Neste and Ravago plan to set up a joint venture to focus on chemical recycling of waste plastic

Neste and Ravago aim to establish a joint venture to build an industrial facility for chemical recycling in North Sea Port in Vlissingen, the Netherlands. The facility is intended to be the starting point of joint global chemical recycling (often also called “advanced recycling”) activities, built upon the advancement of the thermochemical liquefaction technology of US-based Alterra Energy, an innovative chemical recycling technology company. With this, Neste, the world’s leading producer of renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel, and drop-in renewable feedstocks and solutions for the polymers & chemicals industry, and Ravago, the world’s leading distributor and recycler of polymers, plan to demonstrate and advance the commercialization of chemical recycling. The transaction is awaiting for and subject to regulatory approval. 

Combining expertise along the value chain

This strategic partnership combines Ravago’s expertise in the mechanical preparation of plastic waste, Alterra Energy’s proprietary liquefaction technology, and Neste’s expertise in the processing of hydrocarbons. Neste and Ravago are aiming for a first industrial chemical recycling site in North Sea Port in Vlissingen with an annual processing capacity of about 55,000 tons of mixed plastic waste, corresponding to the plastic packaging waste generated by some 1.7 million average EU citizens* per year. The long-term aspiration of the partners is to significantly increase the processing capacity on a global scale and continuously develop the joint venture into a global leader for chemical recycling of mixed plastic waste. 

“We are truly excited about the progress of our joint project work. By fixing the investment location and scope, we are again one step closer to turning our dream into reality,” says Theo Roussis, CEO at Ravago. “Together with Neste, we have the necessary ingredients for a successful recipe to create scalable solutions, converting non-recyclable waste streams into valuable end products.”

“Chemical recycling has been a promising technology to accelerate the creation of a circular economy for quite a while,” says Mercedes Alonso, Executive Vice President, Renewable Polymers and Chemicals at Neste. “Now, it is time to take it to the next level and turn the promise into an industrial solution. By combining the expertise of Ravago and Neste, we have the means to rapidly implement the technology to start production at commercial scale. With joint and dedicated efforts, we can bring together the know-how along the entire value chain to turn waste into valuable resources. Our ambition is clear: to be a global leader in renewable and circular solutions.” 

Logical next step in cooperation between Ravago and Neste

This targeted investment is the consistent continuation of the fast-paced progress in the cooperation between the partners. In 2019, Neste and Ravago set a joint target to reach the capacity to process over 200,000 tons of mixed waste plastic per year by 2030. Ever since, the companies have evaluated technologies, the raw material market, and built joint business cases to develop chemical recycling capacities. Already in 2020, Neste also successfully conducted the first of several industrial trial runs with liquefied waste plastic at its oil refinery in Finland. 

https://www.neste.com/

The 27th Fakuma international trade fair for plastics processing celebrated an inspiring restart in Friedrichshafen from the 12th through the 16th of October, 2021. 1470 exhibitors from 39 countries came to Lake Constance for the first major international on-site event for the plastics industry this fall, and presented injection moulding, extrusion technology, thermoforming and 3D printing on a world-class level Overall emphasis was placed on the issues of sustainability, circular economy and recycling.

“We’re back! Finally an on-site trade fair again with innovations you can actually handle!” This is what everyone was saying at this year’s Fakuma 2021 in the exhibition halls in Friedrichshafen. After the compulsory one-year hiatus, the event was held live again from 12 to 16 October. 1470 exhibitors from 39 countries showcased their innovations covering all aspects of injection moulding, extrusion technology, thermoforming and 3D printing on 85,000 square metres of overall exhibition floor space. The fact that 40% of the exhibitors came from outside of Germany substantiates Fakuma’s great significance all over the world, especially in these exceptional times: “For the companies in our industry sector, Fakuma is one of the most important industrial trade fairs of all,” notes Annemarie Schur, Fakuma project manager at trade fair promoters P. E. Schall. “Fakuma was even more important this year. On the one hand because on-site trade fairs only became possible again in the fall of 2021, and on the other hand because the issues of environmental protection, circular economy and sustainability are an enormous task that we all have to tackle.” This is why Fakuma 2021 also set itself the goal of making a significant contribution to pioneering, forward-looking solutions.

“Now we want to look forward to the future together,” said Bettina Schall, trade fair organiser and managing director of P. E. Schall GmbH & Co. KG. “Fakuma is the ideal platform for tackling the current challenges faced by the industry. Record figures and superlatives don’t matter this fall. The only thing that counts is that we all cooperate to get this restart going and carry on with our work.”

