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Versalis, licence agreement with SUPREME PETROCHEM LTD

Valéry Mainjot
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August 28, 2024

VERSALIS of the Italian ENI Group has agreed to license a 70 kt/year ABS (Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene) plastics production unit to SUPREME PETROCHEM Ltd, a major Indian producer of polystyrene and expandable polystyrene. The unit will be built in the Indian state of Maharashtra and will produce styrenic polymers with a low carbon footprint through reduced emissions and energy consumption.

The Italian company VERSALIS has more than 5,000 employees and is by far the largest chemical group in Italy and one of the European leaders. This operation allows it to strengthen its position in the Asian market, where the petrochemical sector is expanding rapidly.

In addition, Versalis has been active in green chemistry since 2011 with the creation of Matrica, a 50/50 joint venture with Novamont, for the conversion of the Porto Torres petrochemical plant into a biorefinery.

But what is green chemistry?  

The general public mainly remembers chemistry as a disaster with serious human or ecological consequences. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines green chemistry as "the design and development of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and synthesis of hazardous substances.

This definition is developed in twelve principles by the American chemists Anastas and Warner, who contributed to the birth and popularisation of the concept of Green Chemistry. You can find them under this link:

https://www.products.pcc.eu/fr/blog/quels-sont-les-12-principes-de-la-chimie-verte-qui-nous-enseignent/.

Thus Green Chemistry is a clearly established concept, which is notable and unfortunately not shared by other sectors of economic activity.