Under a joint development agreement, Nova Chemicals and Enerkem aim to explore converting non-recyclable and non-compostable municipal waste into ethylene which will prove beneficial for supporting the plastics circular economy concept.

A new biomanufacturing plant uses a comprehensive digital enterprise solution based on the concept “from integrated engineering to integrated operation”. Cathay’s new Wusu plant adopts Siemens’ complete digital factory solution, covering the entire lifecycle of the plant in design, construction, operation and maintenance, enabling Cathay to fully upscale every step of its process from R&D to production.

Sibur is ramping up thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) at its Voronezh site in Russia. The new capacities are expected to cater to the demands of special segments including compounds and glues. This year, the company also aims to include five new SBS grades to its product portfolio.

Mitsui Chemicals aims to boost production of the Apel series of cyclic olefin copolymers. Apel is used in smartphone camera lenses and the increased demand of this series has led the company to establish a new plant through which it intends to increase its production capacity by 50 %.

Novealis is a joint venture between affiliates of Borealis and Nova Chemicals. With this takeover, Borealis has acquired Nova Chemicals’ 50 % ownership interest in Novealis Holdings and aims to further increase its footprint in the North American market.

Celanese has completed the acquisition of the Elotex brand, Nouryon’s redispersible polymer powders business and will now take charge of the firm’s global facilities that are involved in the production of this brand. Celanese will also integrate the Elotex product portfolio and production facilities into its global vinyl acetate ethylene emulsions business.

The Institute for Bioplastics and Biocomposites forecasts a global production capacity of 4,3 million tons of bioplasics in 2022 — a real growth market. A US bioplastic resin provider wants to be part of this success story and invested in a tailor made production plant. For the challenging handling and processing of the natural raw materials they found in Azo the right partner.

To combat the Coronavirus pandemic, Total Corbion has donated 5 tonnes of Luminy PLA resins to Smart Materials 3D in order to manufacture 125,000 face masks. The innovative 3D printed masks will be distributed across all healthcare facilities in Spain.

Amidst the global pandemic of Covid-19, there is an urgent need for high quality single-use personal protective equipment for healthcare workers in Russia. For this purpose, Sibur will supply a particular polypropylene grade to Netkanika for developing nonwoven fabric which will be used for producing protective equipment.

Nouryon aims to expand its presence in the global metal alkyls market with this acquisition. The company has also expanded its production capacity at its Rotterdam site in the Netherlands and acquired the China-based metal alkyls producer Zhejiang Friend to strengthen its worldwide position.