Hungarian oil and gas company MOL has switched its lubricants unit MOL Lub in Almásfüzitő (64 km northwest of Budapest) to sanitizer production to support the fight against coronavirus,

MOL switched over a production line, which earlier made windshield cleaner fluid, to hand and surface sanitizer production in just two weeks, they said.

The plant is making around 50,000 liters of sanitizer a day in three shifts.

MOL Lub has already delivered the first volumes to hospitals, waste managers, public utilities and municipalities and is working to launch retail sales of the product as soon as possible.

MOL will also start making sanitizer products at its plants in Slovakia and Croatia, they added.

Shell is making its foray into electric vehicle (EV) charging in Central and Eastern Europe by opening its first high-powered charging station in Hungary, in partnership with charging network operator IONITY, also launching its first Shell Recharge point, Shell’s electric vehicle charging global brand. Both charging points enable drivers to charge their cars on the go at Shell service stations.

“I am pleased, that we’re starting a new chapter in the history of Shell Retail in Central and Eastern Europe today. The region has in the past driven innovations in traditional fuels by launching our premium Shell V-Power fuels and now we enter new era on our journey to offer low-emission transport fuels to our customers”, said István Kapitány, Executive Vice President of Shell Retail.

With opening its first high-powered charging station together with IONITY, on M7 highway next to Lake Balaton in Hungary, Shell will help electric vehicle drivers to make longer-distance journeys easier. Each of four charge points offers the potential of up to 350 kW charging power. The high-powered chargers take up to 10-15 minutes to charge next-generation electric vehicles, making them up to three times faster than current chargers available to drivers.

In total, IONITY aims to build 21 charging stations at Shell sites across Central and Eastern Europe covering Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia by the end of 2021. At the same time Hungary will become the 5th market for Shell in Europe (and 9th for Shell worldwide), where Shell Recharge is being introduced. Its own electric vehicle charging service offering 50kW rapid charging capacity typically provide from 0% to 80% charge in approximately 30 minutes. The service has launched on two sites, on the M7 highway offering EV charging to drivers travelling from Budapest in the direction to Slovenia and Croatia and on the M3 highway. Both will serve for Shell as pilot testing EV service points in the region. The launch price of 1 925 HUF per session[1], to be applied after the initial test period, refers to the year when Shell was founded in Hungary.

Shell is committed to supporting people’s vehicle charging needs – whether they are at home, at work or on the road. This is because Shell believes more people will choose to drive electric vehicles if they can access quick and reliable facilities. “Hungary is currently the most developed electric vehicle market in Central and Eastern Europe and that’s why we have started to develop and test our solutions here. Our ambition is to provide EV charging capabilities at 100 Shell retail sites by the end of 2021 across the region through our own investment or via our partners” comments Sasha Koliakin, General Manager for Shell Retail in Central and Eastern Europe.

Electric vehicle charging solutions is just one of the ways that Shell is aiming to deliver more and cleaner energy around the world. Shell is also working to enhance the efficiency of traditional fuels and support the development of low-emission transport fuels such as hydrogen, biofuels and natural gas following regional opportunities.

[1] There are no subscription or connection fees associated with Shell Recharge.

In January Nestlé announced that it will invest up to CHF 2 billion to lead the shift from virgin plastics to food-grade recycled plastics and to accelerate the development of innovative sustainable packaging solutions.

Building on its 2018 commitment to make 100% of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025, Nestlé will reduce its use of virgin plastics by one third in the same period whilst working with others to advance the circular economy and endeavor to clean up plastic waste from oceans, lakes and rivers.

Food quality and safety are paramount, and packaging plays a major role in assuring this. Most plastics are difficult to recycle for food packaging, leading to a limited supply of food-grade recycled plastics. To create a market, Nestlé is therefore committed to sourcing up to 2 million metric tons of food-grade recycled plastics and allocating more than CHF 1.5 billion to pay a premium for these materials between now and 2025. Nestlé will seek operational efficiencies to keep this initiative earnings neutral.

Packaging innovation, including new materials, refill systems and recycling solutions, is another key challenge on the path towards a waste-free future. In addition to its significant inhouse research through the Nestlé Institute of Packaging Sciences, the company will launch a CHF 250 million sustainable packaging venture fund to invest in start-up companies that focus on these areas.

These two initiatives come in addition to Nestlé’s major ongoing efforts in research, sourcing and manufacturing to make its packaging recyclable or reusable and contribute to its goal to achieve zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. As part of the company’s packaging commitment and to increase transparency, Nestlé will continue to outline further initiatives and provide regular progress updates.

“No plastic should end up in landfill or as litter,” said Mark Schneider, CEO of Nestlé. “Making recycled plastics safe for food is an enormous challenge for our industry. That is why in addition to minimizing plastics use and collecting waste, we want to close the loop and make more plastics infinitely recyclable. We are taking bold steps to create a wider market for food-grade recycled plastics and boost innovation in the packaging industry. We welcome others to join us on this journey.”

“We are pleased to see Nestlé commit a CHF 2 billion investment toward creating a circular economy for plastics, alongside a reduction of its use of virgin plastic in packaging by one third by 2025. By eliminating the plastics we don’t need, innovating in areas like reuse models and new materials, and circulating the plastics we do need — also in more challenging food grade applications — we can create an economy where plastic never becomes waste. Achieving the commitments announced today will significantly contribute towards realizing this vision,” said Andrew Morlet, CEO, Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Please find the official press release on nestle.com

Mid-February saw over 500 delegates gather in Copenhagen for the Daikin VRV Summit, where the company outlined the major advances put in place to lower the environmental impact of climate control systems, in support of its goal to achieve CO2 neutrality by 2050. Daikin’s business partners were also introduced to a range of new products and initiatives including the high efficiency, low GWP Daikin mini VRV 5 and the pioneering L∞P by Daikin scheme which reuses refrigerant for new VRV systems.

Creating a sustainable future together

Reflecting the Summit’s focus on sustainability theme, Copenhagen – named ‘Europe’s Green Capital’ in 2014 – was the aptly chosen venue, where delegates enjoyed the full ‘Green Experience’. This involved going completely paperless, as well as the use of local public transportation and locally sourced food. All CO₂ emissions resulting from participants’ arrivals and departures were offset by Daikin, making this a fully carbon neutral event. The donations for the offset go to a project in Rajasthan, India, to support farmers who send their harvest waste to a biomass plant for power generation. reducing CO₂ emissions and generating more jobs in the region.

Under the umbrella theme of ‘Creating a sustainable future together’, the Summit explored a wide variety of products and services that contribute to reducing CO₂ emissions and avoid the depletion of natural resources, through a series of informative lectures, workshops and displays.

New products such as the new VRV 5 with over 70% lower GWP, the adoption of a circular economy through the reuse of refrigerant and the use of intelligent controls such as the Daikin Cloud were among recent innovations profiled by Daikin.

 “On the one hand, we have reduced our own CO₂ footprint and on the other we are putting on the market solutions that reduce the CO₂ footprint of our customers. The key visual representing the VRV Summit consists of three leaves, which together highlight the three most important fields of action: innovation, circular economy and smart control.” – explained Bernard Dehertogh, head of commercial DX products at Daikin Europe.