The announcement comes as ACC marks the 25th anniversary of Responsible Care, an industry environmental, health, safety and security performance initiative focused on the safe, responsible, sustainable management of chemicals. Participation in Responsible Care is a condition of ACC membership.

“Making safe, innovative products has been and continues to be a core value for the chemical industry,” said ACC President and CEO Cal Dooley. “The Product Safety Code champions transparency, accountability and science-based product development and improvement, to give consumers added confidence in the safety of the products they use every day.”

Under the Product Safety Code, each ACC member makes a public pledge to implement 11 industry best practices to evaluate and continuously improve their product safety performance. Adherence to these practices will be mandatory and regularly verified by independent auditors. The Product Safety Code requires companies to:

– Manage the safety of their products, from inception to use, reuse, recycling and disposal.

– Undertake scientific analyses of their products, with close consideration of how they are used by all consumers, especially children.

– Provide public access to product safety information.

– Share information along the supply chain so that products are used safety.

– Continuously evaluate new information that may have product safety implications.

– Take corrective measures if they discover improper practices involving a product.

“The public needs to know the products they rely on every day are safe. As we commemorate 25 years of Responsible Care, we renew our commitment to the safety and integrity of our products,” said Sven Royall, Chair of the ACC Board Committee on Responsible Care and Vice President of Global Intermediates at Shell Chemicals. “Under the Product Safety Code, our industry takes an important next step in creating a comprehensive set of practices to which we will not only subscribe, but also confirm our adherence through third-party validation.”

ACC has also developed a new Responsible Care Process Safety Code to expand and strengthen safe operations throughout the chemical manufacturing process. Companies identify and prioritize the hazards and risks of their processes and promote systems to manage, mitigate and share information about these risks. Implementation of this Code is also mandatory for ACC member companies.

The announcement was made at the 2013 Responsible Care Conference and Expo, where industry leaders from across the country are gathering to discuss the latest developments in product safety and the future of the chemical industry.

Through Responsible Care, ACC members are required to report environment, health, safety and security performance data annually. Data are posted on a public website, which allows the public to see individual company data and compare it to other companies.

For more information on the 25th anniversary of Responsible Care and the Product Safety Code, please visit: www.americanchemistry.com/rc.

http://www.americanchemistry.com

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) represents the leading companies engaged in the business of chemistry. ACC members apply the science of chemistry to make innovative products and services that make people’s lives better, healthier and safer. ACC is committed to improved environmental, health and safety performance through Responsible Care�, common sense advocacy designed to address major public policy issues, and health and environmental research and product testing. The business of chemistry is a $760 billion enterprise and a key element of the nation’s economy. It is the largest exporting sector in the U.S., accounting for 12 percent of U.S. exports. Chemistry companies are among the largest investors in research and development. Safety and security have always been primary concerns of ACC members, and they have intensified their efforts, working closely with government agencies to improve security and to defend against any threat to the nation’s critical infrastructure.

“As a company, we understand the needs of electronics manufacturers,” says J. Steel Hutchinson , the third-generation owner and president of GFS Chemicals. “Product consistency, predictable and responsive delivery times, competitive prices and a secure supply chain. We can now meet those needs with an electronics-grade Ceric Ammonium Nitrate (CAN) product suitable for etching applications.”

CAN is typically used to make a chrome etchant for the manufacture of electronic microcircuits. GFS now produces the chemical in both commercial and electronics grade and can produce higher purity products for customers with more stringent trace metal requirements.  The new electronics-grade product is suitable for common electronic etching applications and can be used as feedstock by etchant manufacturers who want to offer a range of CAN-based etchants.

“We do all of the CAN manufacturing in our Columbus, OH, production facility and have established a very stable supply chain for the raw materials,” says Hutchinson. “By controlling all of the production locally, we can produce a product with a consistency and purity that our customers can’t always find overseas. Making an electronics-grade CAN part of our standard product offering allows us to produce it in large batches to keep our prices highly competitive.”

GFS Chemicals uses both overseas and domestic raw materials and does extensive testing to ensure the quality of the final product. “GFS can offer shorter lead times and a product that is highly consistent batch to batch,” says Robert Kramer , Quality and Technical Sales Manager. “We also guarantee transparency in our sourcing and operations and highly responsive customer service that is unmatched by overseas suppliers.”

