SK Geo Centric optimizes plastic recycling tech with US company

MRC-- SK Geo Centric Co., a South Korean energy and chemical company, is accelerating technical negotiations to build the world's first plastic recycling complex, the Ulsan Advanced Recycling Cluster (ARC), said Kedglobal.

SK Geo Centric announced on Friday that 12 of its engineers and researchers recently completed modifications and technical consultations at PureCycle Technology's plastic recycling plant in Ohio, optimizing the recycling process for around two months from January this year.

PureCycle is a company that uses chemical recycling technology to extract high-purity recycled polypropylene from waste plastic, removing contaminants, odors and colors.

In October last year, the two companies signed a joint venture agreement and are working toward starting construction of the recycling plant in Ulsan within the year.

Since January, engineers from both companies have spent over 1,000 hours discussing specific technologies through online and offline meetings, conducting various tests to optimize the process for Korean waste plastics.

We remind, SK Geo Centric, a subsidiary of South Korea's top refiner SK Innovation Co., will join hands with a global company to build a super-large waste plastic recycling plant in Ulsan, a coastal area of South Gyeongsang Province.

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Lotte Fine Chemical Co., South Korea’s largest ammonia producer, will spend a total of 129 billion won ($99 million) in an aim to become the world’s largest food and pharmaceutical materials producer and bump up its green materials sales by six times by 2030 to outdistance Chinese rivals, said the company.

The subsidiary of Lotte Chemical Corp. said on Thursday that its board of directors late last month approved a new plan to inject 79 billion won to jack up the production capacity of cellulose ethers widely used in manufacturing foods and pharmaceutical drugs to 6,000 tons a year.

The company originally planned to invest 39 billion won to expand the capacity to 3,000 tons.

Once the addition of new cellulose derivative production lines is completed by 2025 under the new plan, the Korean fine chemical company will boast the world’s largest production capacity of food and pharmaceutical chemical materials.

The US-based International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF) is currently the world’s No. 1 in the market, followed by Lotte Fine Chemical and Japan’s Shin-Etsu Chemical Co.

We remind, Lotte Chemical Corp. has sold its entire stakes in joint ventures with Chinese partners as the Korean company faces a supply glut amid weak demand in the world’s second-largest economy.

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Topsoe is pleased to have signed an MoU with Standard Gas, a decarbonization technology company, to collaborate on a UK-based project to produce renewable natural gas and methanol from residual waste feedstocks, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Under the terms of the MoU, Topsoe will provide the technologies, engineering, equipment items and catalysts that will enable the synthesis gas produced by Standard Gas to be processed into valuable products such as methane and methanol.

The process of renewable natural gas production will additionally produce biochar, which captures and removes carbon and can be sequestered in valuable products for the agricultural, construction and environmental industries.

Standard Gas will develop and obtain all appropriate approvals, licenses, funding and offtake agreements needed to implement the project. Standard Gas will either own and operate the potential project or license to a third-party owner.

We remind, Air Liquide Engineering & Construction will provide the license, basic engineering and FEED for the new plant with its innovative and well-referenced syngas cleaning, hydrogen purification and carbon capture (RECTISOL) technologies, which will process around one million tons of wastes and residues into SAF each year.

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To drive the global chemical industry on a path to net-zero emissions by 2050, the Low-Carbon Emitting Technologies initiative, incubated and hosted by the World Economic Forum for more than three years, has now officially launched as the independent Global Impact Coalition, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

With a suite of leading-edge projects, the CEO-led coalition, founded by BASF, SABIC, Covestro, Clariant, LyondellBasell, the Mitsubishi Chemical Group, and Solvay will focus on accelerating the development and upscaling of low-carbon emitting technologies for chemical production and related value chains. With a focus on innovation, partnerships, and the development of net-zero production methods, the new Coalition can make an important contribution to carbon neutrality and sustainable growth.

“After over three years of incubation within the World Economic Forum and led by tangible results in the decarbonization space, we are delighted to witness the Global Impact Coalition emerge as an independent legal entity,” said Borge Brende, President, World Economic Forum. “We are dedicated to nurturing our strong relationship, bolstering sustainability and innovation within the chemicals sector.”

The Coalition will incubate projects with a proven approach pioneered by the LCET. Example projects coming from Coalition member companies: The R&D Hub for Plastic Waste Processing - which will focus on developing new technologies for waste processing with a lower CO2 footprint and greater levels of plastic waste recycling.

Electrically Heated Steam Cracker Furnace - collaboration to construct the world’s first demonstration plant for large-scale electrically heated steam cracker furnaces.

We remind, Air Liquide Engineering & Construction will provide the license, basic engineering and FEED for the new plant with its innovative and well-referenced syngas cleaning, hydrogen purification and carbon capture (RECTISOL) technologies, which will process around one million tons of wastes and residues into SAF each year.

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MRC- - World Trade Organization's dispute settlement body has agreed to establish a panel to review countervailing duties imposed by the European Union on imports of biodiesel from Indonesia, the global trade body said late on Monday, said Hyrocarbonprocessing.

Indonesia has requested WTO dispute consultations with the EU regarding the bloc's imposition of duties on imports of biodiesel from the Southeast Asia nation in August. However after the consultation failed to reach an agreement, last month the world's biggest palm oil producer requested WTO to establish a dispute settlement body, which EU previously did not accept.

"Efforts to appeal this case to the WTO are very strategic to maintain market access for Indonesian biodiesel products in the EU market which is currently subject to countervailing duties of 8% to 18%," said Budi Santoso, senior official at Indonesian trade ministry on Tuesday.

The countervailing duties were imposed for five years December 10, 2019 up to December 10, 2024, Budi added. Indonesian biofuel producers association said the duties have been burdening Indonesian biodiesel exporters and hoped for the WTO panel could immediately start the proceedings, the group chairperson Paulus Tjakrawan told Reuters.

The WTO said late on Monday the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, the Russian Federation, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Canada, China, Argentina and Turkiye had reserved their third party rights to participate in the panel proceedings.

We remind, Air Liquide Engineering & Construction will provide the license, basic engineering and FEED for the new plant with its innovative and well-referenced syngas cleaning, hydrogen purification and carbon capture (RECTISOL) technologies, which will process around one million tons of wastes and residues into SAF each year.

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