Issue 06/2022

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News daily updated News at www.bioplasticsMAGAZINE.com Agreement to produce 100,000 tonnes of raw materials from plastic waste INEOS Olefins & Polymers Europe (Cologne, Germany) and Plastic Energy (London, UK), recently announced a Memorandum Of Understanding to produce 100,000 tonnes per annum of recycled raw materials from plastic waste. This will be the largest use of Plastic Energy technology on the market. These new raw materials will enable a circular approach to produce essential plastic items that meet the requirements of demanding food contact and medical applications. Production will be based in Cologne, Germany. Plastic Energy’s patented TAC recycling technology will turn difficult-to-recycle plastic waste otherwise destined for incineration or landfill, into a valuable raw material TACOIL , a Plastic Energy product that can be used to create virgin-quality polymers. INEOS will also invest in technology to process the TACOIL further before feeding it to their steam crackers, where it will replace traditional raw materials derived from oil. This use of advanced recycling enables plastic waste to be turned into new, virgin-quality materials that can be used in demanding applications where safety standards require the highest level of product purity and performance. As well as reducing the risk of plastic pollution and the use of fossil-based raw materials, the circular re-use of end-of-life plastic will also help to reduce total emissions, supporting the transition to net zero. INEOS and Plastic Energy first announced a collaboration to explore the construction of a commercialscale plant in 2020. Working together TACOIL has already been successfully converted into virgin-quality polymer through the INEOS cracker in Cologne, Germany, and used by selected customers and brands to demonstrate the viability and demand for materials from advanced recycling. As a result, INEOS and Plastic Energy are now delighted to announce this extension of their partnership. Production is targeted for the end of 2026. Using a mass balance approach, an independent, thirdparty organization such as ISCC or RSB will certify that fossil-based feedstocks have been substituted by the new, recycled materials and ensure that recycled benefits are being accounted for correctly. A mass balance approach enables co-processing of circular and fossil feedstocks, a key step in the transition to a circular economy”. MT www.ineos.com/sustainability | https://plasticenergy.com New bioplastics pilot plant in the Flanders The launch of a new bioplastics pilot plant in the Flanders region in Belgium will enable a new bioplastics production technology, ready for implementation at industrial scale. In December 2019, Stora Enso (Helsinki, Finland) announced an investment of EUR 9 million to build a pilot facility enabling the production of bioplastics. The objective is to test FuraCore ® , Stora Enso’s breakthrough technology to produce furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), a major building block of bioplastic PEF (PolyEthylene Furanoate). Since the initial investment announcement, things have advanced at a rapid pace. Construction of the plant has been completed, and the commissioning is well underway. Initial production will start by year-end 2022, and, after that, things will quickly move towards regular production of FDCA, and PEF with partners. MT www.storaenso.com TotalEnergies Corbion and BGF collaborate Be Good Friends (BGF, Seoul, Republic of Korea) and TotalEnergies Corbion (Gorinchem, the Netherlands), have entered a long-term collaborative arrangement for application development and the supply of Luminy ® PLA. Both leading bioplastic companies are focused on the development and production of biodegradable materials and products. BGF recently launched for the Korean market a singleuse, noodle cup which is aesthetically very pleasing and 100 % biobased and compostable. The lightweight, foamed noodle cup minimizes the use of materials and is being produced using high-heat Luminy PLA as a base resin. The development of the cup has been the result of joint development efforts between the two companies, and more developments are set to follow in the future. Chul-Ki Hong Chief Executive Officer of BGF, said “Bringing more environmentally friendly products to the Korean market remains a key focus of our business, PLA is a part of some compounds that we formulate to meet specific customers’ functionality needs for different applications. The collaboration with TotalEnergies Corbion is supporting our long-term growth strategy”. Thomas Philipon, Chief Executive Officer of TotalEnergies Corbion, said, "We are delighted to have signed this long-term collaboration agreement with BGF. The biopolymers market is experiencing strong growth and customers are requesting innovative solutions tailormade to their market needs. Collaboration through the value chain is the only efficient way to bring circular solutions to the customers". MT www.bgf.co.kr | www.totalenergies-corbion.com 6 bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/22] Vol. 17

