Catalyzing Companies into Motion: BioBTX, Catalyxx, Honeywell Make Impressive Moves

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July 24, 2026

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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... Steam didn’t defeat the wind. It defeated having to wait for it.

For the first time, ocean commerce could begin replacing forecasts with schedules. Ships could advertise departure dates. Merchants could coordinate deliveries. Ports could prepare berths. Warehouses could trim inventories. Connections between voyages became something more than hopeful coincidence. The Industrial Revolution accelerated not because uncertainty disappeared, but because one critical uncertainty became manageable. Two centuries later, supply chains are still waiting on the wind.

Not the weather this time, but a different kind of uncertainty. Can sustainable feedstocks arrive at commercial scale? Can consumer brands commit to circular materials years in advance? Can refineries confidently invest in new process technologies? Every industrial age inherits its own doldrums. This week, three companies quietly showed how they intend to sail through them.

BioBTX: Turning Forecasts into Production Schedules

For more than a decade, BioBTX has pursued an elegant idea: converting mixed plastic waste and biomass into renewable aromatics using its proprietary Integrated Catalytic Cracking Process (ICCP). The chemistry has always been compelling. The question has been whether it could ever become bankable. That question has now become considerably smaller.

With a positive Final Investment Decision for its PETRA project in Delfzijl, BioBTX has crossed one of commercialization’s most important thresholds. Construction is expected to begin in early 2027, with operations targeted for mid-2028. The world’s first dedicated greenfield plant producing renewable benzene, toluene and xylenes (BTX) directly from plastic waste is no longer simply a technological ambition. It has become an industrial timetable.

The elegance of the chemistry mirrors the elegance of the business case. Plastics arrive rich in hydrogen. Biomass arrives rich in oxygen. Together they naturally balance the reaction chemistry, reducing the need for external hydrogen while producing the aromatic molecules that underpin a global market exceeding 120 million tonnes annually. The result is approximately 10,000 tonnes of renewable aromatic oil each year, alongside 8,000 tonnes of valuable co-products, with lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions reduced by 70-80 percent compared with fossil pathways.

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Catalyxx: Turning Geography into a Schedule

Catalyxx approaches uncertainty from a different direction. Its proprietary catalytic process upgrades bioethanol into higher-value molecules such as n-butanol, hexanol and octanol while recycling internally generated hydrogen, minimizing both capital and operating costs. The resulting products achieve carbon intensities below 40 gCO₂e/MJ—less than half that of conventional fossil diesel—creating an attractive pathway toward low-carbon chemicals and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) just as global airlines pursue urgent, mandated blending targets, such as IATA’s goal of roughly 10% SAF by 2030.

The chemistry works. Now the geography must work. By selecting Sines, Portugal, as the home of Catalyxx Ibérica, the company has done far more than choose a construction site. It has selected a logistics platform: a deep-water Atlantic port, renewable power, engineering expertise, streamlined permitting and direct access to international markets.

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Honeywell and Johnson Matthey: Turning Innovation into Industrial Routine

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Honeywell’s acquisition of Johnson Matthey’s Catalyst Technologies business reduces perhaps the largest uncertainty of all: industrial adoption. Honeywell’s £1.325 billion acquisition combines two complementary strengths. Johnson Matthey contributes more than two centuries of catalytic science, including world-leading technologies for syngas, hydrogen, e-fuels, sustainable aviation fuel and precious-metals recycling. Its catalysts retain more than 95 percent of their activity over multi-year operating campaigns, providing precisely the kind of durability that operators value inside billion-dollar assets. Honeywell contributes something equally important: deployment.

Its global installed customer base, automation platforms and Honeywell Forge digital intelligence layer transform outstanding catalyst science into operational confidence across thousands of facilities worldwide. Physical catalysts accelerate chemical reactions. Digital intelligence accelerates commercial adoption. READ MORE

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Honeywell Technologies Completes Acquisition of Johnson Matthey’s Catalyst Technologies Business (Honeywell)

Excerpt from Honeywell: • Strengthens Honeywell Technologies’ portfolio across refining, petrochemicals and renewable fuels, expanding the company’s process technology leadership

Enhances end-to-end solutions combining catalysts, process technologies and digital capabilities powered by Honeywell Technologies Forge
Transaction expected to drive growth and expand global installed base

Honeywell Technologies (NASDAQ: HON) today (July 17, 2026) announced the completion of its acquisition of Johnson Matthey’s Catalyst Technologies business for £1.325 billion in an all-cash transaction. This deal strengthens the company’s portfolio across refining, petrochemicals and renewable fuels.

Honeywell Technologies will now have a more comprehensive, end-to-end offering for customers across energy and process technologies, further enhanced by its existing automation and digital solutions. This acquisition also expands the company’s vast global installed base and enhances its ability to serve customers across a broader range of applications. The strengthened portfolio underscores Honeywell Technologies’ commitment to delivering innovative, integrated solutions that drive operational excellence, improve efficiency and enhance performance across the industrial value chain.

“This acquisition significantly enhances Honeywell Technologies’ ability to deliver end-to-end solutions that help our customers drive efficiency, reduce emissions and accelerate energy security goals,” said Ken West, President and CEO, Process Technology, Honeywell Technologies. “By combining Johnson Matthey’s differentiated catalyst expertise with our leading technologies and digital capabilities, we are creating a strong platform for future growth while enabling our customers to immediately unlock the benefits of a more robust set of offerings.”

The completion of this acquisition follows Honeywell Technologies’ separation of its Aerospace Technologies business, which is now an independent public company that operates as Honeywell Aerospace (Nasdaq: HONA) as of June 29, 2026. That separation was preceded by Honeywell Technologies’ spin-off of its Advanced Materials business, Solstice Advanced Materials (Nasdaq: SOLS), on October 30, 2025. Since 2023, the company has completed approximately $11.5 billion of accretive, synergistic acquisitions, including Compressor Controls Corporation, SCADAfence, the Access Solutions business from Carrier Global, the LNG business from Air Products, Sundyne and Li-ion Tamer.

In addition, the company completed the divestiture of its Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) business in 2024 and has announced the sale of its Productivity Solutions and Services and Warehouse and Workflow Solutions businesses, with expected closings in the second half of 2026.

About Honeywell Technologies

Honeywell Technologies is a global, pure-play automation company with a legacy of innovating to help solve the world’s most mission-critical challenges, enhancing the quality of life for people and communities around the world. We serve the building, industrial, and process sectors with a broad portfolio of services, solutions, and products, underpinned by our Honeywell Technologies Accelerator operating system and Honeywell Technologies Forge intelligence layer. By combining the deep domain expertise of our more than 50,000 employees with decades of data from our global installed base, we are uniquely positioned to lead the industrial sector’s transition from automation to autonomy. For more news and information on Honeywell Technologies, please visit Honeywell Technologies Newsroom. READ MORE