Borealis closes the loop pilot project in Belgium, eliminates single-use cups with innovative double-closed loop system

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Borealis is spearheading an innovative new pilot to test the advantages of a double-closed loop reuse and recycling system, leading the transition towards a more circular economy of plastics, fully in line with its ambition, according to the company's press release..

Borealis Closes The Loop sees Borealis and its value-chain partners replace the 1.5 million single-use cups used annually at four of its Belgium sites with 30,000 reusable EcoCore cups. Part of Borealis’ mission to Reduce - Reuse - Recycle, the pilot first reduces the weight of plastics through these extremely lightweight cups, then reuses them to maximise their lifetime before seeking to recycle back into cups. This double-closed loop system is Borealis’ latest innovation in driving the circular economy of plastics, expanding their scope up the waste hierarchy towards reduce and reuse, and using their own sites to demonstrate the benefits.

Many reuse initiatives today focus on the consumer, for example reusable cup schemes run by high-street coffee shops. Schemes like this can have a relatively low uptake as the burden is on the consumer to decide whether or not they reuse a cup. In the business environment, reuse schemes are less prevalent and there is widespread consumption of single-use plastic cups. By using a double-closed loop, the pilot aims to make reuse schemes more sustainable and economically viable. Replacing 1.5 million single-use cups with 30,000 reusable cups, weighing 15 grammes per cup, results in a material saving of 4.2 tons of single-use plastic per year.

Borealis Closes The Loop pilot project works as follows:

- Lightweight and durable EcoCore foamed cups from Bockatech – engineered to require less material, with faster cycle times to lower material costs, energy use and environmental impact – reduce the amount of plastic from the outset.
- Produced locally by Miko Pac, the CO2 breakeven of these cups versus single use is only at two refills per day.
Using Miko Coffee Services machines, employees reuse the same cup throughout the day, eliminating on average four single-use consumptions. Cups are collected and washed by facilities company Goodless.
- Cups are individually tagged with unique Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips so the reuse cycle of each cup can be traced. This digitalisation means the system can be further optimised, for example analysing how many cups have been used and potentially reducing the number in circulation.
- When cups are removed from the reuse loop (for example due to wear and tear or damage), they move on to the material recycling loop.
- The cups can then be mechanically recycled into food-approved recycled material, which can be used to create more reusable cups, thereby fully closing the loop. This is as opposed to open-loop recycling, where material is often downcycled into a lesser quality product.

Findings and learnings from the pilot will be captured, recorded and published to demonstrate how to design and set up robust reuse systems superior to single-use plastics. Borealis will support its customers and value-chain partners with the implementation of further closed-loop systems.

“As a leading polyolefins producer, Borealis takes a 360° approach in driving the transition to a circular economy in alignment with our EverMinds ambition. With design for circularity at its core, Borealis Closes The Loop pilot project adopts our principles of Reduce - Reuse - Recycle,” says Lucrece Foufopoulos, Borealis Executive Vice President Polyolefins, Circular Economy Solutions and Innovation & Technology. “Life demands progress. It’s only by walking the talk that we can inspire the entire value-chain to close loops with us. As an industry, it’s critical we take ownership of where plastics end up. The double closed-loop system is another development in reducing the amount of plastics waste. This is how we re-invent for more sustainable living.”

As MRC reported previously, the 380,000-metric tons/year steam cracker at Porvoo, Finland, operated by Borealis, resumed normal operations in early December after the company declared force majeure following a technical failure on 11 November. The cracker was shut down to allow necessary repair works, according to Borealis. The company began restart operations on 23 November, 2020.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing PE and PP.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,760,950 tonnes in the first ten months of 2020, up by 3% year on year. Only high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 978,870 tonnes in January-October 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports minus producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.

Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. With headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Borealis currently employs around 6,500 and operates in over 120 countries.
MRC

Equinor methanol plant remains offstream after fire

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Europe's largest methanol plant, in Norway's Tjeldbergodden industrial site, will remain closed until further notice following a fire at the facility earlier this week, operator Equinor told OPIS Thursday, said Chemweek.

"Production remains shut down at Tjeldbergodden following the fire in a compressor building at the site on Wednesday. It is too early to say when operations could resume," says Equinor spokesperson Morten Eek. Equinor is preparing for an internal investigation to identify the cause of the fire, according to Eek. The 900,000-metric tons/year methanol plant, owned by Equinor and ConocoPhillips, accounts for more than 25% of European production, according to Equinor data.

Market sources in the European methanol market said prices climbed after the plant shut down. "It will all depend on how long the plant is out for, how much inventory they have. Methanol [prices] in Rotterdam are up EUR10 [USD12] per metric ton in the last 24 hours," a source said.

"The market is now close to EUR300/metric ton, we started at EUR290/metric ton," a trader told OPIS Thursday. "There is some impact but not a huge one."

As MRC informed earlier, Equinor (Stavanger, Norway) has confirmed that a fire broke out on Wednedsday at 2.40pm local time in a compressor house at the company's methanol plant at Tjeldbergodden, Norway. Emergency services were dispatched and police, fire, and health services are at the scene, the company says. The fire was put out at 3.40pm, it says. When the fire started, site's air separation unit and the methanol plant were shut down, Equinor says. Personnel at the factory were evacuated and all emergency response procedures implemented, it says. Equinor's emergency response organization was assembled and authorities were notified.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing PE and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,594,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, excluding producers" inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
MRC

Resilux signs contract with Dansk Retursystem for PET bottle supply

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Belgium-based polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycler and preform producer Resilux has signed a long-term contract with Dansk Retursystem, the operator of the Danish deposit return system (DRS) that will give Resiliux access to PET bottles collected in Denmark, said Petnology.

The contract will give Resilux access to PET bottles collected via reverse vending machines in Denmark on the understanding that those bottles will be recycled and made back into bottles through the supply of preforms. This ensures that the food-grade recycled PET (R-PET) produced by Resilux is going back into the manufacture of bottles and not down-cycled into less valuable end-use applications or products.

This is not an exclusive offtake agreement – the post-consumer bottle bales are made available to other recyclers - and the contract does not state that all bottles collected via the Danish DRS must be returned into the Danish market. The length of the contract was also not disclosed.

Resilux entered into a partnership with German recycling company RCS Group in October, which may allow Resilux to source high quality recycled materials produced by RCS from the German waste system, thereby providing full traceability of materials from collection through to production of food grade recycled materials and their re-use in new preforms and bottles.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PET consumption reached 52,71o tonnes in September 2020, down by 27% year on year. Overall PET consumption in Russia reached 530,750 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020, down by 22% year on year.
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LG Chem launches battery firm LG Energy Solution

MOSCOW (MRC) -- On December 1, 2020, LG Chem has officially launched its new wholly-owned subsidiary LG Energy Solution, announced in September and approved in October, which consists of the battery business of LG Chem, said Chemweek.

LG Chem's battery business is not only quickly expanding, but also profitable (at least in the past two quarters). The revenues are expected to reach 13 trillion KRW (USD11.7 billion) in 2020, but that might be just the beginning as the forecast is upwards of 30 billion KRW in 2024.

The LG Energy Solutions unit employs approximately 22,000 people (approximately 7,000 in Korea and 15,000 abroad) globally. LG Energy Solution President Kim Jong Hyun said: “LG Energy Solution pioneered with an unwavering challenging spirit for the Korean battery industry, in which the said industry was practically nonexistent, and overcame many concerns and difficulties, and recently became the first to pave the foundation for creating structural profits in the EV battery business before any other competitor."

"We have now successfully spun off the company to reach for higher dreams and have now set out on a great voyage."

It's expected that during 2021, LG Chem will try to offer up to 30% of LG Energy Solution shares in an initial offering to benefit from the success and to finance further dynamic growth.

