Frank van den Boomen from Covestro and Rene Neijts from Dow are the newly elected members to the Namur Board. Boomen has succeeded Thorsten Dreier for Covestro and Neijts has been appointed by Dow after the retirement of Mr. Oehlert.

Vynova has recently installed a hydrogen-fired steam boiler at its Tessenderlo site in Belgium and is also planning to add another boiler by the year end. With these, the firm intends to reduce CO2 emissions by 10,000 tons per year at its site.

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation has developed a technology that makes use of plant-derived materials for producing sustainable MMA (methyl methacrylate) monomers. The company is now is in the process of designing a pilot plant which is expected to be operational by 2023.

The EU chemical industry stresses that chemicals are vital to the region’s industrial transformation and sustainable competitiveness. Europe requires a strong chemical industry to deliver on the Green Deal and Cefic is therefore, collaborating with the European Commission and other stakeholders to co-create a dedicated green deal transition pathway for the industry.

BASF has plans to increase the production capacity of its hindered amine light stabilizers in Pontecchio Marconi, Italy and Lampertheim, Germany. The move is expected to meet the growing demand for sustainable solutions across the globe.

Single-use systems are gaining ground in the upstream and downstream processing of biopharmaceutical production. One of their strengths is flexibility — but at the same time it is a challenge for measurement technology. For example, level measurement must be as flexible and efficient as the entire single-use equipment.

Bilfinger Industrietechnik Salzburg, a subsidiary of the Bilfinger Group, has been awarded a contract by the Russian pharma company Nova Medica for the design and construction of three solution-preparation lines for the production of sterile, pharmaceutical dosage forms. This is the first contract the company has secured in Russia.

Under a strategic cooperation agreement, BASF will supply its Irgacycle additive solutions to Zhejiang REEF Technology Co. for developing unique recyclate formulations which will help to enhance the quality of plastic recyclate materials used across the automotive, packaging and consumer industries.

Shin-Etsu Chemical will invest the hefty amount to expand its facilities in order to strengthen its silicones business in view of growing demand. The facility investments will be implemented at its main plant, the Gunma Complex in Gunma Prefecture, as well as the Takefu Plant in Fukui Prefecture and the Naoetsu Plant in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The firm intends to complete these capacity-expansion projects and begin operations by 2025.

Technip Energies has won an Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning (EPCC) contract by Petronas Chemicals Group Berhad to develop a 60,000 ton per annum greenfield melamine plant which will be integrated into the company’s existing complex in Malaysia. The project will make use of the Casale Low Energy Melamine technology and the CO2 generated in the melamine production process will be recycled.