A European industrial-scale trial has shown that several bio-based packaging plastics can be separated from mixed household waste. Strong results for rigid items offer a promising route to recycling, although film recovery remains a significant challenge.
Asahi Kasei has developed a lithium pre-doping technology that uses lithium carbonate to offset first-cycle losses in silicon-rich batteries. Company testing reported a 10% energy-density gain, while customer-cell trials must still confirm mass-production performance.
Iran war oil prices remain elevated, with Brent near $93 and WTI near $86 as disrupted Gulf supplies and uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz unsettle markets.
Shougang Century and Cordenka’s controlling shareholder plan a joint venture targeting industrial rayon and the global tire supply chain.
Indonesia’s textile industry is regaining momentum as exports, investment and production rise, but modernization will determine whether the recovery lasts.
Osaka researchers created bifacial ladder polymers that self-assemble into chiral films and produce spin polarization approaching 90%.
Asahi Beverages says every plastic soft drink bottle it produces in Australia now uses 100% recycled PET, replacing virgin plastic in around 350 million bottles annually. Caps and labels are excluded.
Brent is trading around $92 a barrel and WTI around $85 as the US-Iran war keeps the Strait of Hormuz, sanctions and disrupted Gulf exports at the center of the oil market. Here is what is driving prices and what could change next.
Avantium advances its Delfzijl FDCA plant toward start-up while expanding commercial agreements, licensing discussions and its financing plans.