NGOs file suit over transparency of TSCA new chemicals programme

Chemical Watch | March 18, 2020

A coalition of NGOs has sued the US EPA over an alleged lack of transparency in the TSCA new chemicals programme, which "thwart[s] the ability of the public to be informed and to provide input". According to a complaint filed by five environmental nonprofits in federal court today, the EPA has operated its TSCA premanufacture review process in a "black box, denying the public information to which they are legally entitled". Having access to timely information, they contend, is necessary to ensure the members they represent "are able to provide input on the potential risks of new chemicals and the need for protections from those risks prior to completion of EPA’s reviews." And they therefore have asked the court to ensure that the EPA complies with TSCA’s disclosure provisions, including by requiring that it:

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Raw Materials, Market Outlook

BKV and NuQuest Energy Announce Carbon Sequestration Agreement with the State of Louisiana

prnewswire | August 11, 2023

BKV Corporation and NuQuest Energy LLC announced that they entered into a carbon sequestration agreement with the State of Louisiana to develop facilities and permanently sequester carbon dioxide from local emissions sources, supporting the goal to reduce their carbon footprints and supporting BKV's commitment toward achieving net-zero carbon emissions in its upstream businesses. The State of Louisiana granted the carbon storage and sequestration rights on approximately 21,000 acres of land in St. Charles and Jefferson Parishes to High West Sequestration, LLC. The acreage is in an ideal location for targeted carbon dioxide capture and sequestration efforts, with an estimated 22 MM tons per year, within a 15 mile radius from various emissions points. In addition, the High West storage site has a large carbon dioxide storage potential, estimated between 140 MM to 1,000 MM metric tons of CO2e, subject to further evaluation, planning, and development design decisions. Carbon capture and sequestration is the process of capturing and permanently storing carbon dioxide, which reduces the amount of pollutive carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Under the agreement, High West Sequestration, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of BKV Corporation and a member of the BKV family of companies, will dispose of carbon dioxide waste from local emissions sources through permanent sequestration via injection wells on the designated acreage. BKV Chief Executive Officer Chris Kalnin said, "It is critical that companies in our industry work together with various emitters and other industries to bring actionable change and move large-scale carbon reduction projects forward. This partnership allows us to move forward with significant sequestration efforts and brings us one step closer to the production of measured net zero natural gas, a carbon neutral natural gas product." NuQuest Co-Founder Kirk Barrell said, "NuQuest Energy has levered its 120 years of petroleum industry experience to identify, evaluate, and develop a world class carbon sequestration site geographically focused on the Mississippi River corridor. We're excited to partner with BKV, the State of Louisiana, and local stakeholders on this project." BKV has previously demonstrated their commitment to carbon reduction activities, by launching a dedicated carbon capture, utilizations and sequestration (CCUS) business line, BKV dCarbon Ventures, and equipping it with the resources needed to evaluate and build a pipeline of feasible CCUS projects. BKV dCarbon Ventures has a strategic focus on permanent sequestration of point-source emission and is focused on driving CCUS innovations and project development. "This agreement reinforces our commitment to leading the way in the production of measured net-zero natural gas," BKV Vice President dCarbon Ventures Lauren Read said. "We look forward to being a leader in CCUS in Louisiana and working with the State, NuQuest, and other like-minded companies, who are ready to address climate change head-on." About BKV Corporation Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, BKV Corporation (BKV) is a privately held, forward-thinking, growth-driven, energy company focused on creating value for our stockholders. BKV's core business is to produce natural gas from its owned and operated upstream businesses, which BKV expects to achieve net zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by the end of 2025. Founded in 2015, BKV has approximately 370 employees across the U.S. that are committed to building a different kind of energy company. BKV is one of the top 20 gas-weighted natural gas producers in the United States and the largest natural gas producer in the Barnett Shale. BKV Corporation is the parent company for the BKV family of companies. About NuQuest Energy, LLC Headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, NuQuest Energy, LLC is a renewables development company pursuing an aggressive plan to assemble and construct a diverse portfolio of utility, industrial, and corporate solar and carbon sequestration projects across the United States with a current focus on Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi. The company leverages existing relationships and project development experience to build a robust, scalable renewables portfolio of projects.

