Recycled-plastic – Chemical-recycling 31-03-2022 - Arhive

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Recycled-plastic – Chemical-recycling

-AFPM ’22: INSIGHT: Supply chain distortions a concern but US chemical producers cautiously upbeat

US producers of chemicals are relatively upbeat about the near-term future but are clearly concerned about the pressure being put on supply chains by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“Embracing the opportunities, but addressing the challenges”, was the way one executive put it on Monday in a session at the International Petrochemical Conference (IPC), organised by the American Fuel & Petrochemicals Manufacturers (AFPM) trade group. Recycled-plastic – Chemical-recycling

Torkel Rhenman, executive vice president for intermediates and derivatives and Refining at chemicals major LyondellBasell, suggested that producers were in for a really volatile short term, with crude oil and energy supply disrupted in Europe to an extent that is not yet clear.

Further disruption to gas supplies, still high crude oil prices, and supply chain distortions exacerbated by the conflict do not augur well for a European petrochemical industry that relies so heavily on naphtha feedstock, much of it supplied from Russia.

Theoretical ethylene margins in Europe have dipped negative on higher prices liquids feedstock, with prices not yet adjusted to cover increased costs.

Petrochemical prices are moving up, however, with the weekly ICIS Petrochemicals Index increasing in all regions, most notably in northwest Europe and northeast Asia, parts of the world where liquids cracking predominates.

The feedstock cost advantage in North America is likely to keep margins strong and profits should follow if plant availability is maintained, and demand is not sucked out of markets by inflation in the wider economy.

Before the conflict in Ukraine, producers were looking towards COVID-19 having less of an impact on demand globally.

Demand might have been expected to shift from durables, and maybe even from packaging, towards services.

That sort of growth away from the pandemic probably still applies but is distorted by sky-high crude prices, rising costs globally, and the distortion to critical commodity markets, not the least of which are fertilizers and food.

Cost-effective petrochemical and plastics producers can take advantage of growth away from the pandemic, but they are likely to have a bumpy ride given logistics distortions that will continue to affect global trade. Recycled-plastic – Chemical-recycling

Recycled-plastic - Chemical-recycling

-Cosmo Speciality Chemicals launches eco-friendly polyester dyeing chemicals

Cosmo Speciality Chemicals, a 100% subsidiary of Cosmo Films Ltd., has launched two new eco-friendly polyester dyeing agents – POLYST PB and POLYST PLD-aiding in better results for polyester dyeing, said the company.

POLYST PB is an effective acidic PH buffer for polyester dyeing which ensures uniform buffering action by maintaining PH levels of the fabric, while also reducing the risk of change in shades caused by fluctuation of PH values. It requires less dosage and is non-volatile, making it reliable. What makes POLYST PB stand out is it is foam-free and buffers in a pH range of approximately 4-7, making it well-suited for all wet processing in this pH range. Being a versatile agent, it can be used as a buffer for dyeing of Nylon (PA), Polyester (PES), Polyarcylic (PAN), and Wool (WO) or their blends.  Recycled-plastic – Chemical-recycling

POLYST PLD, on the other hand, is an effective dispersing cum levelling agent for polyester, that imparts consistency in level dyeing and provides better brilliancy with disperse dyes, by improving the solubility of polyester fabric, all of which ensure uniform results during the process of dyeing. The specially formulated agents are both biodegradable and eco-friendly. The product is an auxiliary that helps to improve their solubility and consistency in dyeing. It also gives better fastness and a softer feel to dyed yarns or fabric. It aids in preventing the agglomeration of dyestuff by improving the dispersion property. Owing to its multi-usage, no separate use of levelling and dispersing agent is required along with this product. It is a low-foaming agent with good lubricating properties that eliminates separate use of a defoamer and Anti-creasing agent.

Talking about the new product, Dr. Anil Gaikwad, Business Head, Cosmo Speciality Chemicals said, “In another step towards innovation in the textile industry, the products will help improve the process of dyeing in polyester fabrics, by ensuring a uniform procedure and a consistent outcome. Both the products will help in improving fastness and appearance of the colour and feel, while also keeping the properties of fabric intact and easing the process.”  Recycled-plastic – Chemical-recycling

Cosmo Speciality Chemicals launches eco-friendly polyester dyeing chemicals

-Hyosung Xanadu Draws Interest on Commuter Ready Apparel Trend

With workplaces opening back up, consumers are thinking about running, walking or biking to work to maintain their active lifestyles along with helping the environment. Performance apparel with a more business-casual style is emerging, and textiles made with Hyosung’s Xanadu mechanical stretch fiber are helping brands achieve this aesthetic.  Recycled-plastic – Chemical-recycling

Hyosung Xanadu is a multi-functional fiber made from a blend of PET and corn-based materials. The company offers an eco-friendlier version – regen Xanadu – made with a blend of recycled post-consumer PET and corn-based materials.

Xanadu’s spring-like structure provides comfortable stretch and recovery. Its additional fiber benefits include rapid moisture transport and quick drying. Xanadu also is wrinkle-resistant and retains its color, making it the perfect fiber for long-lasting, easy-to-care-for apparel.