As MRC reported earlier, LG Chem, a South Korean petrochemical major, has shut down its naphtha cracker in Yeosu following a fire. The company said a fire broke out at its central control room at the Yosu cracker complex at around midnight local time (15:00 GMT) on 5 November. The country's largest chemical company said it was in the process of figuring out the cause of the fire. The facility can process about 1.2 million tonnes of ethylene per year (tpy).The cracker shutdown is expected to last at least three weeks.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, exluding producers" inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.

LG Chem Ltd., often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. 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.
MRC

Strong TDI demand boosts December toluene contract price in Europe

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The European toluene contract price for December settled at USD454/metric ton on Tuesday, rising USD93/metric ton, or 26%, month-on-month amid stronger demand and tighter supply, according to sources and IHS Markit data, said Chemweek.

The settled contract price in November was USD361/metric ton. The contract price is negotiated between major producers and consumers in the market and confirmed by IHS Markit once a settlement is agreed. Demand for toluene strengthened in November, when consumption from chemical players in the domestic market improved as two toluene diisocyanate (TDI) producers lifted declarations of force majeure after technical issues caused outages in September and October.

Strong TDI margins are expected to result in healthy offtake for toluene from chemical buyers, according to Eleanor Dann, principal analyst/aromatics and fibers, at IHS Markit. “We see good demand from chemicals and solvents sectors,” says one toluene supplier. “TDI reached rock bottom in August and September, not just because of the force majeures but also weaker downstream demand,” the supplier says.

Demand has grown for toluene cargoes from Europe to India and the US market, according to sources. An outage at an aromatics plant operated by the Bandar Imam Petrochemical Company in Iran siphoned off a regular supply of toluene from the Indian market between October and November. To fill the gap, at least 30,000 metric tons of toluene was shipped from West Europe to India in November, according to toluene traders. By comparison, total export volumes from West Europe to India totaled 6,000 metric tons in the first six months of the year, according to IHS Markit data.

"Export demand for toluene parcels to India is expected to persist into December, but more competitive pricing in the Asian markets and lower availability from Europe should prevent export volumes being as high as they have been in November," says Dann.

Toluene spot supplies remain tight in Europe, supporting the 26% monthly jump in the December contract price, as traders watch for trans-Atlantic export opportunities, but find instead scant volumes available for December shipping, according to market sources. “I’m looking for toluene for the US, but nobody is offering any product for December," says one trader.

Other factors that have contributed to low availability of spot toluene include lower refinery production rates, as gasoline demand has deteriorated during the second wave of COVID-19 lockdowns and mixed xylenes demand is capped by poor para-xylene margins. "The spread between benzene and toluene prices has turned selective toluene dis-proportionation margins positive, which has incentivized increased toluene consumption, particularly in the US," Dann says.

Meanwhile, reformer margins are still negative, and despite an increase in the toluene-naphtha spread of above USD50/metric ton from an October low of USD37/metric ton, poor demand for mixed xylenes is preventing refinery-based toluene producers from hiking toluene output, according to Dann. "Everyone’s minimum run rate varies, but we agree it’s low at the moment and it’s having an impact on [toluene feedstock] reformate supply,” says one producer. “We have enquiries for spot cargoes for first-half December, a lot of demand, but I don’t have spot cargoes,” the producer adds.

As MRC informed earlier, Covestro has lifted force majeure at its 270,000-metric tons/year toluene diisocyanate (TDI) plant in Dormagen, Germany.

As MRC reported earlier, Covestro has closed the sale of its European polycarbonates (PC) sheets business to the Munich-based Serafin Group effective January 2, 2020. This includes key management and sales functions throughout Europe as well as production sites in Belgium and Italy.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, overall estimated consumption of PC granules in the Russian market reached 58,000 tonnes in January-July 2020, up by 22% year on year (47,500 tonnes).
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