Top Priority

Our new partnership to recycle old bottle tops into new bottle tops – INEOS Olefins & Polymers South O&P South

7
min APRIL 2020

“It is a step change but it is what was needed,” said Bruce Debell, business director of INEOS Olefins & Polymers South. “We have proven to the world that you can use recycled products to create high quality ones.”

Over the next five years, 6.5 billion bottle caps will be recycled.

O&P is working in partnership with a privately-owned Italian company which specialises in recycling high density polyethylene and has developed a system that allows the different coloured bottle tops to be separated and cleaned.

In the past, this highly-versatile plastic, which can be moulded into almost any shape, was either sent to landfill or turned into such things as plant pots and garden furniture. But Bruce said that was a waste of a highly-engineered plastic that deserved better. “Other, lower grade plastics can be used for those things,” he said.

INEOS and Forever Plast in Milan already have popular brands lined up, wanting to buy the new bottle tops.

The changes are in direct response to consumers, demanding recycled products from companies amid concern for the environment.

“In doing this we are using fewer fossil fuels to make our products,” said Bruce.

Forever Plast blends 50% of the recycled bottle tops with highly-engineered speciality chemicals, which have been developed at INEOS’ plant in Tuscany.

The end result mirrors INEOS’ virgin grades of high density polyethylene.

Currently, the new tops, which will be made with 50% of recycled material, cannot be used on food containers or drink bottles due to regulations. But that’s the ultimate goal. “It’s difficult, but we are not ruling it out,” said Bruce.

“We are now working towards being able to use these products so they can be in contact with food again because, if we can do that, there’s a huge market out there.”

Over the years bottle caps have got lighter without losing any of their qualities.

It may seem trivial but with billions of bottle tops being produced every year, using fewer resources to make them, can make a huge difference.

“All that has been achieved through science,” said Bruce.

Forever Plast

Over the next five years, 6.5 billion bottle caps will be recycled Recycling Process

PET recyclers collect bottles.
The plastic bottles are sorted and crushed into huge bales.
The plastic is shredded and placed in water.
The former bottles, which are made of PET, sink.
The former bottle caps, which are made from high density polyethylene, float.
The multi-coloured flakes (the former bottle top caps) can then be skimmed off the surface.
Those flakes are sent to Forever Plast where they are put in a machine which can sort the the flakes into different colours.
They are then cleaned, ground into pellets and finally blended with highly-engineered virgin chemicals from INEOS.