“I’m delighted that something like this is possible again,” said Prof. Dr.-Ing. Martin Bastian, Institute director of the SKZ in Würzburg, at the trade fair’s opening ceremony. In his technical presentation to an auditorium full of trade press and guest listeners, he pointed out impressively what needs to be done in the industry: “We have to take more responsibility for what happens with plastic.” Martin Bastian made a passionate plea for the cause of plastics: “We have to ensure that plastic isn’t just accepted, but rather used with enthusiasm as well. And we have to do a lot more to educate people about its benefits,” says Bastian. “We have to be present in the schools and kindergartens and make it clear that the energy transition will never be possible without plastics.” The plea voiced by Dr Thomas Probst, keynote speaker of the German Federal Association for Secondary Raw Materials and Waste Management (Bundesverband Sekundärrohstoffe und Entsorgung), who offered an exclusive look behind the scenes of the recycling industry and spoke about hurdles and difficulties in recycling, was no less emphatic. “As perceived in general, plastics are not understood,” is the insight he arrives at.

The exhibition halls in Friedrichshafen were very well frequented right from the first day of the event. Interested expert visitors were able to gain an impression of the latest developments and perspectives for concrete solutions in the field of plastics processing. “Many tradition-rich global market leaders have made use of the crisis to advance their innovations.

The trend towards digitalisation is accelerating. Cross-company concepts have been developed for the establishment of a circular economy for plastic products. Every crisis presents opportunities too, and many a clever mind is taking advantage of them,” confirms Sandra Füllsack as well, managing director of Motan Holding GmbH and spokesperson for the Fakuma exhibitor advisory committee. “As a business platform for innovations throughout the value-added chain, Fakuma 2021 was once again the ideal venue for presenting new products and technological solutions, as well as for discussing trendsetting issues.” Extremely practical and with high levels of professional competence, and at the same time in a friendly atmosphere – this is how exhibitors and expert visitors regard the unique and highly esteemed industry event. 

https://www.fakuma-messe.de/

Expansion of cooperation between Coperion and Brückner Maschinenbau

Brückner Maschinenbau places major order with Coperion

Stuttgart, October 2021 – Brückner Maschinenbau, the world's leading manufacturer of film stretching lines, has placed an order with Coperion for more than 50 ZSK Mc 18 twin screw extruders. These will be integrated into plants for the production of flexible BOPET packaging films, which Brückner will install in China. The ZSK extruders have screw diameters ranging from 70 mm to 177 mm.

Brückner Maschinenbau’s substantial repeat order is based on many years of close cooperation with Coperion. With this order, Brückner is once again putting their trust in proven Coperion technology, which the company has already integrated into numerous film stretching lines. The ZSK extruders are used to melt the compounds that are fed into the lines. Thanks to their high torque, Coperion’s ZSK Mc 18 extruders achieve very high throughput rates while maintaining low product temperatures and thus ensuring first-class product quality.

“We are very pleased that Brückner Maschinenbau is once again relying on our technology and know-how” says Jochen Schofer, Business Segment Manager Recycling & Direct Extrusion at Coperion. “We very much appreciate this familiar, long-standing cooperation with the pioneer for plastic film lines. Our companies pursue very similar aspirations. We both develop high-quality technologies for plastics production with very high throughput rates. The efficient use of resources and high recyclability of the end products are important to us.”

Coperion is the international market and technology leader in compounding and extrusion systems, feeding and weighing technology, bulk materials handling systems and services. Coperion designs, develops, manufactures and maintains systems, machines and components for the plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical, food and minerals industries. Within its two divisions – Polymer and Strategic Markets / Aftermarket Sales and Service – Coperion has 2,500 employees and nearly 30 sales and service companies worldwide. Coperion K-Tron is a brand of Coperion. For more information visit www.coperion.com or email info@coperion.com.

Senbis’s whitepaper provides in-depth insights how recycled PET (rPET) can be evaluated and modified to convert the polymer into rPET based products that are ‘Fit for Purpose’.

During PET production, product use and PET recycling, the PET product quality can deteriorate significantly by:

• Thermal degradation
• Chemical and mechanical attack
• The presence of contaminants

The whitepaper describes both the mechanical and chemical recycling technologies including its specific challenges. For most mechanical recycling processes, rPET still contains both solid and substance impurities which can affect the rPET quality. The whitepaper explains Senbis solutions to quantify the size distribution of solid particles in rPET by means of the unique Partisol test. The Senbis filtration test enable PET converters to assess the effectiveness to remove solid impurities in PET critical converting processes: the pressure increase of a bad quality rPET could be twice of a good quality rPET! In addition, Senbis can help to optimize the rPET purification and polymer quality by Solid State Polymerization (SSP).

Finally, yarn spinning is considered one of the most sensitive and critical processes to convert PET. Senbis can perform spinnability trials on rPET granulates to compare the virgin and rPET quality and spinning property performance on both pilot and semi-industrial scale.

https://www.senbis.com/

Research cooperation between Kautex Textron and LANXESS

•  Substitution of steel and aluminium
• Advantages in weight, functional integration and mass production
• Technology demonstrator as the basis for series developments

Mumbai, December 17, 2021 – Speciality chemicals company LANXESS and Kautex Textron GmbH & Co. KG, a Textron Inc. company, have been collaborating for several years to research whether battery housings for electric vehicles can be designed and manufactured from technical thermoplastics. Together, they have developed a near-series technology demonstrator in a feasibility study. With a length and width of around 1,400 millimeters each, the system is a technically sophisticated, large-format all-plastic housing part with a weight in the mid-double-digit kilogram range.

