FINLAND – Borealis has announced a €4.5 million (US$4.84m) investment in upgrading the cracker furnaces at its olefins unit in Porvoo, Finland, with the goal of increasing the use of renewable and recycled raw materials in its ethylene and polypropylene production.
This investment program in Porvoo, expected to be completed by 2025, follows a major cracker furnace update completed last year in Stenungsund, Sweden.
The Porvoo steam cracker, with a nameplate capacity of 430 kilotons of ethylene and 263 kilotons of propylene per year, is a crucial facility that thermally “cracks” feedstock like naphtha, propane, butane, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) into smaller molecules.
As a result of this investment, Borealis will modify three of its ten cracker furnaces in the olefins unit to enable a total annual production of 120 kilotons of base chemicals, based on renewable and recycled feedstocks.
These base chemicals have received the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC PLUS), a voluntary scheme that guarantees compliance with environmental standards through mass balance accounting across the supply chain.
Wolfram Krenn, Borealis Executive Vice President of Operations and Base Chemicals highlighted the strategic importance of these furnace modifications in advancing environmental stewardship and economic resilience.
In related news, Borealis recently obtained two letters of no objection (LNO) from the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for specific grades of its Borcycle M post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastics for use in food-grade packaging.
This achievement underscores Borealis’ commitment to the circular economy. Borcycle M, Borealis’ mechanical recycling technology, efficiently repurposes post-consumer plastic waste.
The FDA’s LNOs allow for the use of Borcycle M PCR high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) in certain dry food contact applications at levels of up to 100%.
Additionally, these materials can constitute up to 10% of packaging for dry foods with surface oil and moist bakery products.
While these approvals are currently applicable in regions under FDA jurisdiction, discussions in the European Union (EU) are expected to progress regarding the use of these materials in high-end and contact-sensitive packaging sectors like personal care and cosmetics.
This achievement represents a significant milestone in Borealis’ EverMinds initiative, focused on advancing plastics circularity and sustainability.
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