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Top Priority

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7 min read

Gathering Steam

Hydrogen has the power to change the world in ways we can only imagine. It already powers the sun, which, in turn, powers the world. But it can also power transport, businesses, even homes - and slash harmful greenhouse gas emissions. “Most people agree that if society is to achieve net-zero emissions, the hydrogen economy must be given a huge boost,” said Dr Peter Williams, INEOS’ Group Technology Director. “And INEOS has the skills, capabilities and desire to help achieve this.” INEOS’ businesses in the UK, Germany and Belgium are all now involved in hydrogen projects. In the UK, INEOS-owned INOVYN, which produces thousands of tonnes of hydrogen a year as a co-product, is looking at how the gas could be used to run buses, cars and lorries and significantly improve the air quality in towns and cities. INEOS could reuse the hydrogen it co-produces more widely, and also link its electrolysis technology to renewable energy to produce greater amounts of green hydrogen for transport, industry and homes. INOVYN is a member of the UK-based North West Hydrogen Alliance which believes hydrogen is a workable, economically-viable alternative to fossil fuels. “Unlike fossil fuels, hydrogen will never run out,” said a spokesman. Hydrogen can be made from electrolysis of water, which produces the hydrogen as well as oxygen as a co-product. The alliance’s aim is to have 25 hydrogen-powered buses, producing zero emissions, on the streets of Liverpool by the end of this year. A number of INOVYN sites, including Runcorn, already have co-fired (hydrogen) boilers and have been using hydrogen that way to make steam for decades. At INEOS’ Koln site in Germany, the power plant is also co-fired with hydrogen next to natural gas, and staff are looking at how they could feed hydrogen into the region’s power network so that it could be used to run inner-city public transport.  That all fits with Germany’s desire to build an economy based on hydrogen instead of fossil fuels so it can meet its Paris Agreement goals. The UK is also looking at whether it can make hydrogen from natural gas. Unlike hydrogen produced from water, this would result in some carbon that would need to be captured directly then stored deep underground. “That could enable us to halve the emissions at our Grangemouth site in Scotland,” said Peter. Carbon capture and storage is not always necessary with hydrogen production but, where it is, INEOS is well placed. At the Port of Antwerp in Belgium, INEOS is working with a host of firms, including BASF, Total and ExxonMobil, on plans for carbon capture and storage. “INEOS can bring its experience because it is already capturing half of the Oxide process emissions in Antwerp,” said Dr Greet Van Eetvelde, INEOS' Group head of Energy and Innovation Policy and lead of CEN, INEOS' Carbon and Energy Network. The technology to capture carbon is evolving rapidly and is on the verge of becoming economically viable. INEOS is also working on storage. The Danish Council on Climate Change believes carbon capture could begin in 2025 and that storage could have a real influence in 2030. “That's also our target,” said Johan Byskov Svendsen, INEOS Denmark Developing Assets Manager. “We're working from the assumption that it will be possible to store CO2 from the second half of this decade.” He added: “No other company operating in the country has made it as far with a CCS project as INEOS.” So INEOS, which is planning to build the most energy-efficient ethylene cracker in Europe, will be well prepared. Once built, INEOS’ €3 billion ethylene cracker and world-scale PDH unit in Antwerp will emit half the CO2 emissions of similar-sized, ageing plants elsewhere in Europe because co-produced hydrogen will be used as fuel instead of natural gas. “This will be a pioneer in terms of technologies used, environmental impact and efficiency,” said Peter.

6 min read

Building the Grenadier - Frame and Axles

