SHANGHAI, China - Dow Epoxy, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Co. (Dow), has reached a significant milestone in its plans to build a 100,000 MTPA liquid epoxy resin (LER) plant and a 150,000 MTPA glycerine-to-epichlorohydrin (GTE) plant at Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP) by the end of 2010 – the approval of environmental impact assessments (EIA) by China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection.

 

EIA is a method and system adopted by China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection to assess the possible environmental impact, either positive or negative, of a proposed project. The EIA allows the Ministry to propose countermeasures to prevent or mitigate adverse environmental impacts. All proposed chemical projects in China must obtain approvals for an EIA before construction.

 

The LER and GTE plants will further strengthen Dow Epoxy’s ability to meet growing customer needs in China, particularly in its core markets of coatings, electrical laminates and civil engineering. They are on track to be completed in 2010 and 2011 respectively.

 

The LER plant will be the first plant worldwide that will recycle the purified, saltwater byproduct as feedstock to the chlorine plant in the chemical complex instead of discharging into the sea.

 

“With our proprietary GTE technology, we will cut chlorine consumption in half and produce 10 times less waste water, while also improving process efficiency and product quality,” said Walsh. “This technology is a prime example of Dow’s commitment to significantly reduce and conserve energy as part of its 2015 Sustainability Goals.”