Page 173 - CW E-Magazine (10-10-2023)

News from Abroad News from Abroad

CLOSING THE LOOP

SK Chemicals, Lovere to jointly develop waste

plastic recycling business in China

South Korea’s SK Chemicals and
Shanghai Yuekun Environmental Protec- mers in the personal care industries in Globally, Brenntag operates 19 per- ducts that require temperature-controlled
tion Technology (Lovere) have signed the region. sonal care/HI&I Innovation & Applica- storage, such as cocoa butter, a special
a Memorandum of Understanding tion Centres and 17 CASE and construc- refrigerated area has been invested
(MoU) for the joint development of The Material Science Innovation & tion Innovation & Application centres. in. The warehouse’s equipment also
waste plastic recycling business in Application Centre in Lille, France, includes modern automated storage
Guangdong, China. will focus on research and develop- Investing in storage facility systems, including automatic picking
ment for CASE & construction appli- In another development, Brenntag and automatic forklifts.
Lovere is a leading company in cations. Services offers at the centre has announced the opening of its new
household waste collection and sorting will include concepts and prototype warehouse in Moerdijk, the Nether- “The Moerdijk location proves to be
in China and is a subsidiary of ATRe- developments, customised formula- lands. This will expand the existing extremely advantageous as it is located
new, an electronic device collection and tion support, technical solutions and facilities to optimise the site and meet in the immediate area of the important
recycling company listed on the New stability studies for a broad range of the growing demands of customers. Port of Rotterdam. This strategic
York Stock Exchange. Lovere collects applications. Brenntag had recently The warehouse will store chemicals location allows us to effi ciently connect
and recycles 420,000 tons of household announced the commencement of and ingredients for many markets and to important trade routes and markets
waste annually in 37 cities in China. operations of its new personal care applications, including the company’s throughout Europe,” said Mr. Pierre
It is regarded as a leading company in Innovation & Application Centre in Life Science business, especially for Claeys, President Brenntag Essentials,
innovating the recycling value chain rial for circular recycling, through joint “We will not stop at being a company Lille. the food & nutrition industry. For pro- Benelux.
with the Chinese government through investment. that simply produces recycled plastic ACCELERATING RESEARCH
executing a reward programme based materials but will evolve into a com-
on the self-developed AI-based sorting The collaboration seeks to leverage pany leading the resolution of global Merck announces two collaborations to strengthen
automation devices and digital services the circular recycling technology of environmental issues through the reali-
along with the datafi cation of waste SK Chemicals, abundant resources of sation of a closed loop system,” AI-driven drug discovery
fl ow. China, and the collection and sorting Mr. Ahn Jae-hyun, the CEO of SK
system of Lovere. Chemicals, said. Merck, the German science and Bar-Zohar, Global Head of Research & low double digit million US dollar up-
Through the MoU, SK Chemicals technology company, has announced Development and Chief Medical front payments and will be eligible for
plans to develop a waste plastic collec- SK Chemicals is looking to close SK Chemicals said it plans to evolve two new drug discovery collaborations Offi cer for the Healthcare business sector discovery, development, regulatory and
tion and sorting business with Lovere the loop though its “collection-sort- into a company providing plastic recyc- aimed at harnessing artifi cial intelli- of Merck. “The partnerships with in- commercial milestone payments and
in China starting with Guangdong ing-recycled material production” ap- ling solutions to global manufacturers gence (AI)-driven design and discovery dustry-leading AI technology fi rms tiered royalties based on net sales.
Province, where its circular recycling proach and expanding the value chain and brands through the construction of capabilities, further advancing the BenevolentAI and Exscientia will comple-
plant is located. Both companies have to collection and sorting stages of plas- recycling clusters and digital solution company’s research efforts. The part- ment our internal research capabilities Merck systematically explores data
come to secure waste PET, a raw mate- tics. building, starting with this MoU. nerships, with BenevolentAI, London, and expertise, aligning with our broader science and AI approaches to acce-
UK, and Exscientia, Oxford, UK, are strategy to enhance R&D productivity lerate the discovery and delivery of
SUPPORTING CUSTOMER GROWTH expected to generate several novel clini- and the output of our pipeline in a sus- breakthrough medicines. Integrating
Brenntag opens application centres in UK and cal development drug candidates with tainable manner.” Under the terms of AI across R&D processes from identi-
fying targets to clinical trials and pro-
fi rst-in-class and best-in-class potential the agreements, three potential fi rst-in-
France; expands warehouse in the Netherlands in key therapeutic areas of oncology, class and best-in-class targets have been duct lifecycle management, is aimed
neurology and immunology.
selected to initiate each partnership with at transforming drug discovery and
German chemicals distributor, At the centre, Brenntag experts will Prime Surfactants Ltd., a leading dis- the possibility of identifying and nomi- development, bringing new medicines
Brenntag, has begun operations of its provide customers and suppliers with tributor of surfactants specialties for “With the convergence of science, nating additional targets in the future. to patients faster and with higher prob-
new Innovation & Application Centres concepts and prototype development, the personal care/HI&I industries, now data, and AI, we are determined to The collaborative efforts are focused on ability of success. As the fi eld evolves,
in Leeds, UK and Lille, France. customised formulation support, tech- also based in Leeds. Brenntag said it fast-track the development of new and advancing small molecule development Merck said it will continue to deepen
nical solutions and stability studies chose Leeds for the new centre due to truly innovative candidates, forging a candidates which Merck will select for its existing AI and advanced analytics
The Leeds facility will focus on for a broad range of applications. One its proximity to the existing businesses path to previously unimaginable medi- further pre-clinical and clinical deve- expertise while expanding partnerships
R&D for personal care applications. year ago, Brenntag Specialties acquired and many suppliers as well as custo- cal breakthroughs,” said Mr. Danny lopment. Both partners will each receive and collaborations.

172 Chemical Weekly October 10, 2023 Chemical Weekly October 10, 2023 173

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