Kemira and IFF have completed the construction of a renewable polymer plant as part of their strategic cooperation in providing alternatives to fossil-based products. This is based on IFF’s Designed Enzymatic Biomaterial (DEB) platform technology and is located at the operator Chemigate’s Finnamyl biorefinery in Kokemäki, Finland.

Kemira has announced changes to its operating model with the aim of increasing customer-centricity, strategic focus, speed of delivery, and accelerating growth. This will take effect from 1 January 2025. The composition of the management board will change add three externally reported business units, created, each headed by an EVP:

* Water Solutions (Tuija Pohjolainen-Hiltunen)

* Packaging & Hygiene Solutions (Harri Eronen)

* Fibre Essentials (Antti Matula)

Kemira has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Norit’s UK reactivation business from Purton Carbons, taking it into the activated carbon market for micropollutants removal. The deal is expected to close in Q3. Nine employees will transfer. The agreement includes the reactivation facility in Purton, UK, where spent granular or pelletised activated carbons are made ready for potable water and food-related applications (green reactivation) and others (amber reactivation).

Kemira has agreed to divest its oil and gas chemicals portfolio to Sterling Specialty Chemicals, a US subsidiary of India’s Artek Group for €260 million subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. The company said that this will enable it “to focus on its core businesses and accelerate its profitable growth strategy”. The two parties expect to complete by the end of Q1 2024.

Kemira president and CEO Jari Rosendal died after a short illness on 31 July. He was 58. The company had announced that he had gone on sick leave on 11 July and a week later said that he would step down by 2024 at the latest. CFO Petri Castrén is acting as interim president and CEO while a successor is sought.

Kemira and Veolia Wasser Deutschland are to work togther on the full-scale technology assessment of ViviMag, a patented technology to recover phosphorus and other valuable resources, such as iron, from sewage sludge. The first industrial trial will take place at Veolia’s wastewater treatment plant of Schönebeck, Germany, during 2H.

Kemira has started full-scale production of its newly developed polyacrylamide polymer based on biobased feedstock. The first commercial volumes are shipped to one of the wastewater treatment plants of the Helsinki Region Environmental Services for trials.

The polymer is water-soluble and offers the same technical specifications as its conventional equivalent, the company stated. As well as water treatment and other water-intensive sectors, it can be used in the energy industry, and potentially also in particularly demanding papermaking applications.