Polymers Petrochemicals sustainability rPET 05-02-2019 - Arhive
The contract prices of titanium dioxide (TiO2) for the first quarter of this year in Asia were concluded with a three-digit decrease compared to the previous quarter due to wide supply and weak demand, ICIS reports with reference to market participants.
The contract prices of TiO2 were under strong pressure this quarter due to the large gap between Chinese export prices and the prices of other international suppliers.
Some market players say that sales of some international suppliers in the fourth quarter of 2018 were particularly weak.
- Crude Oil Prices Trend
Signs multi-year supply agreement deal with Loop Industries
Joining a swelling wave of brands declaring a transition to more eco-friendly packaging in the Cosmetics space, the L’Occitane Group has announced they will boost what they call “their long-standing commitment to eco-design, recycling and sustainable packaging,” with their selection of Loop Industries, a leading technology innovator in sustainable plastic, as a key supplier of 100% recycled virgin-quality PET plastic.
For more than 10 years, L’Occitane has been launching initiatives such as eco-refill products, in-store recycling and bottles made out of 100% recycled plastic.
By incorporating Loop-branded PET into its packaging, L’Occitane will achieve its goal of using 100% recycled plastic in L’Occitane en Provence bottles by 2025.
Companies including Georgia-Pacific, Archer Daniels Midland, and Cargill have come together to launch the Plant Based Products Council (PBPC). This new group of organizations works to promote the adoption and use of products derived from renewable biomass.
The council’s membership includes businesses of varying sizes from across the United States that produce, distribute, or sell products or packaging from renewable biomass inputs as well as organizations that made related public sustainability commitments, according to the PBPC.
“Businesses and consumers alike recognize the need to solve the problem of plastic pollution that harms our environment,” said John Bode, president and CEO of the Corn Refiners Association. “The PBPC will seek plant-based solutions, bringing together government, nonprofit, and corporate entities to address environmental challenges while driving economic opportunity.”
Additional founding member companies are Tate & Lyle, Ingredion, WestRock-Multi Packaging Solutions, Stone Straw, Loliware, Visolis Biotechnology, Newtrient, Future iQ, Emerald Brands, Hemp Road Trip, Hemp Industries Association, and Tree Free Hemp.
Michael A. MarcotteFrom left: James Ricci, chief technology officer of Harbour Results Inc.; Michelle Bockman, global head of 3D printing commercial expansion and development at HP Inc.; Shaun Karn, president of Hi-Tech Mold and Engineering Inc.; Michael McGrath, director of automotive and manufacturing at SAS Institute; and Matt Myrand, director of advanced manufacturing and supply chain for Faurecia North America.
Novi, Mich. — The concept of Industry 4.0 — the fourth industrial revolution utilizing smart factories, automation, integration and the internet of things — is just a “build-out from Henry Ford” and his installation of the modern assembly line, or Industry 2.0.
That’s according to James Ricci, moderator of the Manufacturing 4.0 and the Automated Factory closing panel at the Plastics and Rubber in Automotive conference, held Jan. 15 in Novi.
Yoga pants: China owner prepping Del.-based Lycra Co. for IPO as latest ex-DuPont company
China-based clothing giant Shandong Ruyi Investment Holding says it will run the U.S. apparel and advanced textiles business it acquired from Koch Bros.’ Invista group as an independent firm, Lycra Co., to be based in Wilmington, Del.
The owner of the business is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO), Bloomberg reports, citing an interview with Kelvin Ho, chief strategy officer for the owner, best known as Ruyi. Ho said a public listing would provide top bosses with extra incentives to boost Lycra’s performance.
Japan’s largest refiner JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy is set to resume loading of Iranian crude oil as early as Monday, almost three months after the U.S. sanctions waiver was granted.
A JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy spokesman confirmed Monday that it is resuming its Iranian crude oil loading in February. But the spokesman declined to comment on the specific scheduled loading by the Eneos Breeze.
JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy is the fourth Japanese refiner to resume Iranian oil loading, after Showa Shell, Fuji Oil and Cosmo Oil resumed crude oil loading from Iran in January – the first in four months – totaling around 4.9 million barrels.
With other refiners planning to resume imports in February, Japan is expected to load about 14 million barrels over January-February, according to Platts calculations based on market information.
Avery Dennison has launched a portfolio using rPET liners which has received further recognition with four labelling materials now available across Europe.
LPM Europe’s Vice President of Marketing Georg Müller-Hof said: “Using post-consumer waste to manufacture label liners represents a step change in sustainability.
Avery Dennison is focused on real-world sustainability improvements, which ultimately means ‘closing the loop’ and using post-consumer waste to create new products.
Bottled water is facing a crisis. So says The Wall Street Journal in a front page article on December 13.
“A consumer backlash against disposable plastic plus new government mandates and bans in places such as zoos and department stores have the world’s biggest bottled-water makers scrambling to find alternatives,” reports the Journal. Read the article at pwgo.to/4011.
The article identifies the crisis as the rush by water bottlers to find plastic bottle alternatives. It treats a related, underlying societal issue and arguably the far more serious crisis—marine pollution caused, in part, by indiscriminate disposal of plastic wastes—pretty much as background noise.
Polyamide (PA), also known as Nylon, is possibly the largest engineering thermoplastic material with immense usage in technical applications of myriad application segments, including automotive. Polyamide in automotive continues to show healthy growth potential, as per Fact.MR report. There are six different types of polyamide grades based on the way they are polymerized with monomer, with each of its type having different properties, and thereby different applications.
Once composed of metal, automobile air pipe manifolds are now mainly made-up from over 30% glass-reinforced polyamide 6. Adoption of polyamide grades 4,6 and 6,6 in manifolds remains robust, as nylon curtails production costs by 30%, produces comparatively light weight parts, decreases system costs by integrating parts and trigger better fuel efficiency.
Some petrochemical markets in China are underpinned by prospects of restocking following the Lunar New Year, as inventory drawdowns and steadily firm demand will continue to prevail.
While the outlook across the downstream sector is cleaved, it can be said that a similar picture is painted of some products, that of a garnet red.
When China reopens after the holiday, it will be stock replenishment du jour.
“Look past the [macroeconomic] numbers, China is still vibrant,” one Chinese source said.
