Company News
June 5, 2020
Dow to Recycle Mattresses into Polyol
The Renuva mattress recycling programme sets out to recycle PU foam from end-of-life mattresses into polyol. (Source: Dow)
Dow: Industrial scale production facility will recycle end-of-life mattresses into polyols
Dow Polyurethanes, a business division of Dow, announced a breakthrough in its Renuva mattress recycling programme with a plan to install a pioneering industrial scale production facility at Orrion Chemicals Orgaform in Semoy, France. This new development builds on Dow’s existing collaboration with process know-how and turnkey installations provider H&S Anlagentechnik, announced in 2017.
The mattress recycling programme will take discarded mattress foam and turn it back into raw material (polyol) through chemical recycling. The new raw material can then be used in flexible or rigid polyurethane foam products to go into applications such as building insulation boards and even back into new mattresses. The installation is expected to take place during the second half of 2020, with the first batch of Renuva polyols expected to be delivered in the first half of 2021.
According to Dow Polyurethanes, every year around 30 million mattresses are thrown away in Europe. If they were all stacked up, the pile would be 678 times the height of Mount Everest (assuming an average mattress height of 20 cm – height of Mount Everest is 8,848 m). This new initiative will help enable a more circular economy for polyurethanes by ensuring the applications they are used in can be recycled, and it can help the EU reach its goal of having 65 % of municipal waste recycled by 2030, said the company.
“At Dow we’re passionate about integrating sustainability into all aspects of the Polyurethane lifecycle. This development will represent a significant step towards achieving circularity for a product which traditionally poses significant challenges for recycling,” said Ana Carolina Haracemiv, commercial director for Europe, Middle East, Africa, India (EMEAI), Dow Polyurethanes.
“Through Renuva our ambition is to address some of the circular economy goals set out in the EU’s Green Deal and in national waste management strategies of countries like France,” stated Marcel Moeller, global marketing and sustainability director, Dow Polyurethanes.
“This new cooperation will reinforce Orrion Chemicals Orgaform’s commitment to sustainable development,” said Christian Siest, president, Orrion Chemicals Orgaform. “We will be proud to build an industrial scale production unit for recycling end-of-life foam and be selected as a partner by Dow. This will be a major investment that fits the growth strategy of our company.”
https://www.gupta-verlag.com/news/industry/24176/dow-industrial-scale-production-facility-will-recycle-end-of-life-mattresses-into-polyols
May 28, 2020
Tempur Sealy Guidance Change
Tempur-Sealy on watch after strong guidance update
Tempur-Sealy International (NYSE:TPX) says it expects FQ2 sales to be down about 30% Y/Y after seeing some improving trends of late.
The company notes the broad-based improvement has been driven by continued robust growth from global e-commerce, the re-opening of domestic retail stores and positive trends in Asia and Northern Europe.
Tempur-Sealy now expects to be unadjusted EBITDA breakeven or better for the current quarter after guiding previously for an unadjusted EBITDA loss.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3578212-tempur-sealy-on-watch-after-strong-guidance-update?utm_medium=email&utm_source=seeking_alpha&mail_subject=tpx-tempur-sealy-on-watch-after-strong-guidance-update&utm_campaign=rta-stock-news&utm_content=link-3
May 28, 2020
Tempur Sealy Guidance Change
Tempur-Sealy on watch after strong guidance update
Tempur-Sealy International (NYSE:TPX) says it expects FQ2 sales to be down about 30% Y/Y after seeing some improving trends of late.
The company notes the broad-based improvement has been driven by continued robust growth from global e-commerce, the re-opening of domestic retail stores and positive trends in Asia and Northern Europe.
Tempur-Sealy now expects to be unadjusted EBITDA breakeven or better for the current quarter after guiding previously for an unadjusted EBITDA loss.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3578212-tempur-sealy-on-watch-after-strong-guidance-update?utm_medium=email&utm_source=seeking_alpha&mail_subject=tpx-tempur-sealy-on-watch-after-strong-guidance-update&utm_campaign=rta-stock-news&utm_content=link-3
May 21, 2020
More Dow Midland Updates
Midland — Dow Inc. activated its emergency operations center at its Midland facilities Wednesday after flood waters reached historic levels and mixed with chemical plant containment ponds, raising fears of an environmental disaster. Another fear: That the deluge will stir up cancer-causing dioxins in the river downstream of the federal Superfund site.