The goal of the project was to demonstrate the advantages of thermoplastics over metals in terms of weight and cost reduction, functional integration and electrical insulation behavior.

“As a first step, we have completely dispensed with the use of metallic reinforcement structures while proving we can commercially produce these complex large components,” Felix Haas, Director Product Development at Kautex Textron, explains.

“Going forward, Kautex and LANXESS want to use the results of the cooperation to enter into development projects for series production with automotive manufacturers,” adds Dr. Christopher Hoefs, Project Manager e-Powertrain at LANXESS.

Single-stage manufacturing process with short cycle times

The demonstrator was developed based on the battery housing of a C-segment electric vehicle. It consists of a housing tray with crash structure, a housing cover and an underrun (underbody) protection. The housing components can be produced in a single-stage Direct Long Fiber Thermoplastic (D-LFT) molding process. LANXESS has optimized Durethan B24CMH2.0 as the material for the D-LFT molding compound. Kautex Textron compounds the PA6 for the process with glass fiber rovings. The local reinforcement of the housing structure is carried out using continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites of the Tepex dynalite brand from LANXESS. “The process enables shorter and thus more economical cycle times than the processes in which steel or aluminium are processed,” Haas explains.

No complex metal forming, fewer production steps

Today, housings for high-voltage batteries are primarily made of extruded steel or aluminium profiles. Depending on the vehicle class, the housing length and widths can be well over 2,000 or 1,500 millimeters, respectively. The size, the number of components and the numerous manufacturing and assembly steps make metal housings very cost-intensive. For example, complex structures made from strand press profiles require many secondary work steps such as welding, punching and riveting. In addition, the metallic components must be protected against corrosion in an additional process step by cathodic dip coating.

“Plastics, on the other hand, can fully exploit their design freedom. By integrating functions such as fasteners and thermal management components, the number of individual components of a battery housing can be greatly reduced. This simplifies assembly and logistical effort, which reduces production costs,” says Hoefs. Plastics are also corrosion-resistant and electrically insulating. The latter ensures, for example, that there is a reduced risk of the system short-circuiting. The low density of plastics and their potential for lightweight construction lead to significantly lighter housings, which benefits, among other things, the range of electric vehicles.

Complex mix of high requirements

High-voltage battery housings must meet a variety of highly demanding technical requirements. For example, they must be stiff and strong and yet be able to absorb a significant amount of energy in the event of a crash. This is tested via mechanical shock- and crush tests. The housings must also be flame-retardant in the event of a vehicle fire or thermal run-away of the electrical cells. Finally, the housings must be integrated into the vehicle structure.

“We continue to work together on optimizing the production and structural design of the components. The aim is to carry out the majority of the development work virtually, in order to save costs in prototype design and to shorten the time to market of future series components,” Hoefs says.

Further information on LANXESS products and technologies for new mobility and on Kautex Textron’s battery developments can be found under https://new-mobility.lanxess.com and www.kautex.com/en/mobility/battery-systems.

 BUNTING ACQUIRES MAGDEV

Bunting officially acquired MagDev Ltd, a UK-based magnet and magnetic assembly manufacturer. This acquisition will expand the range of magnetic solutions and technical expertise Bunting is able to offer as a global magnetics group. Bunting’s ability to offer an extended product portfolio and additional magnet engineering knowledge confirms Bunting’s premier position in the global magnetics sector.

“The acquisition of MagDev further enhances our portfolio of acquisitions which keeps Bunting a global leader in magnetic technology,” stated Bob Bunting, President of Bunting. “As our capabilities in the design, development and manufacturing of magnets, magnetic assemblies, and magnetic products expands, so do our capabilities to help customers in a vast number of industries across the globe.”

MagDev’s Swindon, UK based facility boasts extensive testing and in-house machining facilities in addition to 1,100+ square meters (12,000+ square feet) of warehouse space. MagDev is a leading manufacturer of custom and industrial magnets, specializing in supplying permanent magnets, magnetic assemblies, and soft magnetic solutions in various shapes, sizes, and grades, with magnetic properties tailored to suit specific applications.

Now that Bunting has acquired MagDev, magnetic applications engineers from MagDev will be joining those at Bunting-Berkhamsted to form a formidable team. This will further expand Bunting’s engineering and design capabilities. As one engineering entity, the scope of magnet design and specification extends across an expansive range of applications and sectors. These sectors include the rapidly changing aerospace, automotive, and electronics sectors.

“The acquisition of MagDev expands our range of magnetic solutions, especially in relation to soft magnet materials,” explained Simon Ayling, Bunting’s European Managing Director. “The present demand for magnet application engineering has never been higher. We are working with companies across the manufacturing sector, especially in automotive, aerospace and electronics. The addition of the MagDev products and, more importantly, the technical team, significantly expands our magnet knowledge and capability. This is an exciting development enforcing Bunting’s position as the leading designer and supplier of magnets, magnetic components and magnetizing equipment.”

https://buntingmagnetics.com/