Arkema recently inaugurated the Christian Collette Center of Excellence dedicated to batteries for clean mobility at its Pierre-Bénite Research Center in France. To meet the rising demand for lithium-ion battery cell materials in Europe, Arkema has announced a 50 % expansion of its Kynar fluoropolymer production capacity at its Pierre-Bénite site.

PROCESS Worldwide brings to you the ‘Top 10 plant engineering projects of November 2021’ from all over the world. Right from building one of the world’s lowest carbon-emitting crackers to developing a new novel methane-reducing feed additive manufacturing plant, find out all the projects making headlines here.

In line with the global trend of water-based and environmentally friendly products, Lanxess has launched its new production line for water-based compounds in Nantong, China. With this, the company will be able to supply modern and green compounds under the brand name ‘Pellart’ to its customers in Asia.

Exxon Mobil has plans to establish the mega facility in Baytown, Texas, USA and will commence operations by 2022. With its proprietary advanced recycling technology, the company plans to scale up operations at the unit in order to supply certified circular polymers by the end of the year.

Nova Chemicals and Charter Next Generation have teamed up to scale up the use of post-consumer resin (PCR) in flexible film applications. With this move, the companies aim to support the circular economy and develop more sustainable films for packaging.

With the extension of its subsidiary Synova in Normandy, Total Energies is doubling its mechanical recycling production capacity for recycled polymers, to meet growing demand for sustainable polymers from customers, such as Automotive Manufacturer (Auto OEM) and the construction industry.

Technip Energies and Siemens Energy announced an exclusive agreement to jointly develop, commercialize, and license the Rotating Olefins Cracker technology to decarbonize olefin production processes. The ROC technology employs a dynamic reactor system that replaces conventional furnaces used for pyrolysis when manufacturing light olefins — the building blocks for chemical products used in everyday materials, from packaging to polymers.

The chemical sector has a long-lasting and increasing demand for carbon that is embedded in its products. Today, 450 million tonnes of carbon are contained in chemicals and polymers, mostly sourced from fossil resources. The free report “Turning off the Tap for Fossil Carbon”, shows how the demand is met today and could be covered by renewable carbon in the year 2050.

Solvay has announced a proof of concept for PVDC packaging circularity while maintaining the quality of the polymer. With this, the company has the potential to transform the future recycling of PVDC food packaging and is therefore, requesting other firms in the plastics industry to collaborate in this initiative.

With an expected processing capacity of about 55,000 tons of mixed plastic waste annually, the new chemical recycling facility will be the first industrial chemical recycling site at the North Sea Port in Vlissingen, The Netherlands. The plant will be developed under a joint venture by Neste and Ravago and will be based on Alterra Energy’s thermochemical liquefaction technology. With this project, the companies aim to demonstrate and advance the commercialization of chemical recycling.