Advanced recycling company, Agilyx, and oil and gas giant, ExxonMobil, have announced the formation of a post-use plastic feedstock management joint venture.

Some context:

Agilyx created a subsidiary called Cyclyx International back in June to specialize in the recovery and sorting of plastic waste. Agilyx created the subsidiary to focus on developing "new supply chains that will aggregate and pre-process larger volumes of post-use plastics than current systems can support.".

So how is Exxon involved?

Exxon invested $8 million for a 25% stake in the subsidiary and will be given prioritized access to the plastic waste feedstock created by Cyclyx. Cyclyx hopes to collect and sort 300,000 tons of waste plastic per year by 2025 and 3 million tons per year by 2030. What Exxon has in store for that pre-processed plastic waste has yet to be announced (maybe they'll toss it in one of their steam crackers?).

Read more here on ICIS.

US-based chemicals company, Trinseo, has announced that it will be acquiring Arkema's MMA and PMMA businesses for $1.24 billion.

What are they buying?

Over 75% of all methyl methacrylates (MMA) produced are used to make poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). PMMA "is a transparent and rigid plastic with a wide range of end uses" most well known by the brand name "plexiglass". The MMA and PMMA business being acquired employ roughly 860 people and operate seven production sites globally.

Why are they buying?

The acquired businesses have "consistently delivered attractive margins with products serving many of Trinseo’s end markets" such as "automotive, building & construction, medical and consumer electronics.". Trinseo is looking to transform its portfolio to become a "higher margin, less cyclical solutions provider". This acquisition is just the first step in that direction as the company also announced that it is looking to divest its synthetic rubber business.

Read the press release here.

The joint venture between Total and Borealis called Baystar has announced that its new ethane cracker will come online in Q1 2021 and its HDPE unit a full year later.

Some background:

At the time of the JV's creation (2018) NOVA Chemicals was also a founding member (their share was acquired by Borealis in 2019). After its inception, the company began construction of a new 1 million ton per year ethane cracker in Port Arthur, Texas, and a 625,000 ton per year HDPE unit in Pasadena, Texas. The JV was created to take advantage of the US's ethane feedstock advantages.

So what's the news?

It turns out that the ethane cracker is on schedule, but the HDPE unit is running a little behind. The HDPE unit was initially meant to start-up sometime next year, but it has been pushed back to Q1 2022. While no reason was officially stated, we can just blame COVID-19 and call it a day.

Read more here on S&P Global.