In addition to CAN, GFS Chemicals produces a wide range of high-purity acids and other chemicals that support the electronics industry. GFS’s “Process Perfect” batch processing approach allows them to produce specialty chemicals and customized products in large quantities while maintaining a high level of consistency between batches. GFS also provides “total product lifecycle” solutions for clients who need guaranteed consistency from R&D to full production scale.

The new electronics-grade CAN is available immediately for etchant manufacturers, electronics manufacturers and other industrial clients in multi-ton batch sizes. GFS also produces custom etchants to meet specific application requirements.

About GFS Chemicals, Inc.
GFS Chemicals, Inc., was established in 1928 and is a third-generation, privately held business with facilities in Columbus and Powell, OH. GFS has three strategic business units: Inorganic Specialty Chemicals Manufacturing (high purity & anhydrous materials for critical applications), Organic Specialty Chemicals Manufacturing (acetylenes, olefins and specialty Grignards) and Research and Analytical Reagents (branded reagent laboratory chemicals). GFS has more than 100 employees located at three separate manufacturing facilities and their administrative offices.

For more information, e-mail inorganicdevelopment@gfschemicals.com.

Lignin is associated with cellulose – plant matter which is often used to make paper and biofuels – and is a complex organic material found in trees and other plants.

However, according Shannon Stahl, a UW-Madison professor of chemistry and expert in catalysis and green chemistry, the complexity of lignin makes it difficult to convert into valuable products.

“Lignin is essentially a waste product of making biofuel, and it is usually just burned as a fuel or used as a low-cost additive in asphalt or concrete,” explained Stahl.

“If we could take this waste lignin and increase its value, we could improve the economics for biomass derived fuels and provide a chemical feedstock that does not rely on fossil fuels,” he continued.

Oxidation

According to Stahl chemists have previously taken lignin apart previously with oxidation, but it is a process which can be akin to smashing something with a sledgehammer, leaving shrapnel everywhere.

“You get some of what you want, but much of it ends up as unusable bits and pieces,” he said.

The university explained that the focus of this work is to very selectively oxidise the lignin under very mild pressure and temperature with a catalyst that is specific for a single structure on the lignin molecule.

“It’s like using a scalpel and tweezers, rather than a sledgehammer, and getting exactly what we want from the molecule, and nothing else. Theoretically, the only byproduct of the process is water,” added the professor.

Final use?

According to Stahl the use of lignin as a source of chemical feedstocks is part of an emerging subfield of chemistry being built around biomass-derived chemicals.

However, the professor admitted that it’s not yet possible to know how the new intermediates would be used to make final products.

“The way the chemical industry is built, you take what nature gives you and find ways to convert it into interesting and important products that people want to buy. Ultimately, methods of this type can be used to limit our reliance on non-renewable chemicals,” commented Stahl.

“Rather than having tankers loaded with crude oil supplying the raw material for fuels, plastics and pharmaceuticals, we could start with renewable feedstocks,” he concluded.

The research was carried out in collaboration with John Ralph, a professor of biochemistry associated with the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center on the UW campus.

The researchers have applied for a patent on the process, and patent rights have been assigned to the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

To read the original article, please go to: http://www.waste-management-world.com/articles/2013/04/method-to-oxidise-renewable-chemicals-biofuel-byproducts.html

ICIS is pleased to welcome international management consultancy Roland Berger Strategy Consultants as overall sponsor of the Awards. Roland Berger will also continue as sponsor of the Best Product Innovation category this year.

Neil Checker, a partner at Roland Berger and also a member of the Awards judging panel, comments that: “We are honoured and delighted to have the opportunity to take on the role of overall sponsor of this prestigious award programme, following on from our support in previous years as Best Product Innovation sponsor.

“Together with our fellow sponsors we look forward with excitement to reviewing the submissions this year and honouring the winners.”

U.S Chemicals (http://www.uschemicals.com) is again sponsoring the Innovation with Best Environmental Benefit category. And this year ICIS welcomes for the first time Italy’s Versalis (http://www.eni.com/brand_eni/en/marchio/versalis/case_history.shtml) and US-based distributor Nexeo Solutions (http://www.nexeosolutions.com) as new sponsors, for the Best Innovation for Sustainability and the Best Business Innovation categories, respectively.

