’s reforms and openness amid the rise of international protectionism and trade tensions between the United States and China. On the other hand, Russia will have an opportunity, which it is ready to use, to take over the US niche on the Chinese market. Dmitry Medvedev said the talks will focus on trade, energy cooperation, the development of infrastructure and coordination of positions on global issues, including international trade and protectionism.
-Crude oil caps worst week since February as Iran supply fears subside
Futures slumped 6.3 percent this week, the biggest drop since early February.
New Delhi: Oil extended its slide to six-month lows as the US softened its crackdown on Iranian exports and American supplies surged, easing concerns of an impending shortage.
Futures slumped 6.3 per cent this week, the biggest drop since early February. The US has agreed to let eight countries — including Japan, India and South Korea — keep buying Iranian oil after sanctions kick in this weekend to prevent a spike in prices, a senior administration official said.
New tough sanctions targeting Iran’s oil sector, imposed by the United States, come into force on Monday.
Iran is heavily dependent on its exports of oil, and renewed sanctions, if effective, would hit the economy hard.
The EU has proposed supporting companies trading with Iran despite these new sanctions.
But will these companies risk being hit by secondary sanctions which would limit their own ability to trade with the US?
-Technology Profile: Bio-based Butanediol Production
Butanediol (BDO) refers to all butylene glycol isomers. The most common isomer — 1,4-butanediol — is a versatile intermediate chemical used in the manufacture of plastics, elastic fibers and polyurethanes. Commercial processes for producing bio-based BDO from sugars have emerged in recent years as alternatives to petroleum-derived BDO. This one-page process description outlines the production of BDO by the fermentation of glucose.
Medium preparation. The preparation of the culture media involves dilution tanks, pumps and sterilizers. The culture media used in the batch and fed-batch phases of pre-fermentation and fermentation are prepared by mixing process water, glucose and nutrients.
-Sustainable solution hinges on collaboration
Libby White asks Clark Ensminger, Market Development Manager, Cosmetic Packaging, Eastman Chemical Company, how its ecodesign collaboration with Groupe Rocher has led to the creation of a more sustainable compact case.
Many packaging solutions claim to be sustainable, eco-friendly and recyclable. However, how important is it to focus on the entire product life cycle of a solution, and why have you taken this approach in collaboration with Groupe Rocher?
-Danone-Aqua Reveals Indonesia’s First 100% Recycled Plastic Bottle
Jakarta. Danone-Aqua, Indonesia’s oldest and largest brand of bottled water, unveiled the country’s first 100 percent recycled plastic bottle during the 2018 Our Ocean Conference in Bali last week, as part of its commitment to helping reduce plastic pollution in the archipelago.
“We want to show that it is possible and achievable. [This is] the first 100 percent rPET bottle in Indonesia, meaning that this bottle has been made without using any virgin plastic. So all the plastic we use for this bottle is [from] recycled bottles,” Tirta Investama president director Corine Tap said in a recent interview, referring to recycled polyethylene terephthalate.
Tirta Investama is the company behind the Danone-Aqua brand.
The company can currently only produce the 100 percent rPET bottles in 1.1-liter format, which will be slightly more expensive than the 1.5-liter bottles commonly found in stores across the country.
-Renewable energy no longer a luxury for OPEC
When it comes to the operations of oil companies, transparency is a scarce commodity in OPEC. Very little information is known about the finances of national oil companies operating the world’s largest fields.
A glimpse into the books of some countries such as Kuwait where there is an advanced system of transparency and disclosure, however, shows it is possible.
This can give an idea about how things are for other OPEC members.
On Nov. 2, Kuwaiti newspaper Alqabas issued a report citing “Diwan Almohasabah”, the Auditing Bureau in Kuwait. The Diwan had an interesting report on the cost of production in Kuwait, where it questioned the increases in costs in recent years.
-Wind, another option in the Saudi renewable energy strategy
In my first article about the Saudi renewable energy strategy, I highlighted that the Saudi government is planning to develop a total of 30 solar and wind projects over the next 10 years as part of a $50 billion program to boost power generation and cut its oil consumption in line with Vision 2030.
Talking about wind power as another option, the Arabian Peninsula has been a white spot on the world’s wind maps. One reason for this is that until recently Saudi Arabia was rather shielded from the rest of the world. On the other hand, almost infinite oil reserves were considered to secure the energy supply far into the future.
