Technological watch

Dow announces a first step agreement is in place with Haldor Topsoe to leverage lab-scale capabilities to support the design and engineering of a new 10 kiloton per year market development unit (MDU), which will be built at Dow’s site in Terneuzen, the Netherlands, for the manufacture of new, circular from pyrolysis oil feedstock derived from waste plastics.
Quality Feedstock for New Polymers
This builds on Dow’s announcement last week during the Company’s investor day event, where it announced its intention to fast-track the design, engineering and construction of a market development scale pyrolysis purification unit. The purification process is necessary to ensure the pyrolysis oil feedstocks are of sufficient quality to produce new polymers.
“Advancing the circular economy for plastics requires scale for feedstock recycling and clean up that does not yet exist broadly, so we are partnering to help accelerate it,” said Diego Donoso, president of Dow’s packaging and specialty plastics business. “Leveraging Haldor Topsoe’s technology and expertise will help us de-risk scale-up of purification capabilities aligned with our efforts to Stop the Waste and Close the Loop.”
Circular Polyethylene Production
The objective for Dow’s new purification MDU is to validate the technology to produce circular products and to accelerate the scale needed to support strong market demand for circular polyethylene. The collaboration with Haldor Topsoe allows Dow to accelerate the company’s strategy to be a leading producer of circular polyethylene. Advancing the circular economy for plastics maximizes the sustainability benefits those plastics bring across the value chain while significantly reducing the footprint to produce them.
“Dow shares our commitment to accelerate more sustainable solutions. Our decades of experience in developing carbon emission reduction technologies complement Dow’s core strengths and can facilitate their roadmap to carbon neutrality. There are many opportunities to grow and advance our respective technologies, which are vital to decarbonization and circularity,” said Fei Chen, senior vice president, Clean Fuels and Chemicals Technology at Topsoe.
Dow's Complete Polyethylene Product Range

Source: Dow