Page 164 - CW E-Magazine (8-4-2025)

News from Abroad News from Abroad

GAS TREATING TECHNOLOGY CLOSING THE LOOP
Forestal’s e-methanol project in Spain to deploy BASF begins operations at recycled polyamide

BASF’s carbon capture technology 6 facility in China

BASF and Spain’s Forestal de Atlán- BASF has announced the start-up of fi rst yarn manufacturers are successfully
tico S.A. have signed an early disclosure a facility ai its Caojing site in Shanghai, using loopamid.
agreement (EDA) aimed at advancing the China, which will turn textile waste
production of e-methanol through carbon into a valuable resource, helping save To produce loopamid in its new
capture solutions. raw materials and closing the textile plant, BASF currently utilises industrial
loop. textile waste from textile manufacturing
Under this partnership, BASF has and will gradually increase the share of
been selected to share its proprietary The plant will have an annual capa- post-consumer waste. This feedstock
OASE blue technology, designed for city of 500 metric tons of loopamid – includes cutting scraps, defective cuts,
the removal of CO from fl ue gases,
2
for use in Forestal’s Triskelion project a recycled polyamide 6 that is entirely offcuts and other production textile
in Galicia, Spain. The Triskelion pro- based on textile waste. waste from the textile industry. These
ject is set to be a game-changer, with a materials are collected and provided to
design capacity of 156 metric tons per The new facility will support the BASF by customers and partners. End-
day of e-methanol production. The CO growing demand for sustainable poly- of-life garments made from polyamide
2
captured from the exhaust gases of electri- technical feasibility and economic via- “By collaborating with Forestal, we are amide 6 fi bres in the textile industry. 6 and other textile products can also be
city generating turbines will be trans- bility, allowing them to share the design setting the foundation for one of the fi rst utilised for the production of loopamid.
formed into e-methanol by reacting it with other contractors for competitive plants to produce e-methanol using our “The technology behind loopamid All these waste materials are challeng-
with renewable hydrogen. construction bids. With the OASE port- OASE technology, entering into an inno- allows textile-to-textile recycling for ing to recycle because they typically
folio, BASF is a leading player in gas vative sustainable application area for our polyamide 6 in a wide variety of fabric The plant as well as the quantities of consist of a mixture of different fi bres
The EDA facilitates the essential input treatment technology which is used in OASE blue technology.” “By utilising blends, including those with elastane. I loopamid produced are certifi ed accord- and materials as well as dyes and addi-
from BASF for the Front End Engineer- over 500 reference plants worldwide. CO captured from our production pro- am convinced that loopamid not only ing to the Global Recycled Standard tives. Additionally, for post-consumer
2
ing Design (FEED), which will be deve- cesses, we are embracing a more sustain- makes a signifi cant contribution to the (GRS). This certifi cation guarantees to waste recycling, buttons, zippers and
loped by a third-party contractor hired by Mr. Torsten Katz, Global Business able approach to fuel production,” stated textile circular economy, but also helps consumers and textile manufacturers accessories must be removed in ad-
Forestal. This process will enable Forestal Director, OASE Gas Treating Technolo- Mr. Andrés Fuentes, CEO of Forestal del our customers achieve their sustainabi- that loopamid is made from recycled vance. BASF works closely with part-
to assess the project’s clarity, vision, gies, in BASF’s Intermediates division. Atlántico. lity goals,” said Mr. Ramkumar Dhruva, materials and that the production pro- ners and customers to accelerate the
CIRCULARITY IN POLYSTYRENE President of BASF’s Monomers divi- cesses comply with specifi c environ- development of collection and sorting
sion.
mental and social criteria. In addition, systems.
Versalis to start up new recycled polymer production
plant in Italy Compass Minerals slashes 10% of workforce;

Versalis, the chemical company waste. The materials produced at the effi cient logistics for both raw materials shutting fi re retardant business
of Italian oil & gas major Eni, has new plant are part of Versalis’ Revive and fi nished products. “The new plant Compass Minerals, a US-based pro- the company’s corporate workforce. control efforts, including the company’s
announced the opening of a new plant range, dedicated to mechanically recy- in Porto Marghera is a fi rst step towards ducer of salt, fi re retardants and fertilisers, Additionally, the company has decided ongoing efforts to align capital expen-
in Porto Marghera for the production cled products, and contain between the conversion of Venice’s petrochemi-
of plastics made wholly or partially 35% and 100% post-consumer recy- cal hub, in line with the transformation has announced signifi cant cost-reduction to wind down its fi re retardant busi- ditures with the cash generation perfor-
from mechanically recycled raw cled plastics. These materials are pri- and relaunch plan for Versalis, which measures aimed at enhancing free cash ness, Fortress North America, and con- mance of the business. The company said
materials. marily intended for the packaging and was recently signed at the Ministry of fl ow and reducing debt. sequently terminate the employment of it plans to further scrutinise costs across
construction sectors, extending to ther- Enterprises and Made in Italy,” said all associated Fortress employees. the platform to identify potential addi-
The Porto Marghera facility has an mal insulation panels for buildings and Mr. Adriano Alfani, CEO of Versalis. “In These actions are part of a larger tional cost reductions, including the evalu-
annual production capacity of up to protective packaging for household Porto Marghera, we plan to invest in the strategic refocus to improve the profi t- The combined actions will result in ation of contracts, operational costs and
20,000 tonnes of crystal polystyrene appliances. expansion of our mechanical plastics ability of the company’s core salt and elimination of nearly 50 positions. To semi-variable costs. Last year, Compass
(r-GPPS) and expandable polystyrene recycling platform and to consolidate plant nutrition businesses. As one part help further control costs, certain open Minerals was reported to be in talks with
(r-EPS), using secondary raw mate- The site’s location and proximity to and enhance the logistics hub, including of the cost-saving initiatives, Compass and budgeted roles will not be fi lled mov- private-equity fi rms to sell itself, after an
rials (SRM) obtained from the recy- Versalis facilities in Mantua, Ferrara and the cryogenic storage facility for ethylene,” Minerals reduced its corporate cost ing forward. The announcement builds aborted lithium-mining project hit shares
cling of expanded polystyrene (EPS) Ravenna, supports the supply chain with he informed. structure by eliminating over 10% of on Compass Minerals’ previous cost of the minerals producer.

164 Chemical Weekly April 8, 2025 Chemical Weekly April 8, 2025 165

Contents Index to Advertisers Index to Products Advertised