Chemical-recycling – Indorama 30-08-2022 - Arhive
Chemical-recycling – Indorama
Crude Oil Prices Trend
Saipem and Quantafuel ASA have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate in the industrialization and construction of waste plastics chemical recycling plants based on Quantafuel technology.
This MoU positions Saipem to globally market and construct under Quantafuel technology license industrial plants specialised in pyrolysis. This thermochemical process converts solid plastic waste into liquid or gaseous products that can be reused as fuel or chemical raw materials for plastics recycling. Furthermore, Saipem will provide intelligent smart operation and maintenance services, as well as joint performance guarantees for the plants, jointly issued by both companies.
On the basis of the agreement scalable and modular solutions for waste plastics recycling plants will be developed, which will be easily adapted to the specificities of the different sites. The technological solution offered will allow users to increase the utilisation of mixed plastic waste in the production of a pyrolysis oil that can be reused for new chemical and plastics production. Chemical-recycling – Indorama
Through this cooperation with Quantafuel, Saipem will deliver globally one of the first modular concepts for the circular economy, supporting its clients on their sustainability path also with this innovative plastics recycling solution. Saipem and Quantafuel are committed to delivering a series of projects to the market with this agreement, allowing both parties to pursue their respective objectives in the circular economy to maximise the benefits for the environment.
With the agreement, Quantafuel will strengthen its project implementation capabilities worldwide and add the licensing approach to its existing business plan of building, owning and operating pyrolysis plants, creating additional opportunities to commercialize its technologies.
Technip Energies and Agilyx announced today the launch of the TruStyrenyx™ brand, the only all-in-one solution for the chemical recycling of polystyrene.
TruStyrenyx™ combines Agilyx’s pyrolysis process and Technip Energies purification technology, yielding a recycled styrene monomer with exceptional high purity. Styrene monomer is used to make numerous plastics and other polymers. It is one of the three primary components of ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene), can make the pure polymer polystyrene, and is an ingredient in various synthetic rubbers.
This launch follows successful results from pilot plant testing conducted on difficult to recycle waste polystyrene, including flame retardant laden waste polystyrene. Recycled styrene monomer from the pilot plant meets American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards for styrene monomer and is greater than 99.8 wt% purity. Flame retardants contain halogens, which are known to be difficult impurities for current polymer production processes. The pilot plant has successfully shown that the resulting halogen concentration in the styrene monomer product is below available detection limits.
Technip Energies and Agilyx announced their partnership in June 2021, leveraging Agilyx conversion technology and Technip Energies purification process.
Bhaskar Patel, SVP of Sustainable Fuels, Chemicals and Circularity at Technip Energies, said: “We are pleased with the results of our pilot plant testing in our R&D facility in Weymouth, Massachusetts. This marks an important step in our development of circular solutions for styrenics technologies, and our relationship with Agilyx. Our joint innovative solution, TruStyrenyx™, for the chemical recycling of polystyrene offers potential clients a feasible way to make polymer products from recycled sources without compromising product integrity.”Chemical-recycling – Indorama
-The EU plastics tax account for Italy
Taxes on non-recycled plastic and Macsi enter the electoral campaign. A reminder of how they work.
In view of the upcoming political elections, there is a return to talk of taxes on plastic. Those that affect our country are essentially two: a European – which is not a tax in the strict sense – and a national one. They are worth re-examining as they are part of some election campaign programs.
The European tax on non-recycled plastic packaging was introduced on 1 January 2021 as a contribution to the European Union budget on the own resource based on plastic. Each member state is required to pay 800 euros per tonne on the weight of non-recycled plastic packaging waste.
For some countries, including Italy, a flat-rate reduction of the contribution has been introduced, with the aim of avoiding excessively regressive effects on national contributions. Chemical-recycling – Indorama
Last year, according to what emerges from the European budget (download HERE), our country paid 744 million euros into the EU coffers, with a “discount” of 184 million on the amount due on the basis of the calculations.
In fact, the volume of non-recycled packaging in our country stood at 1.16 million tons, a value that puts us in third place after Germany (1.7 million tons) and France (1.56 million), countries that they contributed to the European budget respectively for 1.35 and 1.24 billion euros, without benefiting from a flat-rate reduction.
Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL), a global sustainable chemical company, announced its commitment to science-based targets by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to help drive its ambitious sustainability programs, said the company.
The company will also participate in the SBTi Expert Advisory Group for the chemicals industry. SBTi is a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, the World Resources Institute, and the World Wide Fund for Nature to help businesses set emissions reduction targets based on the most recent climate science. IVL has committed to science-based targets under its purpose of “Reimagining chemistry together to create a better world” which aims to reduce global warming in line with the 1.5°C Paris Climate Agreement.Chemical-recycling – Indorama
Under its Vision 2030 ambition, Indorama Ventures aims to build on its global industry leadership in sustainability, including by reducing GHG intensity by 30% and increasing renewable electricity consumption to 25%. Green projects are helping the company to achieve its operational efficiency targets, increase its use of renewable energy (especially renewable electricity – both onsite generation and offsite procurement through power purchase agreements), implement new decarbonization technologies including carbon capture, introduce bio-feedstock to its petrochemical value chain, and expand its PET recycling capability.
To meet its targets, IVL recognizes the importance of collaboration between the public and private sectors to decarbonize its operations through a variety of strategies. The established targets help its customers and suppliers to achieve their own sustainability goals, particularly their science-based targets.
