Enerkem is making methanol from trash at this facility in Edmonton, Alberta.
BIOBASED CHEMICALS
Rotterdam eyed for waste-to-chemicals A group of companies calling itself the Waste-to-Chemicals Consortium has chosen the port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, as the proposed site of a methanol plant that will use waste as feedstock. The consortium, which includes Enerkem, AkzoNobel, and Air Liquide, will use technology developed by Montreal-based Enerkem to process municipal and other waste, gasify it, clean the resulting synthesis gas, and catalytically convert it to chemicals and fuels. Enerkem built its first commercial-scale facility in Edmonton, Alberta, to take in municipal solid waste from the city. The Edmonton plant is currently making methanol, but Enerkem plans to produce ethanol there in 2017. The Rotterdam project is specifically targeting methanol, which the consortium bills as a renewable building block that can be converted into chemicals including acetic acid and dimethyl ether, used in propellant gases. Rotterdam, Europe’s largest port, has invested in other circular economy projects with the help of an executive of the recycling firm Van Gansewinkel, which is also a member of the Waste-to -Chemicals Consortium. For example, the port is studying a facility to turn used plastic back into oil to make new plastics. Meanwhile, earlier this month, Enerkem proposed building a $200 million waste-to-ethanol facility in Rosemount, Minn., with partner SKB Environmental, a St. Paul-based waste-handling firm.—MELODY BOMGARDNER
CONSUMER PRODUCTS
BASF and Avantium move on new polymer BASF and Avantium are advancing their efforts to develop the novel polymer polyethylene furanoate (PEF). The partners have formed a joint venture, Synvina, to build a plant at BASF’s complex in Antwerp, Belgium, for furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), a biobased chemical used to make PEF. The companies say the plant will cost in the “medium three-digit million euro” range, putting the investment between $300 million and $700 million. Amsterdam-based Avantium is reportedly close O O to launching an initial public stock offering of more than O HO OH $100 million to help fund the effort. 2,5-Furandicarboxylic The plant will have FDCA acid (FDCA) capacity of 50,000 metric tons per year and is intended to be a “reference plant,” used to develop the technology further so it can be licensed for industrial-scale production. The technology, developed by Avantium and called YXY, dehydrates carbohydrates to make 5-methoxy methyl furfural, which is subsequently oxidized to make FDCA. FDCA is reacted with ethylene glycol to get PEF. Coca-Cola and Danone have been collaborating with Avantium for several years to develop the polymer as a biobased alternative to polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is used for soda bottles. PEF has much better oxygen and carbon dioxide barrier properties than PET and thus may be suitable for markets, such as beer bottles, that have been hard for PET to capture. Last month, Avantium and Japan’s Toyobo announced plans to make PEF polymers at Toyobo’s plant in Iwakuni, Japan, as well as PEF films.—ALEX TULLO
ECONOMY
CREDIT: ENERKEM (PLANT); CLARIANT (KOTTMANN)
Europe’s chemical industry confronts shrinkage Europe’s chemical industry is confronting the hard truth that it is shrinking—both in absolute terms and as a share of the global chemical market. The European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic), Europe’s main trade association for chemical companies, released its latest economic report at its annual meeting in Florence, Italy, earlier this month, and the top-line figures are stark. European Union chemical sales registered their third consecutive year of decline in Kottmann
2015, falling more than 3% to about $575 billion. Even more startling, Europe’s share of global chemical sales shrunk to 14.7% in 2015 from 17.3% in 2014. “What we’re seeing is what we’ve predicted for many years now,” said Marco Mensink, Cefic’s director general. “Asia’s fast-growing market, coupled with the U.S. shale boom, means Europe needs to act fast to stay competitive.” Mensink pointed to fuel, feedstock, and energy costs as Europe’s Achilles’s heel. “Making ethylene costs twice in the
EU than it does in the U.S.,” he said. At the meeting, Clariant CEO Hariolf Kottmann took over as Cefic’s president from Solvay CEO Jean-Pierre Clamadieu. Kottmann told attendees that his priority will be enhancing the innovative role of Europe’s chemical industry to counter the rising competitiveness of other regions. The good news, Mensink said, is that Europe is positioned to provide solutions to global challenges by, for example, offering energy-efficient materials that combat climate change. But he cautioned that European firms need to link up research, development, and commercialization at a faster rate.—MICHAEL MCCOY OCTOBER 17, 2016 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
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