Neste has completed a strategic study it launched in September 2022 and is now beginning a gradual transformation of its crude oil refinery in Porvoo, Finland, into a “renewable and circular solutions refining hub”. This will take place in phases and is expected to be complete in the mid-2030s at a cost of around €2.5 billion.

Orion is to spend €12.8 million to further develop and demonstrate a climate-neutral process for producing carbon black from renewable sources. Half of the total is being funded by the decarbonisation programme of Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action, supported by the EU’s NextGenerationEU fund.

Solvay has agreed a multi-year strategic collaboration with US firm Ginkgo Bioworks, which was formerly Zymergen. Under this, Solvay said, they will join forces “to unlock the power of synthetic biology as an enabler of more sustainable chemicals and materials, contributing to the transition towards more environmentally friendly solutions”.

Solvay has launched a fourth growth platform, complementing existing ones in battery materials, green hydrogen and thermoplastic composites. This will focus on developing sustainable products for multiple markets using renewable feedstocks and biotechnology.

CropEnergies, a specialist in biomass-based sustainable chemicals, has taken a licence to use Johnson Matthey’s (JM) DAVY ethyl acetate process technology in a new 50,000 tonnes/year plant at Zeitz, Germany, that will make renewable ethyl acetate from renewable ethanol feedstock using renewable energy. Ethyl acetate is widely used in cosmetics, flexible packaging and coatings, paints and adhesives, food, beverage and pharmaceutical applications.