Scientists at BP ( www.bp.com) have developed a new process for producing the PET feedstock, PTA (purified terephthalic acid), at the company´s research centre in Napperville, Illinois/USA. This new technology will permit a considerable reduction in the size and material consumption of production facilities which, in turn, will bring down the investment and variable production costs and relieve the burden on the environment at the same time, according to Patrick Prevost, BP board member for PTA Europe and America. The amount of waste occurring and the water consumption will be reduced threefold, according to Prevost, and the company has also announced a halving of the amount of solid waste and the complete elimination of volatile emissions.

The PTA research project cost BP around USD 25m. The new technology is to be employed in China to begin with. A start was made on building the Zhuhai plant in November already. The next PTA facility at the Taiwanese BP joint venture Capco will similarly be run with the new technology. The company is considering constructing a 700,000 t/y plant in the USA. Capacity expansions and a switchover to the new technology constitute the focus of the plans for Europe. BP is initially intending to restrict the production process to projects where a major level of own capital participation is possible.