Pennon Group to open polymer recycling plant in UK

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Pennon Group, parent company of Viridor, the UK’s biggest recycling company, has announced a ground-breaking project which will harness the electricity created from non-recyclable waste at its ?252 million energy recovery facility at Avonmouth, near Bristol, to power a new ?65 million plastic recycling plant, said the company.

In year one, the UK's biggest multi-polymer plant will produce 60KTPA of recycled plastic a year from 81KTPA feedstock (1.6 billion bottles, pots, tubs and trays), rising to 89KTPA (1.7 billion bottles, pots, tubs and trays) in year three, producing 63KTPA of recycled material. The new plastics recycling plant will be powered by energy created which uses non-recyclable waste as its fuel, creating a true circular economy energy park.

Pennon’s Chief Executive Officer Chris Loughlin said: “Pennon is dedicated to working in ever-more sustainable ways and we are extremely excited to be announcing this first-of-its-kind investment in plastics recycling. By using waste which cannot be recycled as the fuel to create low carbon electricity which will power plastics recycling we are creating a truly resource and energy-efficient waste management solution.

The recycling and reprocessing plant will be a world-class facility which creates a recycling powerhouse in the South West, where Viridor and Pennon have their headquarters. The plant is an early sign of Viridor’s continuing commitment to UK plastics conversion, coming within months of the Government’s Resources and Waste strategy and a year on from the UK Plastics Pact, of which Viridor was a founding member.

This co-location of a plastic reprocessing plant with an energy recovery facility is a real industry first creating the opportunity to create even greater sustainability and environmental efficiency.

The project will put 60,000 tonnes of recycled plastic from bottles, pots, tubs and trays in PET, HDPE and PP flake and pellet form) back in the economy every year as a viable and sustainable solution to virgin plastic. It will be powered by diverting 320,000 tonnes of waste from landfill and generating 32MW of electricity – the equivalent energy used to power around 44,000 homes.

Recycled plastic uses 50% less electricity than virgin plastic and sourcing power from non-recyclable waste takes energy efficiency one step further and gives this material a real purpose.

The project also adds to its green credentials with the addition of a ?2 million water treatment plant, which has benefitted from the input and expertise of another Pennon company, South West Water.

Two-thirds of plastic collected for recycling in the UK is currently exported and 46% of plastic packaging is currently recycled against a target of 75%.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petrocuyo is in plans to brought on-stream its polypropylene (PP) unit following a turnaround, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Europe informed that the company is likely to complete turnaround the plant in end-May, 2019. The plant was taken off-line for maintenance in end-April, 2019.

Located in Lujan de Cuyo, Argentina, the PP plant has a production capacity of 130,000 mt/year.

Petrocuyo is the result of the merger of Petroquimica Cuyo and Petroken, companies with more than 30 years experience and internationally and locally wellknown. Thus, it is settled an Argentinean company which from the very beginning has been operating strengthened by technological and human synergies.

Petrocuyo offers a complete range of polypropylenes: homopolymers, impact and random copolymers, special polyolefins and PP compounds. The production plants are located in Lujan de Cuyo, Mendoza Province, and in Ensenada, Buenos Aires. Its installed capacity totals 310,000 tons per year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LG Chem is likely to shut its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant for a maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that the company has planned turnaround at the plant in early-June, 2019. The plant is expected to remain shut for a period of around one week.

Located in Yeosu, South Korea, the PVC plant has a production capacity of 610,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed before, LG Chem is planning to spend USD2.4-billion to expand its naphtha cracking center (NCC) and polyolefin (PO) plant in Yeosu, South Korea. The project, which will expand the NCC and PO facility by 800,000 t/y each, is expected to be completed in the second half of 2021.

LG Chem Ltd., often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. According to ICIS report, it is 15th biggest chemical company in the world in 2011. It has eight domestic factories and global network of 29 business locations in 15 countries. LG Chem is a manufacturer, supplier, and exporter of petrochemical goods, IT&E Materials and Energy Solutions.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev cut the ribbon of the first domestic R&D centre for the development and testing of polymer products – SIBUR PolyLab located at the Skolkovo Innovation Centre, said the company.

The ceremony was attended by Maxim Akimov, Deputy Prime Minister, Denis Manturov, Industry and Trade Minister, Dmitry Konov, Chairman of SIBUR Holding's Management Board, Victor Vekselberg, Chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation's Board, Arkady Dvorkovich, Chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation, SIBUR’s partners and other guests.

