<article><p class="lead">Finnish refiner Neste has entered into a long-term agreement to supply 100pc bio-based renewable feedstock for processing into polymers at global petrochemical firm LyondellBassell's cracker and polyolefin plant in Wesseling, Germany.</p><p>LyondellBassell will market the polymers under its Circulen brand, which is certified by the ISCC Plus certification system. Annual offtake volumes were not disclosed.</p><p>It is the latest in a series of deals between Neste and petrochemical and polymer producers. In November last year, South Korean petrochemical producer LG Chem announced <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2157435">plans to start replacing some of its fossil fuel feedstock with Neste's renewable hydrocarbons</a> by the second half of 2021. In June 2019, Neste and LyondellBasell said they had produced <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/1923637">commercial volumes of polyethylene and polypropylene using over 30pc of bio-based renewable feedstock</a>.</p><p>Neste uses its proprietary NEXBTL refining technology to produce renewable hydrocarbons from raw materials such as used cooking oil (UCO), palm fatty acid distillate (Pfad) and palm oil. The firm said earlier this year that it aims to increase the <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2192520">share of its waste and residue feedstocks to 100pc by 2025</a> and to use advanced feedstocks compliant with criteria included in the EU's recast Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) for renewables production. The company used 3.7mn t of renewable feedstocks in 2020. Waste and residue raw materials made up 83pc of its global renewable raw material inputs last year, up from 80pc in 2019.</p><p>Animal fats, UCO and wastes and residues from vegetable oil processing were the most commonly used, but Neste continues to use sustainably-produced vegetable oils. Its share of vegetable oils and conventional palm oil has become "significantly smaller over the past decade and continued to decrease in 2020", the company said. Many petrochemicals producers do not normally accept renewable feedstocks produced from palm oil or animal fats, mainly for marketing reasons, according to industry sources.</p><p class="bylines">Sam Hashmi, Alex Sands and Giulia Squadrin</p></article>