The awards enable companies to celebrate their success in the vital activity of innovation and the increasingly important areas of sustainability and environmental performance.

There are five categories to enter:

• Best Product Innovation – sponsored by Roland Berger
• Best Innovation by a Small or Medium-sized Enterprise (SME)
• Best Business Innovation- sponsored by Nexeo Solutions
• Best Innovation for Sustainability - sponsored by Versalis
• Innovation with the Best Environmental Benefit – sponsored by U.S. Chemicals

John Baker , global editor at ICIS and organiser of the Awards, notes that: “We are delighted to be celebrating the 10^th anniversary of the Awards this year. They continue to grow and gain industry support. We once again look forward to highlighting the very best of innovation in the chemical industry later in the year.

“There is tremendous effort and investment going into innovation in the chemical sector today, as companies seek answers to many of society’s global problems and seek to ensure their long-term sustainability.”

The Awards are open to entry from today, with a deadline for entries of 3 July 2013. The winners will be announced on 21 October 2013.

For more information or to enter the awards, visit http://www.icis.com/awards or call John Baker on +44-20-8652-3153.

FOCUS 2013, JDA’s annual global conference, is the place to be for supply chain professionals who want to network, share best practices and hear how industry leaders are achieving supply chain, merchandising and pricing excellence. Whether you’re looking for ways to improve your business process planning, drive cost efficiencies or maximize ROI for the supply chain solutions you currently have, FOCUS 2013 delivers unparalleled supply chain expertise.

Ray Kurzweil, Author, Inventor and Futurist: Ray Kurzweil is one of the world’s leading inventors, thinkers, and futurists, with a 30-year track record of accurate predictions. Called “the restless genius” by The Wall Street Journal and “the ultimate thinking machine” by Forbes magazine, Kurzweil was selected as one of the top entrepreneurs by Inc. magazine, which described him as the “rightful heir to Thomas Edison.” PBS selected him as one of the “sixteen revolutionaries who made America.”

Rudy Giuliani, 107th Mayor of NYC: Rudy Giuliani brings a wealth of leadership experience and executive know-how to the FOCUS main stage. Dubbed the “Mayor of the World” and named Person of the Year by TIME Magazine following the attacks on New York on September 11, 2001, Giuliani was lauded for his bravery and leadership during some of America’s darkest days.

For more information, or to attend this event, visit: http://www.jda.com/focus/speakers.html

Welcome to Cedar Bayou — a 3D maze of silver pipes and round towers in Baytown. According to KUHF FM News, for the first time in over a decade, this Chevron Phillips complex is growing.  Just ask Perry Cessna.

“With my hiring group, we had over 20 individuals. This last hiring group they just hired, it was over 20 individuals as well. It’s been a lot of growth in a short period of time.”

Perry grew up in the petrochemical industry. His grandfather worked for Exxon. His father worked for a smaller company in his hometown of Hardin. And since June of last year, the twenty-eight-year-old has been a plant worker at Cedar Bayou.

Chevron Phillips is upgrading its chemical manufacturing facilities — both here and down the coast in Old Ocean — at a cost of $5 billion. It’s a huge turnaround from when Perry was a teenager. Peter Cella is CEO of Chevron Phillips Chemical.

“For most of the last 20 years, the best places for growth capital have been in the Middle East.”

Cella says the main factor in deciding where to build a chemical plant is the affordability of raw materials — chiefly, natural gas liquids. To attract investment, countries like Saudi Arabia provided subsidies to keep these feed stocks cheap. When natural gas prices started climbing in the 1990s, U.S. companies stopped investing in plants at home.

Stephen Arbogast was treasurer of Exxon Mobil Chemical from 1999 to 2004. He now teaches at the University of Houston’s Bauer College of Business.

“I remember seeing strategy studies that essentially said the U.S. chemical industry was going to be like Europe. Nothing new was ever going to get built.”

That was a concern for Earl Shipp of Dow Chemical. To stay with the company, Shipp had to leave Dow’s Freeport facility and move to Dubai for five years. He’s now back in Freeport, running all of Dow’s Texas operations. He says what brought him home, and what triggered the multibillion-dollar building boom, is the availability of cheap natural gas liquids.