As per MRC, Indorama Ventures, a global sustainable chemical company, has entered into a non-binding agreement with Capchem Technology USA to study the opportunity to build and operate a world-class lithium-ion battery solvents plant at one of IVL’s petrochemical facilities in the U.S. Gulf Coast.
-New automated reuse system for catering packaging at venues aims to close waste loop
Berlin-based start-up 1Less has created an innovative reuse system that uses RFID-tagged dishware and a smart waste bin, linked to a digital IoT platform, to create a new way to deal with single-use plastic cups, lids, containers and cutlery.
Every item of dishware, a handy name for food-service packaging and utensils, contains a robust and long-lasting RFID tag. This transforms every item into a data carrier and transmitter, able to communicate valuable environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data to stakeholders.
Each unit of dishware has its own unique ID, so it can be tracked through the entire collection, cleaning and re-use process. Every item can be used 800-1000 times and then fully recycled at the end of its life, with the tag removed and re-used again, says the company. Chemical-recycling – Indorama
The smart bins can be located around any venue and the consumer simply puts the container or cutlery, or indeed any waste item, into it. There are no special sorting decisions required as the bin’s brain and sensor identifies the 1Less dishware, while a sorting mechanism separates it from other waste items. It also interacts with the 1Less cleaning-staff service App to inform them when to empty or maintain the bins.
-How Sustainable Is Recycling?
Recycling has been a key part of sustainability efforts in developed countries for decades. It’s a tried-and-true, effective way to reduce waste and prolong the life of valuable resources — right? Well, it’s not that simple. Let’s see how effective recycling truly is at cutting back on waste and helping the environment.
Mixed Results Around the World
To accurately estimate recycling’s effectiveness, we need to see how different countries organize their efforts. Here are three of the largest waste producers in the world: the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.Chemical-recycling – Indorama
The U.S. had an amicable recycling arrangement with China for decades. It would ship its waste overseas, where China would repurpose it for other products. Other countries did the same. That arrangement changed in 2017 when China’s National Sword policy increased the purity standards for imported materials.
After the U.S. could no longer send its waste to China en masse, it started importing it to other countries, primarily in the Asia-Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa. Out of the 1 million metric tons of plastic waste the U.S. exports every year, countries discard up to 70% of it into waterways, landfills or wherever they can find room.
What about the U.S.’s recycling efforts within its borders? According to the latest available data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Americans produced 292.4 million tons of recyclable or compostable waste in 2018. Just 94 tons, or 32.1%, got recycled or composted.
The U.S. was unprepared for China’s new standards, but that’s not the only problem. The surplus of plastic is another growing concern, as just two types of plastic are actually recyclable, yet the U.S. continues to recycle seven types.
-Free trade: European textiles face Indian protectionism
This October, the European Union and India will relaunch negotiations towards a free-trade agreement. Negotiations have run into roadblocks since their initiation in 2017, and are once again expected to come up against India’s policy of national preference. For European textile manufacturers faced with an imbalance in trade, the obstacles they encounter at the gates of the Indian market must be lifted. Chemical-recycling – Indorama
In 2021, India ranked fourth among EU suppliers for clothing and third for textiles, valued at €3.4 billion and €2.7 billion worth of goods respectively. Conversely, the exceedingly large Indian market did not even make it into the top 20 of EU clothing buyers and only ranks 13th for textile orders, valued at just €398 million worth of materials. These figures barely enable India to rank as the EU’s 20th largest customer for clothing and textiles together.
As India benefits from the customs facilities of the Generalised System of Preferences, the European confederation of textile industries Euratex points to a very different state of affairs for textile exporters in Europe.
“For European businesses, on the other hand, access to the Indian market is difficult,” said Euratex. “This is because they must face non-tariff barriers (relating to proof of origin and quality control measures among others), as well as contend with Indian national and state level support programs which distort equal opportunities between European and Indian businesses.”
“Creating a level playing field should also apply to our sustainability goals,” said Euratex. “As the EU will roll out its European textile strategy, which sets ambitious standards and restrictions (for example, on chemicals), we must ensure that the FTA is fully in line with this strategy.” Chemical-recycling – Indorama
-Asahi Kasei Presents New Concept Car and More at K 2022
Diversified material solutions for more sustainable and comfortable mobility are highlighted.
As a Japanese materials company making a concerted effort to step up activities in Europe, Asahi Kasei will have a strong presence at K 2022 in Düsseldorf, Germany, where it opened a foam lab at its R&D Center in April of this year. Besides a plethora of materials solutions focused on mobility, the company will also present its newest concept car, the AKXY2 for the first time in Europe.
The AKXY2 concept vehicle incorporates various sustainable materials such as polycarbonate glazing made from Asahi Kasei’s proprietary process based on CO2.
All of the windows in the AKXY2 are made of hard-coated polycarbonate (PC) through a manufacturing method developed by Asahi Kasei in 2002 that uses CO2 as a raw material for its production. Today, 15% of global PC production utilizes this Asahi Kasei production technology. Chemical-recycling – Indorama
To enable polycarbonate for applications in automotive windshields, Asahi Kasei is currently developing a hard-coating technology that equips polycarbonate with UN ECE R43-compliant resistance to abrasion and weatherability. Replacing glass with this polycarbonate will significantly reduce vehicle weight and extend EV driving range. UN ECE R43 from the United Nations stipulates regulations around uniform provisions concerning the approval of safety glazing materials and their installation on vehicles.
AKXY2 also utilizes AZP, a transparent optical polymer developed by Asahi Kasei, in the interior display.
Chemical-recycling – Indorama