US chemicals firm Dow has developed and commercialized a formulated post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic resin in Asia-Pacific.
Such initiatives threaten virgin plastic demand, but it will take time for recycling to scale up enough to make a significant difference in the short term.
The resin designed with 40pc PCR content creates a film with performance comparable with virgin resins, Dow said. Using recycled plastics collected domestically in China, the product is made at Dow’s external manufacturing site in Nanjing. The resin is designed to be used as 100pc of the core layer of collation shrink applications and will enable the development of film with 13-24pc recycled content.
Petrochemical firms have been stepping up their recycling and sustainability initiatives in recent years.
Kuwaiti petrochemical producer Equate this year announced its first production of food-grade recycled polyethylene terephthalate. Austrian chemical company Borealis last year signed an agreement to buy Austrian plastic recycling firm Ecoplast Kunststoffrecycling to expand its mechanical recycling capability.
Consumer firms like Unilever and Proctor & Gamble are also making sustainability pledges to reduce virgin plastic for packaging. Unilever in October last year said it intends to use more recycled plastic and reduce its absolute volume of plastic packaging by 100,000 t/yr to halve its use of virgin plastics by 2025.
By: Muhamad Fadhil
Source: Argus Media
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.