Saudi Arabia is characterized by regions of high wind power-density potential, mostly located along the Red Sea coast and in the southeast. However, according to a recent study, high wind energy potential can be also found in other regions during specific seasons.
-US Universities Reconsider Ties with Saudi Arabia
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman observes a showing of Saudi Arabian technology, including an exhibit by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, during a visit to
US Universities Reconsider Ties with Saudi Arabia
Colleges and universities in the United States have received more than $350 million from the government of Saudi Arabia over the past 10 years.
Yet some of these schools are reconsidering their ties with the government following the killing of Saudi journalist and writer Jamal Khashoggi. His death has led to international criticism of the oil-rich nation.
The Associated Press, or AP, examined U.S. federal records for information about the flow of Saudi money to American higher education. The news agency found that at least $354 million from the Saudi government or organizations it controls has gone to 37 American schools since 2011.
-‘Adopt new technology for biodegradable plastics’
BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Assembly of Small and Medium Enterprises (OASME) on Friday urged manufacturers of polythene and plastic products to adopt new-age technology to produce bio-degradable and eco-friendly items. Speaking at a workshop on ‘Next 2 Plastics’ organised in collaboration with Hoopoo Overseas Pvt Ltd, secretary general of OASME Satwik Swain said now it is high time that the manufacturers should upgrade their set up with the new technology to keep pace with the changing world.
“More than 500 Medium and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in the State have been affected after the ban on single use plastics. The units will be shut down if required technological upgradation is not made,” he said.
Bieglo GmbH Bieglo GmbH offers a variety of PEEK products, including in tubes, rods and sheets.
Friedrichshafen, Germany — Hamburg-based distributor Bieglo GmbH exhibited special grades of natural polyetheretherketone (PEEK) polymer as well as PEEK functional and color compounds during Fakuma 2018.
High-performance polymers, due to their mechanical properties and their resistance to high temperatures, are becoming increasingly popular in industries and double-digit growth is estimated for their demand in the coming years, according to Bieglo CEO John Biesterfeld.
“The demand for PEEK and other materials in the top of the polymer pyramid is increasing as industrial equipment is getting more efficient and therefore hotter. On the other hand improvement of plastic machineries allow for more people to convert PEEK,” Biesterfeld said.
ieglo GmbH offers a variety of PEEK products, including in tubes, rods and sheets.
-Kordsa bags Industry 4.0 award in textile category
Kordsa has been named as one of the global 100 enterprises and granted the Industry 4.0 award in the textile category, according to a study conducted by Platin magazine in co-operation with the independent market research company IPSOS.
Kordsa is the global player of tire, construction reinforcement, and composites technologies market, based in Turkey.
Leading economics and business monthly magazine Platin’s Global 100 Awards recognises Turkey’s most successful 100 companies.
Organised to acknowledge the value created by Turkey’s export champions promoting Turkey abroad and to share best practices to set a role model for the Turkish business world, Platin Global 100 Awards is considered as a reflection of the Turkish economy’s strength, Kordsa said in a press release.
THE tab of the soda can is pulled off, before it’s tilted toward a glass filled with ice. The fizz is always mesmerising, a thirst-quenching lullaby on a blistering hot day. Coca-Cola or Coke remains the perennial favourite and is recognised as the world’s most valuable brand, often associated with happiness. What else could constitute happiness than a tall glass of iced coke on a sunny day? A noteworthy fact – Coca-Cola means “Delicious Happiness” in Mandarin!
It was Andy Warhol who put it bluntly: “You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the president drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking.”
-Iran oil sanctions: Saudi ready to boost supplies
The kingdom could turn to its huge strategic reserves of around 300 billion barrels to meet global demand.
With Washington poised to curtail Iran’s oil exports, Opec heavyweight Saudi Arabia and its partners stand ready to ramp up supplies even as market conditions remain uncertain,
The renewal of sanctions on the Islamic republic comes at a time of major supply disruptions in several producer nations and as US President Donald Trump aims to prevent an oil price hike.
Analysts expect that Iran’s oil exports, which reach around 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in normal times, to plunge by one million to two million bpd when sanctions take effect on November 5.
That is expected to strain an already tight market.
