Page 158 - CW E-Magazine (20-2-2024)

News from Abroad

CIRCULAR POLYMERS
TotalEnergies’ PP plant in Texas begins using feed-

stock derived from plastic waste

French oil & gas major, TotalEner-
gies, has announced that its facility in
La Porte, Texas (USA), has started to
produce sustainably certified polymers
suitable for a wide range of applica-
tions, including food-grade packaging.

“For the first time in the United
States, TotalEnergies has converted
feedstocks from plastic waste into cir-
cular polymers at its polypropylene where it was transformed into circular in our commitment to meeting the global
plant in Texas,” the company informed polymers. Both the La Porte and BTP market’s growing demand for more
in a press note. facilities received their International innovative and sustainable plastics,
Sustainability & Carbon (ISCC) Plus as well as in our ambition to produce
The La Porte facility is described certification in 2022. one million tons of circular polymers a
by TotalEnergies as one of the world’s year by 2030,” said Mr. Heather Tomas,
largest virgin polypropylene (PP) sites. TotalEnergies and New Hope Energy Vice President Polymers Americas.
have also signed a multi-year agree-
The scrap feedstock was provided ment under which the latter will supply Texas refinery restarts
by an ISCC-Plus certified advanced TotalEnergies with feedstock made In another development, TotalEner-
recycling facility in Tyler, Texas, opera- from plastics to produce recycled poly- gies’ 238,000-bpd (barrels per day) Port
ted by New Hope Energy. The feedstock mers. New Hope Energy uses a paten- Arthur, Texas refinery began restarting
was converted into monomers at the ted pyrolysis technology developed in production units on February 2.,
BASF TotalEnergies Petrochemicals partnership with Lummus Technology according to Reuters. The refinery was
(BTP) facility, which a 60:40 joint ven- to process and convert mixed plastic shut by a plant-wide power outage on
ture between BASF and TotalEnergies- waste that would otherwise be destined January 16, when temperatures along
based in Port Arthur, Texas. for landfill or incineration. “After the Texas Gulf Coast fell below -6.7°C.
Europe, this first production of circular TotalEnergiies had initially planned
From Port Arthur, the material was polymers from advanced recycling in to return the refinery to production by
shipped to the La Porte PP facility, the United States is a new step forward January 26.

HORMONE DISRUPTOR CHEMICALS
New US study highlights risks of pre-term births

from phthalate exposure

Daily exposure to phthalates used $8.1-bn over the lifetime of the chil- Exposure to these toxins, which is
in the manufacture of plastic food con- dren. believed to occur as consumer products
tainers and many cosmetics may be tied break down and are ingested, has been
to nearly 56,600 preterm births in the For decades, phthalates have been linked to obesity, cancer, and fertility
US in 2018, a new study shows. The shown to interfere with the function of issues, among many other health con-
resulting medical costs, the authors of certain hormones, or signalling com- cerns.
the report say, were estimated to reach pounds that circulate in the blood and
a minimum of $1.6-bn and as much as guide much of the body’s processes. Led by researchers at NYU Gross-

158 Chemical Weekly February 20, 2024

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