BP and Saudi Arabian chemical manufacturing company SABIC have signed a new cooperation agreement to increase the manufacture of certified circular products.
Under the deal, the companies will work jointly to drive the circular economy in the petrochemical activities at BP’s chemical complex in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
Certified circular products take used mixed plastics to make feedstock, reducing the number of fossil resources required in the petrochemical plants at the complex.
SABIC PE & Sales vice-president Fahad Al Swailem said: “SABIC is committed to helping to create a new circular economy where plastic never becomes waste. Advanced recycling allows us to increase the production of more sustainable materials and use our planet’s resources wisely, whilst reducing the use of conventional approaches such as landfill and combustion.
“Advanced recycling has a crucial role to play in the current recycling mix as it can capture value from plastic waste streams that have traditionally been ignored or discarded.”
Certified circular polymers are part of SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE portfolio and are made using advanced recycling to convert low-quality mixed and used plastic, which would otherwise be incinerated or sent to landfill, into pyrolysis oil.
This oil, which serves as an alternative feedstock to traditional fossil materials, will be processed at BP’s Gelsenkirchen refining site.
It will then be used by SABIC in its Gelsenkirchen polymer facilities to produce certified circular products.
BP Europe & Africa Refining and Specialities Solutions vice-president Wolfgang Stückle said: “This is an important milestone in our vision of achieving up to 30% of our ethylene and propylene production from sustainable, recyclable raw materials by 2030.
“It is a fantastic achievement on the part of the Gelsenkirchen team, after more than a year’s preparation, to set up the new initiative with our partners at SABIC. At the same time, it is what BP’s recently announced Net Zero strategy is all about.”
After completion of successful trials in December, production of polymers using the alternative feedstock began earlier this year at the BP site.
By Chemicals-Technology.com
Source: chemicals-technology.com
The investment enables the steam cracker to increase the share of renewable and recycled raw materials used in its (ethylene and propylene) production. The move supports the Borealis Strategy 2030 for a circular economy. The Porvoo investment program is expected to be completed in 2025.
Murray Auchincloss, bp’s CEO, said in a statement: “As I set out in February, BP’s destination from IOC [international oil company] to IEC [integrated energy company] is unchanged – and we need to deliver as a simpler, more focused, and higher-value company.
Founded in 1972, Tecnofilm has expanded its product portfolio over the years to offer a wider range of compounds and functional polymers for various industrial applications and technical articles. The company has patented several of its products.