INEOS is building a super-strong 4x4 that's capable of getting the job done no matter how punishing the conditions. The world now knows that. What it doesn’t know is what the new Grenadier will look like. That burning question, though, is one which INEOS will seek to answer this year. Over the next 12 months, it will be revealing sections of the 4x4 for the very first time - bit by bit. INEOS is creating the ladder frame in partnership with a highly-experienced vehicle manufacturing company that has a proven pedigree of making ladder frames that can tackle the toughest environments. And it has partnered with Carraro, which has a long history in building tough 4x4 vehicles, to develop the front and rear axles. View Video: ineosgrenadier.com/reveal/frame-axles LADDER FRAME A proper off-road 4X4, made to tackle the toughest terrain, needs a box-section ladder frame. So why would we choose anything else? Super strong, rugged, simple and stable. SERIOUS TOWING CAPABILITYA stable platform. Balanced load distribution. 3.5 tonne capacity. MULTI-LAYERED ANTI-CORROSION PROTECTIONAble to withstand water, snow, road salt or sand. PURE STRENGTHTrees, rocks, or termite mounds. Contact that might stop a unibody SUV shouldn't stop the Grenadier. SUPERB RIGIDITYHigh-tensile steel for torsional strength. Up to 4mm wall thickness. Able to withstand high levels of stress under load. BEAM AXLES Beam axles belong on the Grenadier. And there are lots of reasons why. Since the first ever 4X4s appeared, beam axles have proven to offer better ground clearance, articulation and load carrying ability than independent suspension. They’re simpler and easier to fix. With the greatest strength and all round off-road capability. IMPROVED RIDE COMFORTIn combination with the suspension, beam axles offer better ride comfort on the harshest terrain. TRACTION YOU CAN TRUSTWhen one end or side goes up, the opposite pushes into the ground for greater grip. LOAD CARRYINGTraction, braking and tyre wear don’t change as suspension is compressed, compared to independent. Great when carrying heavy loads. HIGHER GROUND CLEARANCEEasily clears larger objects when driving across rocky, off-road terrain. FITTED FRONT AND REAREven greater articulation and strength. Robust constant velocity joints. The road to a new future? INEOS is determined to one day build a hydrogen-powered 4x4 that can cope with life in the great outdoors. It has spent the past nine months exploring the best ways to do it without affecting The Grenadier’s ability to survive in the harshest conditions. “All the work we have done re-affirms our belief that a hydrogen-powered vehicle represents the best solution for developing a zero emission version of a rugged 4x4,” said Antony Walker, Head of Finance at INEOS Automotive. “We fully intend to press ahead with our developments.” The feasibility study was funded with a £124,000 grant from Innovate UK. “It still remains a very long journey from this feasibility study to a fully-fledged, and costed, development programme for a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle,” said Mark Tennant, Commercial Director at INEOS Automotive. The project began in July last year and has involved engineers from Germany, UK-based procurement, commercial and finance staff and technical experts from project partners AVL Powertrain UK. INEOS Automotive is uniquely positioned to help develop the infrastructure needed to support hydrogen-fuelled vehicles as currently there are only 16 hydrogen stations in the UK. It is working closely with INEOS’ chemical businesses, which produce about 250,000 tonnes of hydrogen a year in the UK and Europe from making chlorine and cracking gas and oil. INEOS currently uses most of it but believes hydrogen could be more widely used to help clean up the air in towns and cities where pollution is a problem. “There has been a significant global shift towards a low carbon economy, and the automotive sector presents a major opportunity to reduce emissions,” said Antony. The beauty of hydrogen is that when used as a fuel, it produces only water that’s so pure you could drink it. And filling a tank is almost as quick as refilling it with petrol and diesel. Electric vehicles are currently being presented as alternatives to petrol and diesel. But they are heavy, the batteries don’t last long and they take hours to recharge. “These technological shortcomings mean battery-powered vehicles are not currently practical for heavy haulage, construction, and off-road usage,” said Antony.