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Raw Materials, Market Outlook

Origin Materials and Terphane Form Strategic Partnership to Produce Sustainable, High-Performance Packaging

businesswire | August 03, 2023

Origin Materials, Inc. the world’s leading carbon negative materials company with a mission to enable the world’s transition to sustainable materials, and Terphane, part of Tredegar Corporation (NYSE:TG), a global leader in specialty PET polyester films (“BOPET”), announced today a strategic partnership to produce sustainable, high-performance bio-polymer films. As part of the partnership, Terphane signed a multi-year capacity reservation agreement to purchase the advanced bio-polymer PEF for use in film applications, including food and beverage packaging and high-value industrial applications. BOPEF is biaxially oriented PEF, and BOPET is biaxially oriented PET. These stretched polymer films are valued for their strength, transparency, barrier properties, and electrical insulation. “We are pleased to partner with Terphane, a trusted global leader in films with expansive customer and partner relationships,” said Rich Riley, Co-CEO of Origin Materials. “We are thrilled to work together to develop advanced, performance-enhanced products that help to enable a net zero material economy. This partnership represents further progress in Origin’s mission to enable the world’s transition to sustainable materials.” According to Marcos Vieira, global director of R&D for Terphane, “The development of this film will be critical to our efforts to meet this new global demand for sustainable flexible packaging solutions. The film is partially made from PEF and has all the traditional properties of a regular PET film, including post-consumption recycling. In addition, PEF provides an excellent thermal resistance and superior barrier performance, extending the shelf life of the packaged products.” Vieira adds that initial tests in the U.S. proved the material works perfectly in extrusion lines. Origin Materials’ patented technology platform represents a potential breakthrough in the commercialization of cost-competitive and low-carbon PEF. Made from furandicarboxylic acid (“FDCA”), the primary precursor to PEF, Origin PEF is a polymer with an attractive combination of sustainability and performance characteristics for packaging including enhanced barrier properties. Origin’s PEF is expected to be 100% plant-based, fully recyclable, have attractive unit economics, and to offer a significantly reduced carbon footprint, with superior strength, thermal properties, and barrier properties compared to today’s widely used petroleum-based materials. About Origin Materials Headquartered in West Sacramento, Origin Materials is the world's leading carbon negative materials company. Origin’s mission is to enable the world’s transition to sustainable materials. For over a decade, Origin has developed a platform for turning the carbon found in inexpensive, plentiful, non-food biomass such as sustainable wood residues into useful materials while capturing carbon in the process. Origin’s patented technology platform can help revolutionize the production of a wide range of end products, including clothing, textiles, plastics, packaging, car parts, tires, carpeting, toys, fuels, and more with a ~$1 trillion addressable market. In addition, Origin’s technology platform is expected to provide stable pricing largely decoupled from the petroleum supply chain, which is exposed to more volatility than supply chains based on sustainable wood residues. Origin’s patented drop-in core technology, economics and carbon impact are supported by a growing list of major global customers and investors. About Terphane Since its founding in 1976, Terphane has developed technologies and processes to produce specialty bioriented polyester films (BOPET). With significant experience and technical knowledge in film production, coating, and metallization, the company is recognized for its vertical integration, from resin to specialty films. Terphane is a global leader in specialty PET films, and a key company in Latin America. Terphane is a subsidiary of U.S.-based Tredegar Corporation (NYSE:TG).

