Ineos Styrolution and Amsty will be using the Agilyx advanced recycling technology in their joint facility located in Channahon in the USA. With this project, the companies aim to recycle used polystyrene products and transform it into virgin-equivalent styrene monomer.

Total’s Grandpuits refinery in France will be converted into a zero-crude platform for the production of biofuels and bioplastic. The platform will comprise of three new industrial units: a bio-refinery, a bioplastics plant and a plastics recycling unit.

Under a joint development agreement, Ineos Styrolution and Recycling Technologies will aim to create a deeper circular economy for polystyrene in Europe. Recycling Technologies’ unique chemical recycling solution will be further developed to recycle polystyrene commercially.

The European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) supports the chemical recycling technology and believes that it is important for the technology to stay part of the EU’s innovation agenda in order to create a more dynamic market for recycled plastic.

Repsol’s first project includes construction of one of the largest net zero emissions synthetic fuel production plants in the world while the second one involves building a plant for generation of gas from urban waste.

Axens’ Paramax Technology Suite has been finalised by China’s Cnooc Huizhou Petrochemical Company for expanding its petrochemical complex. On completion of the project, the new complex is expected to produce 1,500,000 tonnes per year of para-xylene in a single train.

Sabic has announced the construction of the semi-commercial plant in the firm’s Geleen campus in The Netherlands. The facility is expected to be operational by 2021 and will begin by offering materials to the company’s downstream collaborators.

Versalis’ ‘Hoop’ project focuses on the development of a new technology to chemically recycle plastic waste and produce new virgin polymers. The company also has plans to set up a 6,000 tonne facility in Italy which will actively make use of this technology.

The mega project is expected to include a 1.2 MMt/y ethylene unit; pyrolysis gasoline hydrogenation; aromatics extraction; and production facilities for butadiene, high-density PE, low-density PE, PE plastomers and elastomers, PP, and other derivatives, reports Chemical Week.

Right from the United Nations’ Clean Seas campaign to the Paris agreement, single use plastics has become a burning issue across the globe. Nonetheless, prominent global companies have taken up the challenge to create a more sustainable and circular economy for the plastics industry.