NEWS
IMCD adds Indian lab
IMCD has opened a new facility at Noida in India ’ s Uttar Pradesh state . Covering 420 m 2 , this will include 170m 2 of laboratories for the coatings and construction sector , which will be the only construction laboratory run by a chemical distributor in India . There is also a beauty and personal care laboratory to support the North Indian market . The site can accommodate 30 employees .
Piramal demerger
Piramal Enterprises has approved a demerger plan for its pharmaceuticals business and a simplification of the corporate structure , subject to approval by shareholders , creditors and regulators . The pharma business , including its CDMO activities , will be consolidated under Piramal Pharma and will be listed on the New York and Mumbai stock exchanges .
Evonik to divest Lülsdorf
Evonik plans to divest its site in Lülsdorf , south of Cologne in Germany , and will draw up more detailed plans by spring 2022 . Lülsdorf mainly produces alkoxides , potassium derivatives and cyanuric chlorides , and no longer fits the focus on specialities . The company would prefer an outright transfer to a single owner but will consider selling it in parts and some potential investors have already expressed interest .
Second fermenter
Biocatalysts has approved a second 10 m 3 fermenter at its site in Cardiff , UK . The first was installed a year ago . The company said that the new fermenter will enable the site “ to act as a pilot plant for medium-scale production and optimised tech-transfer for larger industrial scale fermentation ” in the food , pharmaceuticals and wider life science industries .
ECHA publishes first SCIP data
ECHA has published the first database of substances of very high concern in products ( SCIP ) in the EU . This aims to enable consumers “ to make more informed purchasing choices and help waste operators to further develop the re-use of articles and the recycling of materials ”. The SCIP database was compiled from about 4 million article notifications that were made by around 6,000 companies required to notify ECHA about products they put on the market containing substances of very high concern ( SVHCs ) at 0 / 1 % wt / wt . This may include duplicates , so that the total number is not as yet known . To date , the most commonly notified product categories are :
• Machinery and their parts
• Measuring instruments and their parts
• Electronic equipment and their parts
• Vehicles and their parts
• Articles made of rubber
• Furniture Meanwhile , the most common SVHCs in notifications are :
• Lead ( e . g . in ball bearings and batteries )
• Lead monoxide ( e . g . in lamps and vehicle parts )
• Lead titanium trioxide ( e . g . in electric cookers )
• Silicid acid , lead salt ( e . g . in lead crystalware and vehicle coatings )
• 1 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 17 , 18-dodecachloropentacyclo octadeca-7,15- diene ( e . g . in paints and glues ) Separately , ECHA has published advice on how to use the OECD guideline to REACH registrants on how to reliably combine different sources of non-animal data on skin sensitisation properties of their substances . This is the first guideline outlining how to use in silico tools like the QSAR Toolbox for this purpose . Mike Rasenberg , ECHA ’ s director for hazard assessment , described this as “ an important milestone for advancing the use of alternative methods to assess chemical hazards ”. The guideline contains defined approaches for assessing whether a substance is a skin sensitiser and categorising the sensitisation as strong or moderate , which is required under REACH . If the defined approach results in a conclusion , it can replace the Local Lymph Node Assay , reducing testing on animals .
Clariant opens Sunliquid plant
Clariant has announced the official completion of its first commercial-scale Sunliquid plant in Podari , Romania . This will be operational during Q4 and will produce about 50,000 tonnes / year of “ almost carbon-neutral ” cellulosic ethanol from 250,000 tonnes / year of agricultural residues sourced in the vicinity . In addition to its main application in fuel blending , the company said , “ this offers further downstream application opportunities into bio-based chemicals and for sustainable aviation fuel ”. Co-products generated by the process will be used for the generation of renewable energy , making the plant independent of fossil energy sources . “ This technology represents a major milestone for Clariant and is a further proof point for our ambitious growth strategy , led by innovations that contribute to a more sustainable world ,” said CEO Conrad Keijzer Clariant first developed Sunliquid in 2006 and implemented it in a precommercial plant in 2012 , but it has chosen to go down the licensing route rather than build facilities across the world . To date , five technology licences have been sold in Europe and China .
12 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981