By John Richardson THE CONSENSUS assumption is that Europe will remain a major importer of polyolefins for the foreseeable future. Lack of feedstock advantage is said to be a reason why rising deficits will not be met by local production. But few of the people who attended the 1900 Easter Parade in New York saw […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Single-Use Plastics: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
By John Richardson AN ENVIRONMENTALIST I used to know would often say, “The world is already choking to death on plastics. We don’t need any more. We must shut plastics plants down and stop building new ones.” She was only partly right. Her anger at plastics pollution was often driven more by emotion than solid […]
Europe Polyolefins Must Confront Plastics Rubbish Crisis
By John Richardson THE European polyolefins industry is quite often viewed as an industry with limited growth opportunities. But provided companies take the right upstream and downstream approach, the growth opportunities are substantial. Success will hinge on how successful the industry is in dealing with the plastics rubbish crisis. This will be one the themes […]
Plastic Rubbish Backlash Will Lead To New Polymer Manufacturing Processes…
….as sustainability replaces globalisation as the new industry value driver By John Richardson IT HAS always been illogical to claim that as Peak Oil Demand approaches this provides a great new opportunity for lots of cheap refinery feedstocks to meet booming polymers demand. Firstly, nobody knows what the decline in demand growth for oil will mean […]