“We have low cost, affordable feed stocks again in North America. It’s the start of what some of us in the industry call a renewal of our industry in the United States.”

Dow and Chevron Phillips plan to hire well over a thousand workers to staff the new plants, and that’s just the start. Again, Chevron Phillips’ CEO Peter Cella.

“For every one direct chemical job in one of our plants, there are six additional indirect or induced jobs to serve that job.”

The industry’s rebirth is making the region a magnet for manufacturing workers from all over the country. And it means locals like Perry Cessna can carry on a family tradition. That’s all the more important, because Perry’s family is growing too. He just became a father for the first time.

To hear the entire news cast or to read the original article on this topic, please go to: http://app1.kuhf.org/articles/1364403333-Chemical-Industry-Rides-Crest-Of-Natural-Gas-Wave.html

“We report a new physical phenomenon that has potentially significant practical implications,” says Suljo Linic, an associate professor of chemical engineering, who led the study, which is published in Science.

Copper’s newfound ability to shake off oxygen attached to its surface could allow it to act as a catalyst for a long-sought reaction, causing oxygen molecules to bind with propylene molecules in the way that forms propylene oxide. Propylene oxide is a precursor for making many plastics, toiletries, and other household products such as antifreeze, paints, and insulating foams. To meet demand for these products, the U.S. produces more than 2.4 million metric tons of propylene oxide per year, worth about $4.9 billion.

Unfortunately, producing propylene oxide involves a complex chain of reactions that generate unwanted chemicals. The process that provides about half of the propylene oxide in the U.S. also produces about twice as many tons of salt.

A catalyst that can coax propylene and oxygen to form propylene oxide in a direct reaction, avoiding the waste, has been called a “holy grail” of catalysis. Metallic copper showed promise, but it had—until now—been written off because it tends to bind itself to oxygen, forming copper oxide, which has poor catalytic properties.

“Copper in metallic form has this unique electronic structure that activates the reaction pathway for propylene oxide more than the undesired pathways,” says Marimuthu Andiappan, a graduate student in chemical engineering and first author on the paper.

The test reactor holds the catalyst in a tiny circular bed and exposes it to propylene and oxygen gasses. When the reactor is closed, a light shines down from the top, allowing the copper to keep the oxygen from binding to its surface. The copper can instead bind the propylene to the oxygen, forming the industrially important chemical propylene oxide. Image: Joseph Xu, Michigan Engineering Communications & MarketingThe test reactor holds the catalyst in a tiny circular bed and exposes it to propylene and oxygen gasses. When the reactor is closed, a light shines down from the top, allowing the copper to keep the oxygen from binding to its surface. The copper can instead bind the propylene to the oxygen, forming the industrially important chemical propylene oxide. Image: Joseph Xu, Michigan Engineering Communications & MarketingMetallic copper prefers to bind oxygen with two of the propylene’s carbon atoms, forming propylene oxide. Copper oxide, on the other hand, tends to break the propylene down into carbon dioxide or attach the oxygen to only one carbon atom, resulting in the herbicide acrolein.

However, Andiappan, Linic, and former chemical engineering graduate student Jianwen Zhang found that if copper is cleverly structured, light can reverse its oxidation. The team made copper nanoparticles about 40 nanometers across. They peppered tiny particles of clear silica with the nanoparticles and then floated a gas of propylene and oxygen over the resulting dust.

In the dark, the copper oxidized, and only 20% of the gas converted to propylene oxide. But under white light, five times the sun’s intensity, the copper stayed in the metallic state and turned 50% of the propylene into propylene oxide.

“To our knowledge, this is the first time anyone has shown that light can be used to switch the oxidation state from an oxide to a metallic state,” Andiappan says.

The metallic copper under the oxidized surface concentrated the light, freeing electrons from copper atoms. Those electrons then broke the bonds between the copper and oxygen.

A new kind of reactor that can illuminate the catalyst will be needed to bring this potentially cheap and environmentally friendly way of making propylene oxide to industry.

“Theoretically, it is possible to use mirrors to focus sunlight and get this much intensity,” Andiappan says.

“We are just scratching the surface,” Linic says. “I can envision many processes that wouldn’t be possible with conventional strategies, where changing the oxidation state during the reaction or driving reactions with light could affect the outcome dramatically.”