8 min read

A meeting of minds – Saving the Atlantic Salmon

World experts agree that they must work together if the wild North Atlantic salmon is to survive. At an international conference in Iceland, hosted by INEOS, the importance of sharing knowledge was laid bare as they discussed the alarming decline in salmon and efforts to bring this iconic fish back from the brink of extinction. Scientists, academics and conservationists from Iceland, the UK, Norway, Ireland and Canada realised it is only when they get together that real change can happen. “They are all doing amazing things, so what we wanted to do was bring them all together,” said Dr Peter Williams, INEOS Group Technical Director. “By having a forum to share what we, and other researchers, are doing, we can help each other and create a bigger picture that adds to our understanding and allows us to focus our work and communicate it much more effectively.” The numbers of North Atlantic salmon have fallen by 70% over the past 30 years and it is now endangered. During the summit, Dr Colin Bull, from The Missing Salmon Alliance, said there was a ‘crying need’ for an initiative to collate all the information that was already out there. “I believe there is a way we can pull everything together across disciplines, to turn the plethora of research and management data on salmon and its environment into a cohesive resource to focus and drive forward our collective efforts,” he said. Gudni Gudbergsson, head of the freshwater division at The Marine and Freshwater Research Institute in Iceland, said there was already extensive co-operation between ICIS and NASCO, but both organisations had specific remits. “As a backbone organisation that is okay, but new thinking and co-operation is needed and that is what we are doing here today,” he said. Dr James Rosindell, a reader in biodiversity theory at Imperial College London, said academic and practical research data needed to be shared. “The research is often carried out by different groups who sometimes don’t want to give it up,” he said. He called for an overhaul of the traditional, academic system. “It is stressful and inefficient to be fighting against others to get funding, then reinventing the wheel, and then publishing papers that sit on the shelf collecting dust,” he said. January’s summit in Reykjavik ended with a pledge to rapidly establish new conservation strategies to reverse the decline. Many of those strategies are already being tested in Iceland, home of The Six Rivers Conservation Project founded by INEOS Chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe. “It’s a holistic programme, backed by science,” said Peter. As part of the project, botanists have been planting trees to enrich the soil around the rivers because healthier vegetation leads to a healthier environment for the organisms that live in the rivers. About 1,000 smolts – maturing salmon – have been tagged so that scientists can track and monitor their behaviour. And millions of salmon eggs have been planted into the gravel in rivers further upstream to help breed a healthier and stronger stock. In addition, PhD students from The Marine and Freshwater Research Institute and Imperial College London have been comparing new data and the old data, gathered by the institute over the past 75 years. “We believe the Six Rivers project will help inform conservation in other countries,” said Peter. Gisli Asgeirsson, CEO Strengur Angling Club, said the work was vital to help understand why the Atlantic salmon were disappearing – and what needed to be done to stop it. “Once we have this information, we can start to put in place measures that will help the salmon not only survive but thrive,” he said. Sir Jim, who is an expert fly-fisherman, has been working with Strengur for years. All profits from Strengur, which provides the best quality fly-fishing in the world, are now being reinvested back into salmon conservation in North East Iceland. For more information and photos from the symposium go to: sixrivers.is/en/symposium Symposium Key Speakers January 23rd, The Hilton Nordica, Reykjavik, Iceland Peter S. Williams, B.A., D.PhilINEOS Group Technical Director Dr Colin BullThe Missing Salmon Alliance Prof Guy WoodwardProfessor of Ecology and the Deputy Head of Life Sciences at Imperial College London Dr Rasmus LauridsenHead of Fisheries Research at Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust Else MöllerForester MSc at Austurbru Prof Nikolai FribergResearch Director for Biodiversity at the Norwegian Institute for Water Research NIVA in Oslo, Norway Gudni GudbergssonFreshwater division of the Marine and Freshwater Research in Reykjavik James RvosindellReader in Biodiversity Theory at Imperial College London Mark SaundersDirector, International Year of the Salmon – North Pacific Region Philip McGinnityResearch Professor with the Environmental Research Institute at University College Cork AcademicsPhD students from The Marine and Freshwater Research Institute and Imperial College London have been comparing new data against old data, gathered by the institute over the past 75 years. ConservationistsMillions of salmon eggs have been planted into the gravel in rivers further upstream to help breed a healthier and stronger stock. And salmon ladders have been built to allow salmon to reach new spawning grounds further up the rivers. ScientistsAbout 1,000 smolts – maturing salmon – have been tagged so that scientists can track and monitor their behaviour. BotanistsBiologists, who specialise in plants, have been planting trees to enrich the soil around the rivers because healthier vegetation leads to a healthier environment for the organisms that live in the rivers. Strengur Angling ClubAll profits from the club, which provides the best-quality fly-fishing in the world, are now being reinvested back into salmon conservation in North East Iceland. The Six Rivers Project, now in year 4 of development, is making good progress Our aim: to protect the North Atlantic Salmon, now endangered. The means: a self-funding entity undertaking long-term conservation initiatives. The actions: annual salmon egg planting, revegetation/tree planting, salmon ladder building, at a scale never attempted before. The underpin: world-leading research. These initiatives will provide a real boost to the salmon population in North East Iceland. Nature will take her time, but we are already seeing positive signs. Lots more to come - Bill Reid, Six Rivers & Strengur Board

