BASF and Mitsui Chemicals have launched a collaborative study to promote a circular economy for plastics in Japan. Mitsui Chemicals has plans to become carbon-neutral by 2050 and thus, aims at developing recycling technologies.

BASF and RWE have signed a letter of intent which focuses on a climate-neutral chemical industry and CO2-free hydrogen. Together, they have come up with a project idea which includes the construction of an offshore wind farm with a capacity of 2 GW to produce green electricity and supply it to BASF’s Ludwigshafen chemical site in Germany for hydrogen production.

The newly formed joint venture will be majorly owned by BASF with a stake of 51 % while China’s Shanshan will hold the remaining stake of 49 %. The new joint venture will produce cathode active materials and precursors for the huge battery materials market in China.

With the help of special bacteria and an innovative process concept, BASF and Lanzatech have been able to produce n-octanol at laboratory scale from carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The combination of Lanzatech’s gas fermentation technology into BASF’s Verbund will help the firms to move into the direction of a carbon-neutral circular economy.

BASF has plans to invest double-digit millions in order to increase refining capacity at its Platinum Group Metals facility in the USA. The plant will recycle precious metals from spent catalysts such as automotive catalytic converters.

BASF has plans to invest at the Kundl/Schaftenau Campus in Austria with an aim to further develop its global production set-up for bacterial enzymes and biotechnology products. With this move, the company intends to strengthen its position in the market.

The Eramet group and Electricité de Strasbourg have collaborated and successfully announced the first pilot test which was able to extract lithium from geothermal brine in Alsace, France. The move is considered to be a major step forward for the European Geothermal Lithium Brine (Eugeli) project.

PKN Orlen has plans to expand the Olefins Complex at the Płock production unit in Poland. Once complete, the project is expected to be one of the most modern facilities in Europe. With this project, the company will join the group of the largest petrochemical producers in the world.

The latest recruitment news from the process industry starts with a bang. In addition, there are some rotational changes and strategic new hires to report. PROCESS worldwide summarises the news from the executive floors for you.

Trinseo has partnered with ETB for the development of purified bio-based 1,3-butadiene. Both the companies also plan to conduct a feasibility study for the construction of a dedicated bio-based 1,3-butadiene pilot plant in Europe which will aim to achieve a purity target of 99.7 %.