Source: University of Michigan

“Chemical companies that are signatories to RC have the benefit of support, training, guidance and information regarding chemical safety. The RC initiative supports the chemicals and related industries’ contributions by providing posters, guidance documents and codes of practice for the safe management of chemicals throughout their life cycle”, says RC manager Louise Lindeque.

“A good chemical safety program is more than a file of documents; it is an integral, evolving, vital element of everyday business.” A safety program is not just for large chemicals manufacturers, but will benefit all companies that implement it, no matter how small, she notes.

“Implementing a chemical-safety management-process system within a company is necessary for the environment and the safety of employees and communities, and also makes financial sense. A chemical safety program does not only prevent on-site accidents and injuries or damage to property, but can also save lives, save on insurance costs and [guard against] reputation damage to companies and the chemicals industry at large,” Lindeque highlights.

She explains that the safe management of chemicals is about knowing the chemical substances that a company works with and the potential hazards that the chemicals pose, assessing the risk to employees and preventing or controlling exposure to these hazardous substances as much as possible.

For manufacturers, this entails the classification and correct labeling of hazardous substances; providing an appropriate safety data sheet and knowing if a substance is restricted or banned, whether nationally or internationally; and whether it is on the list of substances that are of very high concern, she says.

In light of this, safety becomes a priority for companies that supply products and equipment to the chemicals industry.

Safety solutions company MSA says its expertise in providing petrochemicals companies such as BASF, Chevron, Shell South Africa and Schlumberger, with its PrimaX gas-detection transmitter has led to its market share growing, owing to the safety the product guarantees.

“MSA’s PrimaX gas-detection transmitter has been developed for the oil and gas, and petrochemicals and chemicals industries because it closely monitors combustible gases, toxic gases and oxygen deficiency. MSA supplies instruments that can be integrated into individually configured system solutions to meet a customer’s safety requirements,” says MSA fixed gas flame detection product manager Robbie Taitz.

PrimaX supports a 4 mA to 20 mA output and operates on an input power supply of 19.2 V direct current (dc) to 28 Vdc . It has an integral mounting plate for quick and easy installation and an easy-to-read liquid crystal display. PrimaX consists of a plug-in replacement sensor and is available with NPT three-quarter or M25 cable gland inputs.

The PrimaX has a wide operating temperature capability from –40 °C to 70 °C, and a comprehensive range of sensors to detect most of the common industry gases which need to be considered for safety reasons.

“This product holds huge potential for the middle segment of the market. It has been around for about two years and its current market share is about 3%, which we believe will continue to grow strongly,” says Taitz.

RC mentions that appropriately managing chemicals involves commitment from all the employees in a company, both managers and workers. “Too often, information on chemical hazards is known only to a supervisor or is locked away in a cabinet where no one ever sees it,” concludes Lindeque.

To read the complete article, please visit Engineering News: http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/adequate-safety-management-on-the-rise-in-chemicals-industry-2013-03-22

Spokeswoman Kathryn Murray St. John said in an email, the group is concerned the bill would unnecessarily alarm parents about some children’s products.

She says it’s not good policy to say that the mere presence of a chemical can cause harm when the product has been approved by scientists at regulatory agencies.

The bill is patterned after a Washington state law. Companies with sales of more than $5 million would have to report products containing the substances, and how many are sold in Oregon. After five years, the companies would have to use something else unless they qualified for a waiver.

The measure is House Bill 3162: Requires Oregon Health Authority to maintain list of designated high priority chemicals of concern for children’s health used in children’s products. The bill details are: Requires authority to post list, and information regarding health impacts associated with exposure to each chemical, on authority’s website. Requires authority to periodically review and revise list. Requires manufacturers of certain children’s products to provide notice to authority regarding chemicals on list. Provides that, five years after chemical is placed on list, manufacturer must seek waiver if manufacturer continues to sell children’s product containing chemical. Allows authority to enter into certain data-sharing agreements with other states. Allows authority to participate in Interstate Chemicals Clearinghouse. Allows authority to establish certain fees by rule. Allows authority to impose civil penalties. Allows authority to accept certain funding. Requires manufacturers to submit certain hazard assessments to authority. Establishes High Priority Chemicals of Concern for Children’s Health Fund. Continuously appropriates moneys in fund to authority. Specifies uses of moneys. Declares emergency, effective on passage.

