Manali Petrochemicals (MPL), an integrated manufacturer of polyols and a part of the AM International group, has announced the execution of the long-form agreement with UK-based based Econic Technologies. Last year, the companies entered into an MoU to introduce more environment-friendly, CO2-containing polyols into the global $28 billion global polyols market.
The signing of the long-form sets the stage for the initiation of the MPL-Econic partnership. It will comprise a two-year demo scale-up at the 1,300 ltr reactor at the MPL plant 1. The following three years will be spent on industrial scale-up of the technology of MPL’s 12,000+ reactors and commercialisation of CO2-containing polyols by the company.
Ashwin Muthiah, chairman, MPL and founder-chairman, AM International Holdings, said, “Science and innovation will play a key role in ensuring that our manufacturing plants implement eco-friendly and cost-efficient technology. MPL’s partnership with Econic Technologies brings significant R&D-led improvements to the production process. Alongside delivering a greener product to our customers, it reaffirms our ESG commitment towards a carbon neutral planet.”
The MPL-Econic partnership, a one-of-its-kind in India, offers excellent upside across MPL’s business value chain. Econic’s patented catalyst and process technology incorporates waste CO2 as a feedstock to manufacture polyols. In an increasingly eco-conscientious world, the green polyols strategy will also lend a competitive edge to the company’s prospects in the USD 28 billion global polyols market.
Keith Wiggins, CEO of Econic Technologies, said, “We appreciate this next development in our partnership with MPL and the opportunity to work with them as a pioneering licensee of Econic’s technology in one of the world’s biggest and fastest growing geographies. It’s an exciting time to be implementing solutions that meet consumer demand for more sustainable products made using waste CO2.”
In the initial phase, the MPL and Econic teams will collaborate on the design of retrofit equipment required, engineering, procurement and construction of retrofit, demo plant commissioning and operation. In the industrial scale phase, the companies will work together to prepare for front-end engineering design provision, FEED and EPC work, industrial plant commissioning and operation. To ensure the project’s success, the companies will form a joint decision committee to oversee all the decision-making.
Muthukrishnan Ravi, MD, Manali Petrochemicals and CEO – petrochemicals, AM International Holdings, said, “At MPL, we are continuously introducing sustainable technologies in our operations. Through this, we envision just not financial saving but serving our customers with eco-friendly solutions. The collaboration with Econic will add further impetus to our efforts to build a cleaner future by using alternate energy resources.”
Polyols are the building block for polyurethanes. They are used to produce flexible and rigid foams, elastomers, adhesives, sealants and coating, which find application across a wide range of necessary everyday products, from mattresses and automotive interiors, building insulation and refrigeration to sports and footwear, protective coatings and industrial products. Econic’s unique catalyst technology incorporates tailored amounts of CO2 into polyols to meet the exact requirements for material properties, such as strength, water resistance, flexibility and processability. Thus, the polyurethanes made with catalyst technology will be customised to suit MPL’s wide range of customer requirements.
