PRA News

Against the back of a Circular Economy theme at the K2019 show in Dusseldorf, Germany, companies have been launching new “green” technologies. For the first time, multi-national Henkel has produced bottles using chemically recycled plastic in collaboration with packaging manufacturer Alpla. Through chemical recycling, mixed plastic waste that was previously impossible to recycle…

In the run-up to sustainability, chemical firm LyondellBasell is building a new small-scale pilot facility at its Ferrara, Italy, site moving another step closer to converting post-consumer plastic waste into new plastics on a commercial scale. The company selected its Ferrara site for the pilot facility due to its long history of…

Sabic has launched the first of its polycarbonate (PC) based on certified renewable feedstock, which it says is a first in the industry. Sabic’s PC cradle-to-gate LCA study reveals potentially significant reductions in carbon footprint (up to 50%) and fossil depletion impacts (up to 35%) for the production of polycarbonate…

Chemical firms are claiming firsts in the industry, against the back of the drive for further sustainability. Inovyn has launched its latest generation of PVC under the brand name Biovyn, becoming the world’s first commercial producer of bio-attributed PVC using a supply chain fully certified by The Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB),…

German chemical firm BASF SE is to invest EUR 20 million into Quantafuel, a specialist for pyrolysis of mixed plastic waste and purification of pyrolysis oil, headquartered in Oslo, Norway. The investment will be facilitated via the subscription of new shares and via the grant of a convertible loan. Together,…

Japanese chemical firm Mitsui Chemicals is collaborating with Kaisei Inc. to commercialise its bio-polypropylene (bio-PP), with Japan’s Ministry of the Environment adopting Mitsui’s’ bio-PP pilot project to build a system to recycle plastic and other resources in support of a carbon-free society. This is in line with Japan’s efforts to…

US-based ExxonMobil has announced that construction of its new full-range linear alpha olefins (LAO) production unit at the Baytown Chemical Plant in Baytown, Texas, is underway. The new unit will produce about 350,000 tonnes/year of LAOs. Strategically located on the US Gulf Coast to take advantage of existing production, supply…

Chemical firm LyondellBasell says its Knapsack, Germany site is now the world’s largest PP compounding facility. The manufacturing site earned the new title with the start-up of its fifth production line. The new total annual production capacity for the site is more than 200 kilotonnes/year, with the added line capacity…

US chemical firm Dow, in partnership with UPM Biofuels, a producer of advanced biofuels, is commercialising a bio-based polyethylene (PE) for the packaging industry made from a bio-based renewable feedstock. Dow is integrating wood-based UPM BioVerno renewable naphtha – a key raw material used to develop plastics – into its…

Against the back on public outcry on plastic waste, European polymer demand is set to grow by 1.5%/year to 2023, according to AMI Consulting’s latest report, Polymer Demand in Europe 2019. This subdued forecast masks a myriad of changes that the industry is facing, led by intensifying public outcry against…