Month: September 2024

GR3N’s breakthrough new process to address current hard to recycle PET waste while meeting virgin-like qualitySchneider Electric’s software-defined automation system enabling operational agility to scale from proof of concept to industrial levelTogether, companies are fostering innovation, driving circularity across the chemicals sector

RUEIL-MALMAISON, France, September 19, 2024 /3BL/ – Schneider Electric, the world’s most sustainable company and leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation has partnered with GR3N, the Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) chemical recycler to create the first open automation system for the advanced plastic recycling industry.

With 50% of global plastic waste ending up in landfills and only 9% recycled, GR3N developed MADE, the Microwave Assisted DEpolymerization solution. This new process breaks down PET into its chemical building blocks that can be recombined to create new PET pellets with virgin-like quality for packaging and textiles, effectively closing the loop for hard to recycle plastic. The technology is based on alkaline hydrolysis, and it can manage a higher amount of impurities compared to the existing ones.

In March 2024, GR3N successfully demonstrated MADE and the power of Schneider Electric’s open automation technology, EcoStruxure Automation Expert at its demonstration site in Italy. MADE plant is conceived to anticipate the usage of all the technologies that will be finally adopted for the first industrial-scale facility, foreseen to be installed in Spain and with an expected capacity of over 40.000 ton/year of PET waste treated. The intrinsic modularity of GR3N’s proprietary recycling process has allowed MADE to be the first plastic recycling plant to use the shared automation runtime managed by Universal Automation, based on the IEC 61499 standard.

The software-defined automation system decouples hardware from software, allowing devices and equipment to be freely connected across architecture layers, regardless of manufacturer. It acts as the digital backbone of industrial operations at the plant, providing the foundation to make more informed decisions. This approach allows MADE to be also technological demonstration of a new generation of automation systems, where the intertwining between OT and IT enables the exploitation of advanced functionalities for operations management and data analytics.

“Through software-defined automation and hardware independence, we have been able to effectively de-risk our operations and push the boundaries of our technology,” said Fabio Silvestri, Head of Marketing and Business Development at GR3N. “We’ve been able to reconfigure our systems quickly when we see opportunities to improve efficiency, while avoiding supply chain issues due the hardware agnostic nature of the system. This is what is needed to make advanced plastic recycling at reality at scale.”

Due to EcoStruxure Automation Expert’s modular, agnostic nature, GR3N was able to choose the optimal technology for the demonstration plant and easily scale to new sites. Benefits include:

Industrial scalability – significantly minimizes the risk of investment during the scale-up of GR3N’s technology towards the First of a Kind (FOAK) industrial plant, while offering a new way to protect its intellectual property as process licensor.Design flexibility – vendor and hardware agnostic system enabled GR3N to design the best possible solution without being held back by vendor lock in or being impacted by supply chain issues.Engineering time and time-to-market reduction – the modular design of control software, supported by digital continuity across the whole plant lifecycle with automation-focused decision making happening at conception, reduces human error at the development stage by 40%.Control simplification – Vendor-independence allows controls to be distributed or centralized depending on need.New opportunities – OT/IT integration provides new opportunities for efficiency and optimization across the whole value chain. thanks to a seamless incorporation of advanced data analytics techniques.Reduced costs – the software-defined approach to automation is expected to reduce engineering costs by 30%.Next-gen workforce – attracts the next generation of workers with a systems that shared similarities with those in IT.

Global demand for plastics is expected to triple by 2060, with the amount of plastics in the ocean predicted to outweigh fish. Meeting demand and curbing pollution, while achieving net zero by 2050, requires a consumption model revolution.

The partnership between GR3N and Schneider Electric, that has started with the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding, will enable the chemical recycler to scale operations to new sites quickly and cost-effectively. The solution is expected to reach industrial scale by 2027 with the construction of a 35-40kta plant which will include the pre-treatment, depolymerization and repolymerization.

“Every year, people produce around 460 million tons of plastic, approximately 70% of which are sent to landfills or mismanaged,” said Christophe de Maistre, President Energy & Chemicals, Industrial Automation at Schneider Electric.

