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.

Celanese will be taking over more than 80 % of DuPont’s Mobility & Materials business including its Engineering Polymers business line and select product lines within the Performance Resins and Advanced Solutions business lines. The deal compliments Celanese’s business and will help speed up the company’s growth in future mobility, connectivity and medical.

The German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) has stated that the industry's expectations from the beginning of the year for the business outlook in 2022 have been overturned due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It further mentions that 70 % of companies are facing major problems in their business with the explosion of energy prices and also warned that an import ban on Russian natural gas would lead to massive consequences for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry.

Kemira has achieved a breakthrough by starting the first worldwide full-scale production of its newly developed water-soluble polymer. The new polymers are manufactured according to the principles of biomass-balance which means that majority of the fossil based raw materials are replaced by ISCC Plus certified biobased and renewable mass-balanced feedstocks. These polymers are produced at the company’s facilities in Italy and UK and will be supplied to water-intensive industries across the globe.

Sumitomo Chemical has decided to build additional production lines for its liquid crystal polymer Sumikasuper at its plant in Ehime, Japan. The liquid crystal polymer will be produced at Sumitomo Chemical’s Ehime plant and at the Harima plant of its subsidiary Taoka Chemical in Japan. This expansion will increase the group’s production capacity by about 30 percent. The new production lines are scheduled for completion in summer 2023.

Total Energies Polymer plant in Feluy, Belgium, announced the startup of a new production of high-performance polymers with the commissioning of a new reactor in its polypropylene unit.

Denka has partnered with Toyo to build a chemical recycling plant in Chiba, Japan which will process approximately 3,000 tons of used polystyrene to produce styrene monomers which will be used for the production of high-quality polystyrene resins.

Tüpras has selected Honeywell UOP’s Isoalky technology to produce superior quality alkylate at its refineries in Turkey. With this move, the company aims to produce cleaner gasoline in line with its ambition of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

Kaneka has plans to invest 130 million dollars to expand the production capacity of its biodegradable biopolymers at its Kaneka Takasago manufacturing site in Japan. With this move, the company plans to achieve a total production capacity of 20,000 tons every year at the site.

Under an agreement signed between Plastic Energy and TotalEnergies, Plastic Energy will develop its second advanced recycling plant in Sevilla, Spain. At the new plant, the company will convert 33,000 tons of plastic waste into recycled feedstock and TotalEnergies will convert this into virgin-quality polymers which can be used for food-grade packaging.