Evonik has revealed that it aims to generate at least €1 billion/year in additional sales a year from circular products and technologies, both in its own processes and support its customers in the transition to circular applications. The company’s strategy in this arena is based on multiple initiatives in which it claims that it is already contributing to the circular economy, notably:

* Further strengthening its activities in additives and specialities for the circular economy

* Making greater use of raw materials based on recycled materials, biomass and CO₂

Evonik has completed the relocation and expansion of its precious metal powder catalyst plant in Shanghai Chemical Industrial Park. Production is scheduled to commence in Q4. No financial details were disclosed.

This completes the upgrade of the company’s global network of five precious metal catalyst plants. Evonik sells the catalysts under the Noblyst P brand name mainly for applications in APIs and agrochemical AIs. China is one of the fastest-growing markets for them.

The independent Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) has confirmed that Evonik’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets are in line with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. This seeks to limit global warming to well below 2°C.

Germany-based Evonik and Heraeus Precious Metals have announced that they are collaborating to expand their range of services for HPAPIs. They intend to build a fully integrated offering from the pre-clinical stage to commercial manufacturing, with streamlined transfer between small- and large-scale production between their respective sites.

Heraeus’s Pharmaceutical Ingredients business offers customised services for both earlier and later clinical phases and smaller to mid-volume HPAPI commercial products. It claims to be the world’s leading supplier of platinum-based HPAPIs.

Subject only to official approval, Evonik has acquired Novachem, a maker of biotechnological, natural and sustainable actives for skin and hair care applications based in Buenos Aires. Novachem will be integrated into the Care Solutions business line within the Nutrition & Care division.

Evonik has begun construction of a new production plant for alkoxides on Jurong Island in Singapore. Described as a “mid double-digit million-euro investment” this will complement sites in Germany, Argentina and the US, supplying the growing Asia-Pacific market when it comes onstream at the end of 2024. The aim is to achieve zero Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions.

Evonik has reached a settlement with the US EPA for exceeding permitted emission limits of ethylene oxide and ethylene glycol at its speciality surfactants facility in Reserve, Louisiana. Both are regulated as hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) under the Clean Air Act.

This followed an inspection on 18 April 2033 and an information request on 27 September, which concluded that emissions had exceeded the permitted levels. Evonik shut down the operations from 18 November until 3 February 2023, when it installed a temporary flare that can remove 98% or more of HAP emissions.