“If we want to overcome the scale of plastic waste, there are certain non-negotiables. We must see integration across the whole product cycle, modularization to optimize and standardize engineering processes, as well as software defined automation solutions that delivers scalability, break siloes and acts as a gateway to advanced analytics. This project with GR3N demonstrates all of these principles, improving flexibility, scalability and the efficiency of their solution and enabling them to grow to an industrial scale.”

Related resources:

Interview video from the Globuc Go Circular event, April 2024: How microwave-assisted PET recycling – interview with Delphine Largeteau, SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC (youtube.com)A Circular Economy for Plastics and Polymers | Schneider Electric (se.com)

About GR3N

GR3N developed an innovative process, based on the application of microwave technology to alkaline hydrolysis, which provides an economically viable approach to the recycling of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), allowing the industrial implementation.

The GR3N process is economically sustainable and industrially viable as it breaks down any type of PET and polyester plastic into its two core components (TPA and MEG monomers), which can then be re-assembled to obtain virgin-like plastics allowing endless recycling loops. This new process has the potential to change how PET is recycled worldwide, with huge benefits both for the recycling industry and for the entire polyester value chain. The company’s goal is to become the world-leading supplier of recycled PET and polyester, addressing the global need for virgin plastics and triggering a truly circular approach to plastic recycling. GR3N is part of PETCORE Europe, Chemical Recycling Europe, and Accelerating Circularity.

About Schneider Electric

Schneider’s purpose is to empower all to make the most of our energy and resources, bridging progress and sustainability for all. We call this Life Is On.

Our mission is to be your digital partner for Sustainability and Efficiency.

We are a global industrial technology leader bringing world-leading expertise in electrification, automation and digitization to smart industries, resilient infrastructure, future-proof data centers, intelligent buildings, and intuitive homes. Anchored by our deep domain expertise, we provide integrated end-to-end lifecycle AI enabled Industrial IoT solutions with connected products, automation, software and services, delivering digital twins to enable profitable growth for our customers.

We are a people company with an ecosystem of 150,000 colleagues and more than a million partners operating in over 100 countries to ensure proximity to our customers and stakeholders. We embrace diversity and inclusion in everything we do, guided by our meaningful purpose of a sustainable future for all.

www.se.com

Discover the newest perspectives shaping sustainability, electricity 4.0, and next-generation automation on Schneider Electric Insights

2024 SAIC Corporate Responsibility Report 

The company’s success begins and ends with our people. 

As we seek to advance the power of technology and innovation to serve and protect our world, a critical part of our business strategy is attracting, continually developing and retaining top talent — engineering, science and IT innovation cannot happen without it. To deliver that strategy and its value to shareholders, customers and employees, we aim to be a company that provides meaningful work and purpose, as we:

Develop solutions for our customers’ most challenging problemsContinue to deliver value to our business through meaningful diversity, equity and inclusion effortsNurture our people throughout the talent lifecycle including upskilling and job rotation to improve retention and fill critical skill gapsCreate a culture of empowerment where our people can be their authentic selves and do their best work for our customersProvide benefits and programs that enhance employees’ experiences and their well-being

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Our vision for diversity, equity and inclusion at SAIC is straightforward:

We commit to creating a workplace where we value, respect and empower everyone to reach their full potential.We foster a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion that celebrates our differences and promotes collaboration, innovation and growth. We work every day to be a company that is diverse and inclusive and a leader in promoting the business value of DE&I in our industry and beyond.

DE&I GUIDING PRINCIPLES

In FY24, we achieved significant progress of workforce diversity, equity and inclusion through internal efforts, employee development, talent acquisition and employee engagement.

Notably, last year, based on our population of full-time, nonexecutive employees, our gender pay gap was less than 1%, with the pay equity ratio approximately 99% for the compensation of women relative to men.

In FY21, we set goals to achieve parity in the representation of women and people of color between our leader and non-leadership roles by the end of FY26. Our goal is to ensure that our leadership reflects our workforce, and our workforce reflects the customers and communities we serve. In FY23, we achieved our parity goal for women in leadership, and in FY24, we sustained it at 28%. In FY24, we continued our progress improving parity for people of color in leadership by 2% for a total of 25% of leaders being people of color. To hold ourselves accountable for progress, we tie meeting parity goals to a part of our leader’s performance plans, which impacts their bonus compensation.

