Business Roundup

LyondellBasell Industries and the agricultural film recycler AFA Nord plan to build a plant in northern Germany to recycle flexible packaging waste. The plant will have an output of 26,000 metric tons per year and will be completed by early 2025.

Lubrizol plans to spend $150 million on expansions in India. As part of the program, the company plans to build a chlorinated polyvinyl chloride plant in Vilayat, India, with joint venture partner Grasim Industries, a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Group.

Shell is undertaking a strategic review of its energy and chemical plant assets on Bukom and Jurong Islands in Singapore. The review will determine how the company can use the two sites to offer its customers more low-carbon solutions.

WE Soda, the world’s largest producer of natural soda ash, has canceled plans to list its shares on the London Stock Exchange. The company says the share valuation by prospective investors in the UK was below its expectations.

Evonik Industries has joined EarLi, a German technology consortium that aims to develop a process for the recovery of lithium from old lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles. Led by ACCUREC Recycling, the consortium has secured funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

Sicona Battery Technologies has raised $15 million in series A funding to help fund a plant in the US that will produce silicon-based materials for battery anodes. The company says its silicon materials provide batteries with much more capacity than typical graphite materials.

Wacker Chemie is increasing production of ultrapure polysilicon for computer chips by 50% at its facility in Burghausen, Germany. The company says the expansion is driven by demand for advanced computer chips that require very pure materials.

Astellas Pharma and the protein degrader developer Cullgen are teaming up to find multiple protein degraders. Astellas will pay Cullgen $35 million up front, and Cullgen could collect upward of $1.9 billion if Astellas exercises every license option and all milestones are hit.