Before reading below, I suggest reading this very interesting stuff!

https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/polypropylene.html

and pay special attention to:

"Today, chromium catalysts still account for most of the world's HDPE. Hundreds of different grades of resin are produced globally by a variety of manufacturing processes from scores of different variants on the original chromium catalyst."

I noticed this tweet yesterday by Vic Fedeli.

https://twitter.com/VictorFedeli/status/1039534790821724160/photo/1

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Chemistry Canada has a  conference this month Sept. 24-26 in Edmonton, and there will be workshops etc.

I found this workshop interesting:

Adding Value to Canada’s Polyolefins

https://chemistry-canada.com/sessions/adding-value-to-canadas-polyolefins/

Background

Polyolefins – polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) – are the most widely used plastics worldwide. They are made from the two light olefins ethylene and propylene that are both derived ultimately from natural hydrocarbons, crude oil & natural gas.

For the past four decades, Canada has used ethane extracted from Alberta natural gas to make ethylene and PE, adding substantial value to the raw hydrocarbon resources through exports of PE in pellet form. Some of this PE is used in Canada to make films & moldings for packaging and other uses, but most of it is exported.

Canada will also soon become a significant supplier of PP resins to global markets. The first PP production operation – the Heartland Petrochemical Complex in Alberta – will add value to Canadian natural resources first by upgrading propane from natural gas liquids into higher value propylene, and then by polymerizing this propylene to polypropylene plastic.

The pelletized polyolefins – PE & PP – produced in Alberta are and will be shipped in bulk rail & road tankers to customers in many countries, some in Canada, but mainly in the United States and other countries overseas. Once there, these customers will convert the raw pellets into a very broad range of plastic products for industrial, consumer & medical applications, adding, but keeping for themselves, successive layers of value to the Canada-derived resins.

This workshop introduces the full value chains for PE & PP, starting from hydrocarbon raw materials through to finished products sold into consumer, industrial & medical markets. It discusses the most important PE & PP conversion processes in the context of opportunities that may exist to add substantial additional value to Canadian-made polyolefins through export of converted plastic products. Analogies are drawn with developments in other resource-rich countries that are encouraging and supporting downstream resin conversion industries.

Who Should Attend?

The workshop is intended for new and experienced professionals involved in the many functional areas of the polyolefins industry with a technical as well as a commercial interest, such as operations, planning, sales and marketing, purchasing, etc. The workshop will benefit people in government, industry planners, investors and other stakeholders interested in updating their knowledge and gaining an understanding of opportunities down the full plastics value chain from resource to end-user.

The content of the workshop may differ slightly as we might opt to put greater emphasis on certain aspects of the value chain based upon specific requests by delegates who subscribe early or based on an internal evaluation of the delegate mix. Please feel free to suggest topics of interest. or mention your priorities once you subscribe to the workshop.

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https://www.jwnenergy.com/article/2018/8/construction-advances-heartland-petrochemical-complex/

construction has started and " Heartland Complex begins producing polypropylene in late 2021"