Belgian Syensqo's Italian plant ceases production of C6O4 fluorosurfactants

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 28, Belgian specialty materials company Syensqo stopped production of C6O4 fluorosurfactants at its plant in Spinetta Marengo, Alessandria, Piedmont region, Italy, completing the polymerization process conversion for its main fluoropolymer product lines. Approximately 99% of the plant's current product output already uses polymerization technology that requires no fluorosurfactants, achieving the C6O4 phase-out milestone ahead of the originally scheduled deadline of December 31, 2026.

The new process has been under development by Syensqo since 2019 and has been applied to multiple fluoropolymer product lines at the Spinetta Marengo plant. By adjusting the polymerization manufacturing process, the company has eliminated the use of C6O4 as a production aid while continuing to produce high-performance fluoropolymers for semiconductors, batteries, hydrogen energy and other industrial applications.

Approximately 1% of the plant's product output still uses existing C6O4 inventory as a production aid, mainly involving specialty fluoropolymers used in hydrogen energy and semiconductor applications. These products still require new process development and technical certification, and the plant will continue to use existing inventory to complete production of these products.

The C6O4 phase-out comes earlier than the December 31, 2026 deadline stipulated in the Integrated Environmental Authorization (AIA) renewal procedure for the Italian plant. Syensqo has already applied its fluorosurfactant-free polymerization technology at its West Deptford, New Jersey, USA facility and continues to advance process conversion for remaining specialty products at its Italian production site.