The multinational chemicals giant headquartered in Midland temporarily shut down its operations in the Michigan Operations industrial park as the failure of two dams on the Tittabawassee River forced thousands of residents to evacuate. The company’s operating units were shut down except for facilities needed for safely managing chemical containment, company spokesman Kyle Bandlow said in a statement.
The potential release of any chemicals in the containment ponds is just one concern that could necessitate environmental remediation once the water recedes. The historic flood also has stirred up the contaminated sediment laying at the bottom of the Tittabawassee River put there by the Dow plant that helped build the city around it. The 1,900-acre facility abuts the river, and for years dangerous dioxins contaminated it, pushing the federal government to create a Superfund site there.
“The chemicals that are there as part of the Superfund site in the river are in the sediments and they do not break down. All this flood is doing is moving those around and possibly moving those around into the flood plain,” said Allen Burton, a professor of environment and sustainability and of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Michigan. “I’m assuming Dow or the state will have to go in after and do a lot of sampling in the river and the flood plain to see if there are any pockets of contamination.”
The prospect worries Terry Miller, chairperson of the Lone Tree Council, a local environmental group that pushed for years to have the site cleaned up. Miller is now the secretary of the Saginaw-Tittabawassee Rivers Contamination Community Advisory Group created through the Superfund to allow for exchange of information between residents and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“We have been working on this damn thing for 13 years with Dow, the EPA, with the state and we are real concerned,” Miller said. His fear: That all of the work to stabilize contaminated banks ”may be literally eroded. I hope that’s not the case. I sincerely do. A lot of people and a lot of money have gone into this cleanup.”
To stabilize the banks, old soil was removed and new soil was put in, but there still are toxins deep in the soil that Miller is concerned will surface and make their way back into the river.
“This is a supreme test of the success of this stabilization and cleanup process,” he said. “And I’m worried.”
The containment pond mingling with flood waters may be less of a concern. Dow said late Wednesday that the pond is used for storm water and brine system/groundwater remediation and the material “does not create any threat to residents or environmental damage.”
“The reality is there’s a massive amount of water which means a massive amount of dilution, so in all likelihood any chemicals that escape are going to be diluted below levels of concern,” UM’s Burton said.
Additionally, Dow said there has been no reported release of chemicals from its manufacturing facilities.
Dow is working with its site tenants and Midland County officials, and has partnered with the U.S. Coast Guard to activate emergency plans. The state’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has also been “in regular contact with Dow regarding the impacts of the flood on their facilities and are ready to assist, as needed,” a department spokesman said.
Midland is where a young Herbert Henry Dow founded the Dow Chemical Co. in 1897.
Dow’s Michigan Operations now encompass a 1,900-acre manufacturing site in the city where some 3,000 people work to support 10 Dow businesses that operate 26 manufacturing plants, according to the company. The site also is home to a research and development campus.
Dow in 2019 separated from the DowDupont conglomerate; the Dow Michigan Operations Industrial Park is made of Dow facilities as well as other tenant companies.
The company makes everything from automotive materials to insecticides to polymers for food and liquid packaging materials in Midland, according to its website. Dow has numerous other facilities in the city, including a corporate center that sits on 150 acres.
Last June, the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a settlement with a Dow Silicones Corp. for the company to spend about $1.6 million on supplemental environmental projects and to pay a $4.55 million penalty to resolve several environmental violations at its Midland facility.
In November, Dow entered into an agreement with the federal, state and tribal governments to settle an environmental complaint for an estimated $77 million. The funds are to restore fish, wildlife and habitats harmed when hazardous substances were released in past decades from Dow’s manufacturing facility in Midland.
Beyond any new environmental issues at Dow’s operations caused by the flood, there is also potential contamination from overwhelmed wastewater treatment plants and likely contamination from chemicals like paint and solvents from inside people’s homes.
“All of that bad stuff is just getting moved around,” Burton said. “There will be public health concerns in any of these zones that got flooded because you never know what’s going to be there. It’s going to be important to have a good sampling after this is over.”
khall@detroitnews.com
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/2020/05/20/dow-moves-shut-down-midland-operations-amid-historic-flooding/5227509002/
May 21, 2020
More Dow Midland Updates
Midland — Dow Inc. activated its emergency operations center at its Midland facilities Wednesday after flood waters reached historic levels and mixed with chemical plant containment ponds, raising fears of an environmental disaster. Another fear: That the deluge will stir up cancer-causing dioxins in the river downstream of the federal Superfund site.
