Page 149 - CW E-Magazine (31-12-2024)

News from Abroad News from Abroad

EXPANSION scrap and waste is separated by type, of the art, the recycled MMA is expected
Clariant building new production line for stabiliser passed through a multi-step sorting pro- to feature a carbon footprint reduction
of more than 90%, which means an
cess and granulated in a defi ned geome-
additives in Cangzhou, China try. This is done both for post-industrial avoidance of around 13-ktpa of green-
recyclable materials and post-consumer
house gases at full capacity.
plastic waste. As the largest company
Swiss speciality chemicals fi rm, in Europe specialised in PMMA recy- The strategic partnership offers
Clariant, is expanding its Cangzhou cling, Pekutherm has a sorting capa- benefi ts for all partners. For Röhm and
production site for the manufacture of city of 10-ktpa. The recyclable materials Polyvantis, it increases the availability
Nylostab S-EED, a multi-functional collected by Pekutherm and processed of recycled PMMA, which can be used
additive designed for use with nylons. for mechanical recycling are then deli- PMMA scrap material. Röhm will also to manufacture products with a signi-
The new, second production line in the vered to its partners Röhm and Poly- act as the offtaker of recycled methyl fi cantly reduced carbon footprint.
Hebei Province of China, will be jointly vantis, where they are reused as a raw methacrylate (rMMA) monomer, to be MyRemono can demonstrate its depoly-
owned and operated by Clariant and its material in production after just one reused for the manufacturing of new merisation technology by processing a
local partner Beijing Tiangang Auxiliary additional processing step. PMMA products in a fully circular wide range of PMMA grades. With its
Co. Ltd. process. fl exible collection system, Pekutherm is
MyRemono, Nextchem’s subsidiary creating the basis for an industry-wide
“We are excited to take our partner- specialising in plastics recycling, will MyRemono will manage the chemi- recycling system for PMMA in Europe
ship with Beijing Tiangang to the next receive the remaining PMMA. This is cal recycling of PMMA scrap material and is the central point of contact for
level by breaking ground on a second “We feel privileged to deepen cycle time for injection moulding pro- unsuitable for mechanical recycling at its fi rst-of-its-kind industrial-scale this.X
production line in Cangzhou. The conti- our partnership with Clariant further cesses,” the company informed. but can be chemically converted back plant, currently being developed in
nued investment from Clariant demon- through the expansion of this already into pure MMA using NXRe techno- Italy, with the support of the EU Inno- “We invite all processors, custo-
strates our commitment to the Chinese very successful production site,” said “We are confi dent that our new logy, a molten metal depolymerisation vation Fund. The plant is expected to mers and consumers of PMMA in Europe
market and reaffi rms our strong belief Mr. Gang Liu, Executive Director of multifunctional additive Nylostab process. MyRemono, has signed a be completed in 2026 and will have an to become part of our network,” said
in the prospects of local industries such Beijing Tiangang. S-EED, produced at the new site, will toll manufacturing agreement with initial processing capacity of 5-ktpa of Mr. Heiko Pfi ster, Managing Director
as textiles and fi bres, automotive and have a good number of application Röhm under which Röhm will supply PMMA. Compared to the current state of Pekutherm.
packaging,” said Mr. Zhigang Miao, Clariant’s said its Nylostab S-EED areas across the core nylon value chain,
Clariant’s Global Head of Polymer additive is highly compatible with which is seeing a surge in capacity PARTNERSHIP
Solutions, Additives Polymer Solu- nylons by molecular recognition. “Its expansion and demand particularly Dow and Innventure to collaborate on waste-to-petchem
tions. For three years, since the launch excellent process stability at high from the textile and engineering plastics
of the fi rst joint-venture site in 2021, temperatures results in less fi lament industry in China,” said Ms. Sandra feedstocks platform
the production site has achieved full breakage during spinning processes Schneider, Clariant’s Head of Opera-
capacity. and enhances productivity by reducing tions & Supply Chain Additives.
Dow and Innventure, a technology ments for existing fossil fuel-based plastic feedstock aggregation and up-
CLOSING THE LOOP commercialisation platform, are join- feedstocks. Dow will provide technical grading. “Dow is committed to trans-
Röhm, Maire and partners set up European network ing hands to collaborate to develop resources to support the engineering forming plastic waste into circular solu-
and commercialise new waste-to-value development and deployment of new tions that result in high-quality resins
for PMMA recycling technologies. The collaboration aims to waste-to-value processes and work demanded by our customers while help-
enable globally scalable, cost-effective with Refi nity to identify preferred sites ing to accelerate a circular economy,”
conversion of mixed wastes to petro- for future commercial plant operations. said Mr. Dave Parrillo, vice president
German methacrylates specialist, With this partnership, the four in Worms (Germany). The greatest chemical feedstocks. for Research & Development, Dow
Röhm, has announced the establish- companies expect considerably more challenges of the circular economy to Via Refi nity, Innventure licenses Packaging & Specialty Plastics and
ment of a Europe-wide alliance for the PMMA materials to be processed date have been the lack of infrastruc- Innventure has created a new sub- novel, high yield thermochemical pro- Hydrocarbons. “We are excited to work
recycling of polymethyl methacrylate through both mechanical and chemical ture, logistics and the availability of sidiary, Refi nity, to commercialise cesses; for example, gasifi cation to with Refi nity on waste-to-value which
(PMMA). The participating compa- recycling and returned to the market as economically viable and suffi cient cost-effective waste-to-value techno- convert mixed plastic waste to light can be combined with Dow’s efforts to
nies besides Röhm are Nextchem, the MMA and PMMA in virgin-like qua- quantities of recyclable PMMA. As a logies. Refi nity will work directly with olefi ns. Dow anticipates contributing ‘Decarbonise & Grow’ and its ‘Path2Zero’
sustainable technology division of lity. This would be made possible by logistics partner in the new alliance, Dow to scale and commercialise tech- other technologies as part of the collabo- journey. We are also excited to work
Italian engineering major, Maire Group combining Nextchem’s NXRe chemi- Pekutherm will seek to address these nologies aimed at converting mixed ration in the future. more broadly with Innventure, whose
through its subsidiary MyRemono, cal recycling technology with a puri- issues and offer PMMA processing waste, including hard-to-recycle plastic differentiated model for technology
Pekutherm (a waste management fi cation method developed and piloted companies across Europe with custo- waste, to petrochemical feedstocks. Refi nity and Dow may also collabo- commercialisation and new company
company) and Polyvantis (the acrylic by Röhm researchers at the company’s mised concepts for plastic waste disposal. The sustainable chemicals produced rate to develop selected parts of the creation can help Dow accelerate our
products business spun out of Röhm). largest production and innovation site Pekutherm will ensure that the collected by Refi nity will serve as direct replace- waste supply chain, including waste ‘Transform the Waste’ initiative.”

148 Chemical Weekly December 31, 2024 Chemical Weekly December 31, 2024 149

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