8 min read

Safe Hands

INEOS used to look to the very best in the chemical industry for inspiration. Those companies helped it to focus on where it wanted - and needed - to be when it came to its safety record. Today, it looks to itself. “We cannot look to others anymore because we are now right up there with the best,” said Simon Laker, INEOS Group Operations Director. The OSHA figures show that INEOS last year recorded its best-ever performance, falling from 0.91 in 2009 to 0.16. “We don’t like to say we are the world’s best, but we are world class,” said Simon. Top of the class for INEOS was the Oil & Gas UK business which recorded zero. What the figures don’t show is what it took for INEOS to achieve that level of excellence. Over the years it has developed numerous systems to address each problem as it has arisen. There are few group-wide systems in INEOS, but safety is one of them. All sites are regularly audited against the 20 Principles, which cover everything from how to control work to how to control change. Staff, seeking solutions, can find the best performing sites and hence the answers easily. “That really is the power of INEOS,” said Simon. There is a bonus structure that is inextricably linked to a site’s safety performance, including how tidy it is and how well maintained. “The gate to the bonus won’t open if the site’s housekeeping is not in order,” said Simon. That changed after INEOS introduced the AsCare audit system following a poor standard of housekeeping and maintenance on one of its French assets. “Today if you go on to any site, you can tell which parts are owned by INEOS because they are spotless,” he said. There are few group-wide systems in INEOS, but safety is one of them. All sites are regularly audited against the 20 Principles, which cover everything from how to control work to how to control change. Sites that perform badly – in terms of such things as injuries, leaks and environmental breaches – are placed on a RED list. “We deem a RED list site as having an unacceptable risk for INEOS,” said Simon. Each RED site is given two years to fix the problems. If it cannot be brought up to the required standard, the site is shut down and closed. “We don’t want to close sites but we just cannot run a site that can potentially hurt people,” said Simon. “It could lead to a catastrophe and that’s abhorrent. It is those sort of things that really do keep us awake at night.” In 2012 INEOS introduced 20 basic safety principles covering processes and staff’s behaviour. Those messages have helped to drive down reportable incidents and produce INEOS’ best-ever safety performance. But not everyone always follows them. “Every time there is an incident, it is reviewed to see if any one of the 20 principles has been broken,” he said. “I have yet to find one incident where that’s not happened. If we always followed those principles, we would never have another incident in INEOS.” Huge improvements have been made over the years, as can be seen by the safety performance, but there are a few critical activities that are so important that any breach will result in instant dismissal. These are the life-saving rules. “Other companies may give them more chances, but why would we allow people a second chance to kill themselves or one of their colleagues?” said Simon. “We cannot have people like that in our organisation.” INEOS has achieved its best-ever OSHA performance, despite acquiring more businesses whose procedures and rules on safety and standards often differ. “We do assess the risk when we are looking to buy new companies,” said Simon. “Most have a worse safety performance than us. The first priority when they join us is to get their safety levels to where INEOS’ are.” But that mixed heritage – and there are people working in INEOS who have come from BP, BASF, ICI and many others – does bring certain advantages. “Others may see it as a weakness,” said Simon. “But we see it that somewhere amongst all these heritages is the answer to any problem.” Each month INEOS Chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe is given a detailed report, showing the number of such things as safety critical alarms or overdue inspections. It has been known for some sites, acquired by INEOS, to report hundreds of such alarms and missed inspections in just a month. “Within one or two years they are back to what we expect in INEOS,” said Simon. For INEOS, though, the work never stops. “When a business’ performance improves, we move the goalposts to encourage it to do even better,” he said. “It all comes back down to the fear of complacency. As soon as you think you’re there, you’re not.” 20 Principles Behavioural Safety 01 - We believe all incidents and injuries can be prevented 02 - Everyone's first responsibility is to ensure they work safely 03 - Everyone has the duty to stop work if they feel the situation in unsafe 04 - The expectations and standards are the same for everyone on the site 05 - Rules and procedures must be observed and respected 06 - We should look out for each other’s safety and unsafe situations 07 - All injuries and incident / near misses must be reported and investigated 08 - Risk assessment must be carried out prior to, during and on completion of work 09 - All team leaders have a special responsibility for promoting and upholding these principles 10 - We must always work within the limit of our competency and training Process Safety 01 - The asset operating manager is responsible for its overall integrity 02 - The asset engineers are responsible for maintaining the asset and protective systems integrity 03 - The responsibilities in the organisation for defining and maintaining the correct operating envelopes must be clear 04 - Operating procedures and envelopes must be observed. Deviations must be reported and investigated 05 - Any changes must be properly risk assessed and subjected to MOC procedures 06 - Process hazards are systematically identified, risk assesses, reviewed and managed 07 - All assets must be subject to periodic inspection designed to ensure their integrity and the reliability of their protective systems 08 - Operations must always place the safe operation or shutdown of the asset ahead of production 09 - When in doubt the asset must always be taken to its safest state 10 - We have emergency plans based on assessed risks which are regularly tested

5 min read

NHS and INEOS

"For almost 28 years I’ve worked as a maintenance technician at the Newton Aycliffe compounds site in the North East of England. It is also the site of one of INEOS' new hand sanitiser plants, producing one million bottles of hospital-grade hand gel every month. My partner is a nurse in the A&E department at Darlington Hospital in the UK and is now working harder than ever to keep people safe from the COVID-19 virus. Yesterday my 15-year-old daughter painted me a picture to display in my window to show her support for everyone – and demonstrate how proud she is of what the NHS and INEOS are doing to help fight COVID-19." Shaun James - INEOS Maintenance Technician

1 min read