The multinational chemicals giant headquartered in Midland temporarily shut down its operations in the Michigan Operations industrial park as the failure of two dams on the Tittabawassee River forced thousands of residents to evacuate. The company’s operating units were shut down except for facilities needed for safely managing chemical containment, company spokesman Kyle Bandlow said in a statement.
The potential release of any chemicals in the containment ponds is just one concern that could necessitate environmental remediation once the water recedes. The historic flood also has stirred up the contaminated sediment laying at the bottom of the Tittabawassee River put there by the Dow plant that helped build the city around it. The 1,900-acre facility abuts the river, and for years dangerous dioxins contaminated it, pushing the federal government to create a Superfund site there.
“The chemicals that are there as part of the Superfund site in the river are in the sediments and they do not break down. All this flood is doing is moving those around and possibly moving those around into the flood plain,” said Allen Burton, a professor of environment and sustainability and of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Michigan. “I’m assuming Dow or the state will have to go in after and do a lot of sampling in the river and the flood plain to see if there are any pockets of contamination.”
The prospect worries Terry Miller, chairperson of the Lone Tree Council, a local environmental group that pushed for years to have the site cleaned up. Miller is now the secretary of the Saginaw-Tittabawassee Rivers Contamination Community Advisory Group created through the Superfund to allow for exchange of information between residents and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“We have been working on this damn thing for 13 years with Dow, the EPA, with the state and we are real concerned,” Miller said. His fear: That all of the work to stabilize contaminated banks ”may be literally eroded. I hope that’s not the case. I sincerely do. A lot of people and a lot of money have gone into this cleanup.”
To stabilize the banks, old soil was removed and new soil was put in, but there still are toxins deep in the soil that Miller is concerned will surface and make their way back into the river.
“This is a supreme test of the success of this stabilization and cleanup process,” he said. “And I’m worried.”
The containment pond mingling with flood waters may be less of a concern. Dow said late Wednesday that the pond is used for storm water and brine system/groundwater remediation and the material “does not create any threat to residents or environmental damage.”
“The reality is there’s a massive amount of water which means a massive amount of dilution, so in all likelihood any chemicals that escape are going to be diluted below levels of concern,” UM’s Burton said.
Additionally, Dow said there has been no reported release of chemicals from its manufacturing facilities.
Dow is working with its site tenants and Midland County officials, and has partnered with the U.S. Coast Guard to activate emergency plans. The state’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has also been “in regular contact with Dow regarding the impacts of the flood on their facilities and are ready to assist, as needed,” a department spokesman said.
Midland is where a young Herbert Henry Dow founded the Dow Chemical Co. in 1897.
Dow’s Michigan Operations now encompass a 1,900-acre manufacturing site in the city where some 3,000 people work to support 10 Dow businesses that operate 26 manufacturing plants, according to the company. The site also is home to a research and development campus.
Dow in 2019 separated from the DowDupont conglomerate; the Dow Michigan Operations Industrial Park is made of Dow facilities as well as other tenant companies.
The company makes everything from automotive materials to insecticides to polymers for food and liquid packaging materials in Midland, according to its website. Dow has numerous other facilities in the city, including a corporate center that sits on 150 acres.
Last June, the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a settlement with a Dow Silicones Corp. for the company to spend about $1.6 million on supplemental environmental projects and to pay a $4.55 million penalty to resolve several environmental violations at its Midland facility.
In November, Dow entered into an agreement with the federal, state and tribal governments to settle an environmental complaint for an estimated $77 million. The funds are to restore fish, wildlife and habitats harmed when hazardous substances were released in past decades from Dow’s manufacturing facility in Midland.
Beyond any new environmental issues at Dow’s operations caused by the flood, there is also potential contamination from overwhelmed wastewater treatment plants and likely contamination from chemicals like paint and solvents from inside people’s homes.
“All of that bad stuff is just getting moved around,” Burton said. “There will be public health concerns in any of these zones that got flooded because you never know what’s going to be there. It’s going to be important to have a good sampling after this is over.”
khall@detroitnews.com
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/2020/05/20/dow-moves-shut-down-midland-operations-amid-historic-flooding/5227509002/
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