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Good morning. The molecular recycling of plastic waste is one of those topics that seems to come up a lot. It's probably worth a deep dive in the future. Reply to this email with anything that you're particularly interested in!

From the condenser:

· Plastic Energy and Axens' agreement

· Covestro's PUD progress

· MOTD: methylene diphenyl diisocyanate

Plastic Energy's pyrolysis is going mainstream

Process technology company, Axens, has announced that it will be licensing Plastic Energy's plastic waste pyrolysis technology.

Setting the scene:

The pyrolysis of plastic waste is one of many molecular recycling technologies (such as Eastman's methanolysis and PureCycle's color extraction). Pyrolysis is relatively simple. Just heat up mixed plastic waste (without any oxygen around) and all of those long polymer chains will break into smaller pieces. Then pretend those small pieces are basically naphtha, and crack it like you normally would (for the most part).

So, what's the deal here?

Up until now, Plastic Energy has been making deals with large petrochemical companies to build their first sites (like with SABIC in the Netherlands, Exxon in France, and TotalEnergies' in France). In general, those deals seem to be structured more like joint ventures than licensing agreements. Having Axens license their technology will let Axens couple Plastic Energy's technology with some of their own offerings.

Zooming out:

A bunch of companies have their own special version of plastic waste pyrolysis, but those differences are pretty negligible in the grand scheme of things. That isn't to say that there aren't differences in capital or operational costs—it's just that all of these pyrolysis technologies have the same limitation—it takes a good bit of heat to do the depolymerization, and then more heat to crack it into monomers like ethylene and propylene. But if you want to recycle anything you're going to need to use energy, so what other option do we have?

Covestro wants to make more PUDs

German chemical company, Covestro, started construction of a new polyurethane dispersion and elastomer site in Shanghai, China.

What are they making?

Polyurethane dispersions (PUDs) are urethane polymers finely dispersed in water. Those polymers are typically addition copolymers of polyester, polycarbonate, or polyethers that make up about half of the polymer by weight. PUDs are widely used as paints, inks, coatings, and adhesives (and are a great way to reduce VOC emissions). The polyurethane elastomers they plan to make end up in all sorts of things (like roller blade wheels), but Covestro was sure to mention their applications in sustainable energy.

The details:

The PUD plant is set for start up in 2024 and the polyurethane elastomer plant is set for start up in 2025. The PUD plant comes with a polyester resin plant (since those polyester resins are used to make PUDs).

Bigger picture:

Don't let the bit polyurethane elastomers distract you—it's the PUDs you should be paying attention to. Remember, PUDs are primarily used as paints, inks, coatings, and adhesives. These are things that dry. Normally the "drying" is solvents evaporating, but those VOCs have some associated health concerns, so we're seeing a trend toward water-based dispersions when possible. That's why Europe's automotive industry has been moving away from them.

Some more headlines:

• Evonik is bringing this fermentation-based collagen to the market

• Umicore wants to build a fuel-cell catalyst plant in China

• Bechtel is going to do a feasibility study for a magnesium plant

• Perstorp succesfully expanded its 2-ethylhexanoic acid production

• A bunch of plastic compounders are looking to increase recycled content

Molecule of The Day:

Today's MOTD isn't even that interesting, it's just methylene diphenyl diisocyanate.

This mouthful of a molecule is commonly referred to as MDI, and it's one of the most popular diisocyanates on the market. MDI has only been around since the middle of the 20th century, but now the world is producing some 10 million tons of the stuff each year.

MDI is produced by reacting a couple aniline molecules with formaldehyde. Pretty much all of it is used to produce polyurethanes—a class of polymers formed by reacting an isocyanate with a polyol. Besides the countless applications for polyurethanes, MDI also finds itself as a binder in composite wood products (think of the type of wood Ikea furniture is made of).

The main producers of this good stuff are BASF, Covestro, Huntsman, and Dow Chemical. About half of all MDI produced is produced in China alone.

In case you're interested:

• Book: How can you expect to understand the chemical industry without knowing its history? Start with Fred Aftalion's introduction.*

• Safety Moment: With winter coming, freezes at chemical plants are inevitable. Learn about how improper winterization can lead to process safety events.

• Tip: Trying to understand the stock market? The Average Joe boils it down so the everyday investor can keep up.*

• Guide: Take a look at this summary about the chemistry of bourbon.

The bottoms:

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