We develop a diverse leadership team from our existing workforce by promoting diverse candidate slates for leadership roles; ensuring our job descriptions, recruiting tools and processes help eliminate the potential for bias; and providing training, educational resources and leadership development programs, including our AcceleratHER Women’s Leadership Academy, Leadership 365 for Aspiring Leaders and Developing Frontline Leaders programs. To ensure further opportunity to underrepresented populations, we offer several programs that incorporate internal networking components; programs include McKinsey Leadership Essentials, Management Accelerator, Executive Leadership Program and Connected Leaders Academy for Asian, Black and Hispanic and Latino cohorts. 

To ensure equitable access to opportunities for all, SAIC continues to enhance our workplace practices to eliminate bias, remove barriers to equitable opportunity and improve inclusion; to include diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility training for recruiters and hiring managers; use of diverse talent communities and sourcing tools; and our advertising and marketing efforts to make sure we reach a diverse pool of candidates. Through these efforts, women make up 32% and people of color make up 57% of our job candidates. We also do this through our partnerships with organizations such as historically Black colleges and universities; the Thurgood Marshall College Fund; Black Engineer of the Year Awards; Catalyst, an organization dedicated to helping accelerate progress for women in the workplace; DisabilityIN; Fair360; Women in Aerospace; and Women in Tech. 

At SAIC, we believe small and diverse businesses are essential for maintaining a robust, dynamic contractor ecosystem, and play an integral role in the types of supply chain efforts required to meet the unique needs of our government customers. With that belief, we work to expand our partnerships with diverse small businesses and suppliers, hosting outreach sessions and mentoring and providing contract opportunities to those that drive innovation, improve processes and value diversity. SAIC has a robust small business outreach program and tracks its spend with small business diverse-owned suppliers in several categories such as Disadvantaged, Women-Owned, Veteran-Owned, Service-Disabled Veteran Owned, HUBZone and Alaskan Native Corporations and Indian Tribes. 

In FY24, we spent over $420 million with these small, diverse-owned businesses. Independent third parties consistently recognize SAIC for its industry-leading engagement efforts such as the 2023 Small Business Industry Large Prime of the Year, the 2022 National Veterans Small Business Advocate of the Year, Champion for service-disabled veteran-owned small business and veteran-owned small business and the National Hub Zone Council 2020 Small Business Liaison of the Year.

SAIC + DIVERSITY

Third parties acknowledge SAIC’s inclusive workforce:

Forbes list of 500 Best Employers for DiversityForbes America’s Best Employers for Women 2024LATINA Style’s Top 50 Best Companies for LatinasNewsweek America’s Greatest Workplaces for DiversityNewsweek America’s Greatest Workplaces for Women 2024Fair360 Noteworthy Companies for 2024

Learn more about Inclusion at SAIC in SAIC’s 2024 Corporate Responsibility Report.

At its inaugural Thai Media Day, CNH, the world-class equipment, technology, and services company, announced multiple innovation and education initiatives to boost agriculture productivity and sustainability in Thailand.

In partnership with Nakhon Sawan College of Agriculture and Technology (NSCAT), CNH is assisting the transformation of their 45 hectares of arable land and facilities into a model farm to elevate hands-on machinery training, research, knowledge and technology transfer in the local community. CNH will also support the development of a new curriculum focused on modern agriculture machines and precision farming technologies.

Mark Brinn, Managing Director for Southeast Asia and Japan at CNH said: “Our purpose of ‘breaking new ground’ through innovation, sustainability, and productivity is at the heart of everything we do. We are dedicated to supporting the sector with climate-smart machinery and technologies that advance the noble work of farmers.”

As part of its commitment to developing future farmers, CNH supports agriculture education initiatives in Thailand, including a scholarship programme with Pakdee College. The company also strengthened its collaboration with KMITL covering curriculum design, practical training, and internship programmes. This year, CNH and KMITL signed a Memorandum Agreement which extends the partnership to agriculture research and development (R&D).

Recognized as a Great Place to Work, CNH employs some 200 people in Thailand, which serves as its Asia-Pacific regional headquarters. It supports the farmers and builders in the market with its global Case IH, New Holland, CASE and New Holland Construction Equipment brands.