Small, locally owned company makes a good product. As the company grows, foreign competitors enter the market, selling the same product at a cheaper price because their labor costs are minimal and they don’t have to comply with the same environmental rules governing U.S. companies.

The local company can’t compete, closes, and jobs are lost. Overseas competition rules the market.

That easily could have happened to the 100 workers at Nation Ford Chemical, a growing Fort Mill firm near the banks of the Catawba River. The company is the leader in several niches of the chemical industry, including crude violet pigment used in inks, and sulfanilic acid used in food coloring dyes and as a brightening agents for papers.

Instead of floundering, Nation Ford Chemical owner John Dickson decided to fight. He successfully lobbied for anti-dumping protection for both products.

When that wasn’t enough, he took a multinational company with deep pockets to court, alleging it had lied about where its products were made to avoid U.S. import duties, defrauding the United States out of millions of dollars.

Last December, Toyo Ink of Japan agreed to pay $45 million to the U.S. government to settle the allegations Dickson made about its production of crude violet pigment. His share of the settlement was almost $8 million, which was split between Nation Ford Chemical and Sun Chemical, the company that purchases the crude violent pigment from NFC.

The case, says Mickey Aberman, Dickson’s attorney, sends a signal to the chemical industry and others facing foreign competition: you can do this. A small company can be successful in fighting for fair trade protections.

But, Aberman cautions, you can’t do it without the likes of a John Dickson. You must have someone who knows his industry inside and out, on and off shore, and is willing to fight for the company.

“Dickson is tenacious and thorough,” said Jim DeLisi, president of Fanwood Chemical in New Jersey. “He has the ability to absorb information and play three-dimensional chess with it.”

The irony, says Aberman of the Charlotte law firm James McElroy and Diehl, is that many other companies have been similarly harmed but lacked the incentive to proceed.

Dickson, 75 with silver hair and glasses, doesn’t look like a David ready to slay a Goliath or Godzilla. He has spent most of his career in the chemical industry, helping found National Ford Chemical in 1978 and becoming its owner in 1990.

In the early 1990s, Dickson successfully lobbied for anti-dumping protection for sulfanilic acid, arguing firms in India and China were exporting the acid to U.S. companies at prices that were far less than fair market value. The exports were putting many small U.S. firms out of business, Dickson said.

At the time, Dickson was one of the few chemical executives arguing before the U.S. International Trade Commission. The commission agreed to anti-dumping tariffs so prices for domestic and imported acid would be competitive.

The commission has renewed the tariffs as recently as 2011 when it found that dropping the anti-dumping protections would lead to more foreign companies dumping sulfanilic acid in the United States.

He similarly fought for anti-dumping protection for crude violet pigment. But when it became apparent that foreign competitors had found a way around those rules, he filed suit under the Fair Claims Act. The act, which dates to the Civil War, is used to protect the government from fraud. It is generally used by whistleblowers involved with health care, military or other government spending programs.

Before filing the suit, Dickson went to China where he believed Toyo was buying the violet pigment. From his experience, Dickson knew you could buy all sorts of information for the right price in China.

He purchased the export data and had it translated. The data was pivotal in showing the violet crude was made in China. Toyo had claimed it had substantially refined the crude violet pigment, allowing it to claim the chemical was of Japanese origin.

Dickson and his lawyers filed a “scope review” request with the U.S. Department of Commerce, asking the department to determine where the crude violet pigment originated. Toyo was arguing it has substantially transformed pigment from China, giving it country of origin status.

Commerce determined the country of origin was China and “we stripped Toyo of its main defense,” Aberman said. The Department of Justice entered the suit and reached a good settlement, said Aberman and Dickson.

The result is Dickson’s good reputation in the chemical industry and the respect he has gained at the Commerce and Justice departments, and, most importantly, the International Trade Commission.

His expertise is now being sought by others, and you can see the respect the commission pays him, DeLisi said.

Most of all, however, Dickson protected his company and his industry.

“National Ford Chemical wouldn’t be there without John Dickson,” DeLisi said.

Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/2013/03/11/4682157/nation-ford-chemical-owners-fight.html#storylink=cpy