Iranian Petrochemicals at the Crossroads of Development and Environment; Overcoming the Crisis with New Technologies

According to Energy Press, Hassan Abbaszadeh said today (Saturday, September 5) at the conference “Plastic Pollution Crisis, New Challenges and Opportunities”, noting that appropriate development plans are being implemented in the Seventh Development Plan for the petrochemical industry, and stated: “Based on the planning, the capacity of this industry will increase from the current 100 million tons to 130 million tons in this five-year plan.” Stating that plastics and polymers have a special place in Iran’s petrochemical industry, he said: “Some experts in this industry consider the core of the petrochemical industry to be the polymer sector and chemicals to be in the chemical sector. On the other hand, the added value of the petrochemical industry is created in the polymer sector, and Iran has not paid much attention to the issue of polymers in recent years. The total capacity of polymers is currently only about 10 million tons, which only includes 10 percent of the total capacity of the petrochemical industry.” Moving towards the production of valuable materials
The CEO of the National Petrochemical Company, pointing out that many chemicals such as methanol are produced in the country with an annual capacity of 15 million tons, stated: According to the plan, we must move beyond semi-raw materials and move towards the production of valuable polymer materials.
Emphasizing that the value of chemicals such as methanol is $300 per ton, but the value of ordinary polymers produced in Iran is about $1,000, and the value of polymers produced in industrialized and developed countries is about $2,000 per ton, Abbaszadeh added: Iran’s petrochemical industry must move beyond the chemical sector and move towards creating more added value.
Emphasizing that the challenge of plastic pollution was not created by developing countries like Iran, but by many developed countries that have produced a lot of polymers and plastics in previous years, he said: We are all responsible for being committed to solving this global challenge.
Sanctions hinder implementation of environmental commitments
The CEO of the National Petrochemical Company, referring to various environmental issues including greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide, and plastic pollution, stated: “Iran and countries like us are also involved in the issue of international sanctions; sanctions that have deprived us of access to technologies that can help us create a better environment.”