LanzaTech produces ethylene from CO 2 in a continuous process... LanzaTech (Skokie, IL, USA), an innovative Carbon Capture and Transformation company that transforms waste carbon into materials such as sustainable fuels, fabrics, packaging, and other products that people use in their daily lives, recently announced it has successfully engineered specialized biocatalysts to directly produce ethylene from CO 2 in a continuous process. This breakthrough in bacterium bioengineering from LanzaTech represents a potential source of advancement towards the company’s mission of replacing fossil-based feedstocks used in the manufacture of everyday consumer goods with waste carbon. In addition to the potential broad-reaching implications for global carbon reduction and sustainability, the development represents a significant opportunity for LanzaTech to further penetrate the global ethylene market, which is estimated at approximately USD 125 billion in 2022. Around 160 million tonnes of ethylene are produced annually. It is the most widely used petrochemical in the world, primarily produced today from fossil inputs in an energy-intensive reaction that releases climate-damaging CO 2 gas. This development can reverse this paradigm by turning CO 2 into a resource from which ethylene can be produced in a continuous, low-temperature, energy-efficient process. Ethylene is a building block for thousands of chemicals and materials and is necessary to make many of the plastics, detergents, and coatings that keep hospitals sterile, people safe, and food fresh. Its production process is also one of the largest sources of carbon dioxide emissions in the chemical industry and remains one of its most challenging processes to defossilise. With increased pressure to find carbon-neutral alternatives to fossil-based feedstocks and fulfil net-zero pledges, chemical companies and manufacturers using ethylene as their primary feedstock are looking for a more robust and sustainable choice in a post-pollution future. LanzaTech has previously produced ethylene via the indirect ethanol pathway, taking ethanol produced from carbon emissions and then converting this ethanol to ethylene. This latest development bypasses this conversion step in sustainable ethylene production, making the process less energy intensive and more efficient. LanzaTech is already a leader in the scale-up and commercialization of gas-conversion biotechnology. The company is also at the forefront of leveraging synthetic biology to precisely engineer specialized gas-eating microbes to produce sustainable versions of key chemicals that are currently made from fossil resources. Through synthetic biology, LanzaTech has consistently translated lab-scale developments into commercial-scale operations driving the development of solutions for climate change mitigation by designing direct pathways from CO 2 and CO, to produce cheaper, less energyintensive, and more sustainable chemicals. We believe that this track record will now extend to the production of ethylene", said LanzaTech CEO Jennifer Holmgren. MT www.lanzatech.com News daily updated News at www.bioplasticsMAGAZINE.com New standard work on recycling of plastics INEOS Styrolution (Frankfurt, Germany), the global leader in styrenics, has recently announced the availability of a new publication on the recycling of plastics. Together with a team of renowned authors from across the industry, Norbert Niessner, Global Innovation Director at INEOS Styrolution, published the new ‘Recycling of Plastics’ book that leaves no question on the topic unanswered. In times, when the value of plastics to society is taken for granted and at the same time is overshadowed by issues caused by the inappropriate handling of plastics after use, recycling of this material becomes more relevant than ever before. The new book on ‘Recycling of Plastics’[1], published by the Hanser Publishing House, addresses all aspects of the topic in almost twenty chapters – from understanding the value chain in a circular economy to recycling technologies for a broad range of polymers, the recycled materials and their properties and life cycle assessments to determine the impact on the ecological footprint. First copies of the book became available just recently at the K 2022 Fair in Düsseldorf, Germany. About fifty international industry leaders and renowned researchers contribute to the over 800-page long book exploring all aspects of recycling of polymers, including new advanced recycling technologies. The result is a comprehensive and state-of-the-art guide on the global recycling value chain with focus on the most important technologies. [1] ISBN: 978-1-56990-856-3 www.ineos-styrolution.com Niessner says, “The book intends to show the current state in plastics recycling. I am happy that so many distinguished recycling experts joined me in contributing to this ambitious project. We all share one vision, which is as well the basis of INEOS Styrolution´s strategy: Used plastics need to be treated as precious resources for highquality applications in all industry segments. They must not be buried in landfills, burnt nor end up in the ocean. Therefore, recycling is the key step for a circular economy, providing a sustainable and healthy lifestyle for all of us”. AT bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/22] Vol. 17 7