Advanced recycling yields first commercial batch of ‘circular’ plastic

The recycled plastics economy is growing as Chevron Phillips Chemical sells its first commercial batches of recycled polyethylene, the most common plastic.

The Woodlands-based petrochemical giant, a subsidiary of Chevron Corp. and Phillips 66, said previously it was the first to start producing so-called circular polyethylene — named for the potential to repeatedly recycle plastics into new materials — on a commercial scale.

CPChem’s chemical recycling process, launched in October 2020, converts plastic waste to liquids that can become new petrochemicals. It can convert a range of materials, including hard-to-recycle plastics, into the building blocks necessary for new chemicals.

“Filling the first orders of our circular polyethylene is tangible proof of our work to accelerate change for a sustainable future,” said Benny Mermans, CPChem’s vice president of sustainability.

Workers quitting jobs at record pace

The Labor Department recently reported that 4.5 million American workers — a full 3 percent — voluntarily left their jobs in November, tying the record set in September. Among private-sector companies, the quit rate was 3.4 percent, also a record.

Meanwhile, November was also the sixth straight month in which national job openings topped 10 million as unemployment rates continue to drop, meaning there are currently about 1.5 available jobs for each of the nation’s 6.9 million unemployed workers.

Texas continues to account for a substantial portion of the national resignation wave, with the rate of voluntary quits consistently nearing the state’s record, which was set in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

All told, roughly 450,000 Texas workers quit their jobs in October, according to the Labor Department. Only Colorado had a larger share of its workforce voluntarily leave jobs over the same period.

Oil field jobs grow as crude prices rise

The oil field services sector added 7,450 jobs in December, up 1 percent from November, as crude prices continued to recover from the pandemic-driven downturn.

Employment in the oil field services and equipment sector increased by 62,163 jobs in 2021, posting gains every month since February and recovering a little more than half of the 109,000 jobs lost during the pandemic in 2020, according an analysis of Labor Department data by the Energy Workforce & Technology Council.

Texas added 21,924 oil field service jobs over the past year, the most nationally. There are 321,304 oil field service workers in Texas, representing nearly half of such jobs in the U.S., according to the Energy Workforce & Technology Council.

State’s oil revenues jump by nearly $2B

The oil and gas industry paid Texas almost $2 billion more in taxes and royalties last year than in the previous coronavirus-stricken year, according to a new report from the Texas Oil and Gas Association.

The trade group found that payments last year increased 14 percent to $15.8 billion from $13.9 billion in 2020, reflecting the industry’s recovery from the pandemic-driven oil bust. The state’s revenue from the oil and gas industry had peaked at $16.3 billion in 2019.

Last year, 98 percent of the oil and gas royalties were deposited into the state’s permanent school and university funds.

Texas is the nation’s top oil and gas-producing state. If Texas were a country, it would be the world’s fourth largest oil producer after the U.S., Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Hines purchases industrial property

Houston-based Hines has purchased 78 acres in Beacon Hill, a 564-acre development of Wolff Cos. along U.S. 290 in Waller, for a build-to-suit industrial development. The sales price was not disclosed.

The site, located west of Beacon Hill Boulevard along U.S. 290 about 45 miles northwest of downtown Houston, can accommodate up to 1.3 million square feet of distribution, manufacturing or logistics space. Utilities, drainage and streets are in place so development could begin whenever Hines is ready.

The deal marks the first industrial sale in the Beacon Hill master planned communitys.