Speciality Chemicals company Lanxess announced plans to produce bioplastic EPDM from renewable sources by the end of 2011 at Triunfo, Brazil.

Eastman Chemical Company and Origin Materials have entered into a non-exclusive license agreement for Eastman to license its proprietary 2,5-Furandicarboxylic Acid and FDCA derivatives production technology from renewable resources to Origin Materials.

Emerging economies, solar power investments and the shale gas boom are all working together to fuel the Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) market, states a new report by GBI Research.

With their high level of functionality and minimal space requirements, Robolux multi-port valves ensure compact processes, facilitate cleaning and increase overall process reliability. To improve their performance even further, they can now be combined with Bürkert’s Element series of actuators and control heads to provide an good base for the decentralized automation of hygienic processes.

To optimize their raw material and energy consumption, more and more plant operators measure required data such as concentration, density or viscosity directly in the process line. The transfer of common laboratory measuring methods into industrial processes often represents a considerable challenge.

Global styrenics producer Ineos Styrolution, announced plans to increase its compounding capacity for engineering plastics by an additional 34,000 metric tonnes per annum at its Moxi plant located in Gujarat, India.

Dream Production is a new approach to making stuff that dreams are made of (at least if you are a chemist): Industry and scientists are working together on a project to produce chemical feedstock from CO2 which is extracted from power station flue gas emissions. The underlying reaction is revolutionary, but there is uncertainty surrounding the economic viability of the process. It remains to be seen whether this time the vision is more than just a dream.

Mitsui Chemicals and Prime Polymer announced that the expansion of production capacities has been completed and started up.

Mitsui chemicals introduced a plant-derived material for the production of high-refractive index lenses. This is part of the company’s efforts to shift from fossil to biomass resources.

Fluor just announced the signing of an EPC Contract for an all new Saudi-Arabian polymers project. Fluor officials see trend towards an emerging polymer industry in the Middle-East.