Polymers are well-known synthetic materials that are durable, strong, eco-friendly, etc. enough to be widely used in construction, utilities, automotive, healthcare, food and other industries. As Russia’s largest petrochemical company, SIBUR places special emphasis on leveraging the world's top research findings and technology innovations to develop new polymer properties. PolyLab’s key priority is to promote the use of polymers both to manufacture existing products, and to design novel solutions to drive technological advancement in healthcare, consumer goods, automotive, and construction industries. The lab will foster the use of recycled materials and the application of polymers in circular economy.

To this end, the samples of new PE and PP grades will be transformed at its pilot manufacturing lines into pipes, medical goods, films, food packaging and other products. This will provide a deeper insight into polymer properties and impact on the end product quality to further improve the materials and boost production efficiency.

PolyLab’s latest developments seek to boost the competitive edge of domestic polymers and polymer-based products. This becomes increasingly important amid the ongoing startup and commissioning of SIBUR’s ZapSibNeftekhim, Russia's largest petrochemical facility. ZapSibNeftekhim's products are expected to become a major substitute for foreign polymers and help boost non-commodity and non-energy exports.

A new element in SIBUR’s R&D infrastructure, PolyLab is also set to become a leading competence centre for the entire petrochemical industry. The centre will be developing new products in collaboration with industry partners, hold training sessions and technical workshops, educate engineering personnel and stage other experience sharing events.

PolyLab currently employs 40 experts with unique qualifications in different industrial areas. Its more than 5,000 sq m area houses over 100 most advanced equipment units to conduct R&D projects, including lines for films and pipes, injection moulding, compounding and modelling other ways of processing polymers into end products. All in all, project investments exceeded RUB 2.2 bn.

As part of the opening event at Skolkovo, SIBUR held a conference for polymer processing companies and signed memoranda with global chemical R&D leaders – Norner AS, 3M, Reifenhauser Group and BASF. The memoranda of cooperation provide for the development of new improved grades, organisation of educational events for SIBUR’s clients and implementation of polymer recycling technologies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil said it will invest up to USD100 million over 10 years to research and develop advanced lower-emissions technologies with the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and National Energy Technology Laboratory, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The agreement - among the largest between the department’s laboratories and the private sector - will support research and collaboration into ways to bring biofuels and carbon capture and storage to commercial scale across the transportation, power generation and industrial sectors.

"We’re focusing on advancing fundamental science to develop breakthrough solutions that can make a difference on a global basis in emissions reduction," said Darren W. Woods, chairman and chief executive officer of ExxonMobil. "We’re doing that with our in-house scientists and with corporate partners, through relationships with 80 universities and now with the intellectual and computing capacity of the renowned national labs."

The partnership will work to develop technologies related to energy efficiency and greenhouse gas mitigation. The joint research will also focus on reducing emissions from fuels and petrochemicals production. The agreement will stimulate collaborative projects between ExxonMobil and the two laboratories and facilitate work with other national laboratories, such as the Idaho National Lab.

"Finding meaningful solutions to address climate change is going to take everyone - governments, companies and academia - working together," said Vijay Swarup, vice president of research and development at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company. "This agreement will help us advance fundamental science and demonstrate scale. This is critical because it will give us a better understanding of how to progress technologies so they can be applied globally."

“The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is excited to work with ExxonMobil to develop scalable energy solutions for the future and facilitate research partnerships across the national lab system,” said Martin Keller, director at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. “Our partnerships with industry, government, academia and other research organizations drive the collaboration and innovation that is integral to revolutionizing the global energy landscape. By working side-by-side with ExxonMobil researchers, this partnership provides an unprecedented opportunity to explore new technologies and transform energy through science."

This collaboration is a recent addition to a series of partnerships ExxonMobil has established for innovative lower-emissions research programs, which includes over 80 universities, five energy centers and multiple private sector partners. The company has spent more than USD9 billion since 2000 developing and deploying lower-emissions energy solutions.

"This opportunity targets research challenges and the development of technology central to our mission and our capabilities," said Brian Anderson, director at the National Energy Technology Laboratory. "We’re bringing incredible research capability, enhanced by ExxonMobil’s industry expertise and ability to scale-up new technologies globally, which will ultimately benefit consumers in the near term, while also enhancing our nation’s prosperity and energy security."

As MRC informed before, in October 2017, ExxonMobil Chemical Company commenced production on the first of two new 650,000 tons-per-year high-performance polyethylene (PE) lines at its plastics plant in Mont Belvieu, Texas. The full project, part of the company’s multi-billion dollar expansion project in the Baytown area and ExxonMobil’s broader Growing the Gulf expansion initiative, will increase the plant’s polyethylene capacity by approximately 1.3 million tons per year.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
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