Vioneo and Honeywell partners to reshape plastic production using green methanol

By Staff Report January 16, 2025 4:05 pm IST

The €1.5 billion project proposed for Antwerp, Belgium, intends to reduce dependency on fossil fuel-based feedstocks, dramatically lowering greenhouse gas emissions and assisting Europe’s transition to a sustainable, net-zero future.

Vioneo and Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON) have announced that Vioneo would use Honeywell’s technology to create polymers using green methanol at a new facility in Antwerp, Belgium. Vioneo will make polymers using Honeywell’s breakthrough methanol-to-olefin (MTO) conversion technology, eliminating the requirement for traditional fossil fuel-based feedstock.

Honeywell’s superior MTO technology will allow Vioneo to replace coal and crude oil in its plastic production processes with green methanol, which contains only biogenic carbon dioxide. This can reduce the high carbon emissions associated with fossil fuel-derived plastic while also enabling the manufacture of propylene and ethylene, which are vital components found in a variety of common things such as medical equipment, food packaging, automotive parts, personal care products, and toys.

“Vioneo aims to help transition the plastics industry by demonstrating that large-scale, cleaner production is economically viable using green methanol as an alternative to fossil fuel. This initiative offers Europe a chance to lead the €5 trillion chemicals and materials sector’s defossilisation movement. Our collaboration with Honeywell for our Antwerp production facility marks a key step in our plans to support this transition,” says Alex Hogan, Chief Executive Officer, Vioneo.

Vioneo intends to use the technology at a new €1.5 billion facility in Antwerp, Belgium. This factory will run on green methanol made from renewable energy-based hydrogen and biomaterials, as well as renewable electricity. This method intends to considerably cut greenhouse gas emissions while also supporting the energy transition, one of three compelling megatrends with which Honeywell’s portfolio aligns.

“Vioneo’s Antwerp plant has the potential to significantly decrease greenhouse gas emissions, and help position Europe as a leader in lower emissions industrial innovation. We are delighted to be a critical technology partner to this initiative,” says Rajesh Gattupalli, President of Honeywell UOP. “Our MTO technology helps support the industry’s commitment to reducing emissions and the European Union’s ambitious climate goals. This technology will play a crucial role in helping transform the production of olefins, helping advance the shift away from plastics made from fossil-derived feedstocks and supporting a path to a net-zero emissions future for the region.”

Vioneo will also use Honeywell’s light olefins recovery process (LORP) and olefin cracking process (OCP) to produce high-purity ethylene and propylene while capturing and recycling byproducts. This method minimises waste, conserves energy, lowers expenses, and increases yield.

The Antwerp-based factory will be developed in phases, beginning with a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) in the fourth quarter of 2024 and perhaps a Final Investment Decision (FID) in 2025. Commercial operations are expected to start in 2028.