Due to the popularity of its multi-functional, recycled yarns, Hyosung recently published a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for its GRS Certified, 100 percent recycled regen polyester fibers made from post-consumer PET. The study, which was conducted by a third-party certifier, discovered that regen polyester reduces carbon dioxide generation by 66.5 percent compared to virgin polyester in the production of 1 kg.  Recycled-plastic – Chemical-recycling

Additionally, regen polyester reduces the use of fossil fuels by 80 percent and the use of water by 71% percent compared to the use of virgin polyester produced at 1 kg.

Recycled-plastic - Chemical-recycling

-Recycled plastic bottles leach chemicals into drinks!

The lead author of a new study told ELN recycled bottles could ‘contaminate’ drinks with more chemicals than new bottles

Recycled plastic bottles could release more chemicals into drinks compared to new bottles.  Recycled-plastic – Chemical-recycling

That’s according to a new study by Brunel University London researchers who found almost 150 chemicals that leached into drinks from plastic bottles.

Of these, 18 may exceed EU regulatory limits, the study reveals.

The research notes chemicals found in recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) could even contain higher concentrations of chemicals than those using new PET.

PET is a very common and widely-used polymer. Currently, there are no plans to ban its use.

The authors said: “These findings show that a high number of non-authorised substances may be intentionally or non-intentionally added across the lifecycle of PET bottles.”

Dr Eleni Iacovidou, Lecturer in Environmental Management at Brunel University London, spoke to ELN about the contaminants found in recycled PET bottles: “The study was a systematic evidence mapping of the food contact chemicals (FCCs) that could be migrating from PET bottles.

“We actually found 150 FCCs could be migrating from these bottles and of these 109 are not authorised substances.  Recycled-plastic – Chemical-recycling

“The study points to the fact that we have a lot of non-intentional substances that could come from any stage across the PET drink bottles’ lifecycle.”

Recycled plastic bottles leach chemicals into drinks!

-Yarn makers demand cut in taxes, duties

Say industry can export polyester textured yarn to international markets

The yarn manufacturers have urged government to reduce the customs duty imposed on polyester preoriented yarn (POY). In a statement on Monday, the Pakistan Yarn Merchants Association (PYMA) demanded the government to cut the customs duty, sales 5ax, withholding tax on income and abolish regulatory duty and additional customs duty on yarn in budget 2022-23. Recycled-plastic – Chemical-recycling

In its budget proposals, PYMA Chairman Saqib Naseem and Vice Chairman for Sindh Balochistan Region Muhammad Junaid Teli suggested that customs duty on POY should be slashed from 13% to 7%. “The polyester pre-oriented yarn used for manufacturing polyester textured yarn which is considered separate industries in India, China, Vietnam and Bangladesh’’ they said. “Polymerisation plants require huge capital whereas texturising units can be set up easily by the small and medium enterprises sector”.

In addition, the industry can export polyester textured yarn to international markets as well, they expressed view. According to PYMA’s budget proposals, customs duty levied on polyester fully drawn yarn should be reduced from 11% to 7%. “Similarly, customs duty on polyester texturized yarn should be reduced from 11% to 9% as fabrics made from artificial and synthetic yarns are used by the common man,” they said. Recycled-plastic – Chemical-recycling

-Neste works on next step towards commercialising chemical recycling of waste plastic in Porvoo, Finland

Proceeding on the target of commercializing chemical recycling of waste plastic, Neste is conducting a feasibility study to examine investing in capacity for processing liquefied waste plastic at its refinery in Porvoo, Finland. The goal is to scale up processing capabilities for liquefied waste plastic by implementing proprietary technologies to pretreat and upgrade liquefied waste plastic and integrating the technologies into the refinery operations.

The targeted pretreatment and upgrading capacity of this first step is 400,000 tons per year. This development would be a major step towards Neste’s target to process over 1 million tons of waste plastic per year from 2030 onwards. To produce drop-in petrochemical feeds from liquefied waste plastic (e.g. pyrolysis oil), intermediate refining is needed to remove detrimental impurities as well as optimise the chemical composition of the material. Recycled-plastic – Chemical-recycling

“To turn chemical recycling into a viable and industrial-scale feed source for our downstream partners in the polymers and chemicals value chain, we have to bridge the quality gap between unprocessed liquefied waste plastic oil and our customers’ raw material requirements,” explains Mercedes Alonso, Executive Vice President, Renewable Polymers and Chemicals at Neste. “We are a forerunner in refining liquefied waste plastic into drop-in petrochemical feeds. By scaling up our processing capabilities, we enhance our ability to process hard-to-recycle waste plastics and help enable our value chain partners to deliver substantial volumes of high-quality materials from recycled feedstock.”

Increased flexibility when processing waste plastics

In 2021, Neste successfully concluded the first series of trial runs processing liquefied waste plastic in its Porvoo refinery. Additional trial runs with larger volumes will continue in the course of 2022. Recycled-plastic – Chemical-recycling

While unprocessed liquefied waste plastic is usable for trial-scale runs, continuous processing at industrial scale will require the pretreatment and upgrading step to remove impurities and unwanted components.

Recycled-plastic – Chemical-recycling

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