Page 173 - CW E-Magazine (18-3-2025)

News from Abroad

EMBRACING CIRCULARITY
AkzoNobel’s Brazil reusing residue from industrial

effluent to make paint

AkzoNobel has revealed that its paint. Following the quality control pro-
Mauá plant in São Paulo, Brazil, is suc- cess, any residue not suitable for use in
cessfully using industrial residue as a the product is transformed into briquettes
more sustainable raw material for mak- for energy recovery.
ing paint.
Although legislation allows the site’s
Nearly a third of the total residue gene- liquid effluent to be treated and disposed
rated during industrial effluent treatment of in a watercourse, AkzoNobel said it
at the plant goes into the manufacture has invested in the treatment plant in
of ‘Coral Pinta Piso’ floor paint. As well tainability. “In 2024 alone, the initiative recent years, which allows 100% of the
as helping to eliminate landfill disposal, contributed to the reduction of around treated water to be reused in processes
it’s also contributing to the preservation 272 tons of CO emissions,” he added. and products. The Mauá site uniquely
2
of natural resources. “This is a fantastic Industrial residue is the waste formed sits within a large area of Brazilian rain-
initiative which will play an important after the treatment of industrial wastewater. forest known as the Tangará Reserve.
role in helping us achieve our ambition of Currently, around 30% of the total treated Since 2007, the company has been
100% circular use of materials in our own residue in Mauá (which is free from restoring 70 hectares of the reserve to
operations by 2030,” said Mr. Wijnand sanitary or biological sewage) is used to native woodland in an effort to safeguard
Bruinsma, AkzoNobel’s Director of Sus- formulate the ‘Coral Pinta Piso’ line of the fragile ecosystem.

LOW FOOTPRINT PRODUCTION
Perstorp announces zero emissions milestone

for Dutch facility

Swedish speciality chemicals firm, reduce its environ- secure renewable energy,
Perstorp, a wholly-owned subsidiary of mental footprint. as well as raw mate-
Malaysia’s Petronas Chemicals Group rials, to reduce both
Berhad (PCG), has announced that “All chemical the direct and indirect
its animal nutrition focused plant in sites have different carbon footprint of our
Waspik, the Netherlands has officially challenges and possi- sites and products – and
reduced its direct emissions (Scope – 1 & 2) bilities to reduce with that support our
to report zero over 2024. greenhouse gas emissions, where the customers and value chains in their
availability of feasible alternatives to ambitions,” commented Ms. Anna
To be able to reduce greenhouse gas fossil-based energy and raw materials Berggren, the company’s Vice President
emissions, the Waspik site took several are key. We are working intensively to Sustainability.
steps including replacing all fossil fuel Turkiye’s Sasa Polyester begins new PTA
forklift trucks with electric ones and all
lighting by LED. Additionally, all the plant operations
natural gas used for heating has been
replaced by biogas, and 100% of elec- Sasa Polyester, commercial production of its
tricity used is renewable. Energy con- a leading Turkiye- new 1.75 million tonnes per
sumption in heating and electricity are based manufactu- annum PTA (Purified Terephthalic
the two largest factors affecting scope – rers of polyester, Acid) facility in Adana, Turkiye.
1 and 2. Perstorp said the site is already fibre and interme- The project involved investment
working on the next steps to further diates, has begun of over $1.72-bn.

Chemical Weekly March 18, 2025 173

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