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Market Outlook

Hudson Technologies Achieves Carbon Neutrality at Reclamation Facilities

Globenewswire | July 07, 2023

Hudson Technologies, Inc. a leading provider of innovative sustainable solutions to the Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration industry – and one of the nation’s largest refrigerant reclaimers – today announced that it has achieved carbon neutrality for its operational scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions for the year 2022. Brian F. Coleman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hudson Technologies commented, “Hudson is committed to operating our business in the most sustainable way possible. Our refrigerant reclamation activities effectively recycle refrigerants, displacing the production of virgin refrigerants and eliminating the emissions generated in the manufacturing process. We’re pleased to have made progress toward reducing our carbon footprint and remain focused on meeting our internal goals for environmentally sound operations, while at the same time playing a role in supporting the sustainability efforts of our customers.” About Hudson Technologies Hudson Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of innovative and sustainable refrigerant products and services to the Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration industry. For nearly three decades, we have demonstrated our commitment to our customers and the environment by becoming one of the first in the United States and largest refrigerant reclaimers, through multimillion dollar investments in the plants and advanced separation technology required to recover a wide variety of refrigerants and restoring them to Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute standard for reuse as certified EMERALD Refrigerants™. The Company's products and services are primarily used in commercial air conditioning, industrial processing and refrigeration systems, and include refrigerant and industrial gas sales, refrigerant management services consisting primarily of reclamation of refrigerants and RefrigerantSide® Services performed at a customer's site, consisting of system decontamination to remove moisture, oils and other contaminants. The Company’s SmartEnergy OPS® service is a web-based real time continuous monitoring service applicable to a facility’s refrigeration system and other energy systems. The Company’s Chiller Chemistry® and Chill Smart® services are also predictive and diagnostic service offerings. As a component of the Company’s products and services, the Company also generates carbon offset projects.

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Chemical Management

Danimer Scientific and Chevron Phillips Chemical Expand Collaboration to Include Application Development for Rinnovo™ Polymers

businesswire | September 21, 2023

Danimer Scientific, Inc. a leading next-generation bioplastics company focused on the development and production of biodegradable materials, today announced it is expanding its collaboration with Chevron Phillips Chemical (“CPChem”) to explore development and commercialization of cast extrusion films, blown extrusion films, injection molded parts and rotational molded parts using Rinnovo™ polymers produced in a loop slurry reactor process. Rinnovo™ is a type of polyhydroxyalkanoate (“PHA”) synthesized from lactones produced using Danimer’s proprietary Novo22™ catalyst technology, which can be used in the production of biodegradable alternatives to traditional plastics. The collaboration expands on Danimer and CPChem’s previously announced agreement, in which Danimer is evaluating the use of CPChem’s loop slurry reactor design to develop a continuous reactor system in the manufacturing process for Rinnovo™. Stephen E. Croskrey, chief executive officer of Danimer, said, “Our business relationship with CPChem continues to yield results, and we’re excited for the further opportunities that lie ahead. CPChem’s Research and Technology lab in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, is a premier facility staffed with world-class talent that we believe will accelerate the path toward adoption of Rinnovo™ materials in high-volume applications that will assist in lowering the cost to serve key markets.” Opened in 1950 by Phillips 66, CPChem’s Bartlesville facility contains first-class research equipment allowing for rapid testing of products across various processing conditions. Additionally, the facility’s testing and analytical capabilities provide a more rapid feedback loop, accelerating the development and optimization of resin formulations. “We continue to be excited about the potential of our MarTECH® process technology and related collaborations to advance Danimer’s Rinnovo™, another CPChem initiative that can help accelerate change for a more sustainable future,” said Venki Chandrashekar, CPChem vice president of research and technology. About Danimer Scientific Danimer is a pioneer in creating more sustainable, more natural ways to make plastic products. For more than a decade, its renewable and sustainable biopolymers have helped create plastic products that are biodegradable and compostable and return to nature instead of polluting our lands and waters. Danimer’s technology can be found in a vast array of plastic end products that people use every day. Applications for its biopolymers include additives, aqueous coatings, fibers, filaments, films and injection-molded articles, among others. Danimer holds more than 430 granted patents and pending patent applications in more than 20 countries for a range of manufacturing processes and biopolymer formulations.

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