Stephanie Whitesell, Plant Manager - Marcus Hook Unit, Braskem
Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, Braskem's polypropylene facility in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, executed a 28-day "live in" with a team of volunteers to ensure there were no negative impacts of COVID-19 to the health of its team members or the manufacture of products. As the facility's plant manager, Stephanie Whitesell was instrumental in leading the plant through this challenging time.
Whitesell is responsible for overseeing, managing and advancing the HS&E and operational aspects of manufacturing polypropylene. Under her leadership, the plant has successfully completed several multimillion- dollar improvement projects over the course of the past several years, expanding the facility's capacity and enhancing its productivity.
Whitesell earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in chemical engineering from Drexel University in 2004, and her first position after graduation was as a production engineer at the Sunoco refinery in Philadelphia. She spent seven years with Sunoco before joining the Braskem team at the Marcus Hook facility in 2011, where she has served in a number of positions: production engineer, process engineering leader, production superintendent and site leader.
Founded in 2002, Braskem is the largest polyolefins producer in the Americas and a leading global producer of biopolymers. The company, headquartered in Philadelphia, is the largest producer of polypropylene in the U.S. with six production sites located in Texas, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. It also has an operations center in Boston focused on leveraging groundbreaking developments in biotechnology and advanced materials.
Braskem's Marcus Hook facility produces polypropylene for the automotive, consumer, medical and hygiene, and additive manufacturing markets, among others.
The Marcus Hook facility was acquired by Braskem in 2010 and produces polypropylene for the automotive, consumer, medical and hygiene, and additive manufacturing markets, among others. According to Whitesell, discipline and organization are crucial to her success at the plant.
"Important skills for someone in this position include having the discipline and organization necessary to focus on both the near-term priorities and the development of how we want to grow and improve the site, whether it be one, five or 10 years from now," she said. "I also believe that support and development of our team members is critical to ensuring success."
Braskem's role in combating COVID-19
The Marcus Hook production facility was deemed an essential service at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and has played a critical role in helping to protect frontline workers and communities throughout the pandemic. The polypropylene produced by the plant is a component of N95 masks, surgical masks, and caps and enclosures. Many medical manufacturers depend on polypropylene as a primary raw material for production of these life-saving tools.
"We're extremely proud of the entire team at our Marcus Hook production facility," Whitesell said. "The pandemic required innovative leadership and a new operational playbook for Braskem. To quickly address the challenge, Braskem pulled together manufacturing resiliency teams to live inside key production plants in isolation to ensure the health and safety of the team and keep material flowing to meet the record demand from the medical equipment markets."
Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, Braskem's polypropylene facility in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, executed a 28-day "live in" with a team of volunteers to ensure there were no negative impacts of COVID-19 to the health of its team members or the manufacture of its products.
During the site's 28-day "live in," Braskem provided increased wages to all participating team members. Following this period, the site's Operations Critical Team has worked on an extended, modified schedule with the continued goal of ensuring the health and safety of its team members and their families.
Commitment to safety
According to Whitesell, the Marcus Hook facility has a strong safety culture, with a dedication to health and process safety.
"Our safety culture has many aspects, including structured individual and team activities, management and execution of procedures, review and maintenance of our processes and safety systems, and team member participation in all activities," she said. "To continually evolve our safety culture and dive deeper into preventive measures, we are applying the concept of 'human reliability' to understand what process or system may lead to an error."
Braskem recently became one of the founding partners of the Polypropylene Recycling Coalition, which focuses on increasing curbside recycling access for polypropylene to ensure it is widely recovered and reused in end-markets, including food and beverage packaging, consumer products and automotive parts.
The company is also one of the signatory members of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste. This organization's mission is focused on ending plastic waste through solutions as innovative as they are impactful, deployed at-scale while partnering with communities around the world.
Additionally, Braskem is a blue member of Operation Clean Sweep, a stewardship program of the Plastics Industry Association and the American Chemistry Council's Plastics Division, which is an international program designed to prevent resin pellet, flake and powder loss and help keep this material out of the marine environment.
"Braskem's membership in these organizations reflects the company's larger commitment to overall sustainability and environmental stewardship," Whitesell said.
Giving back to the community
Braskem's Marcus Hook site believes that "responsible business activity is a commitment to people, society and the planet," Whitesell explained.
The facility engages and strengthens the communities in which it operates to foster the next generation of youth, particularly through STEM and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. It also supports local projects that align with its sustainability goals, such as the proper disposal of waste and the circular use of plastics.
Looking forward
In Whitesell's view, the future of her industry will bring large investments in reducing emissions and striving toward sustainability.
Since Braskem's acquisition of the Marcus Hook facility in 2010, the company has expanded the capacity of the plant by 25 percent through multiple improvement projects. The site will continue to evaluate opportunities to enhance its processes to best serve clients while supporting Braskem's carbon-neutral circular economy goals, Whitesell said.
"Braskem's strategy to achieve carbon neutrality focuses on the three pillars of reducing emissions, offsetting emissions and capturing emissions," she added. "These efforts to reduce emissions will concentrate on improving energy efficiency in existing operations, as well as the increased use of low-carbon and renewable energy in current operations. Braskem will continue to explore and invest in new low-carbon-intensity process technologies."
Braskem will also work to accelerate its investments in renewable feedstock-based chemicals and polymers, and the company's efforts to capture carbon emissions are supported through R&D opportunities focused on using CO2 emissions as feedstock for conversion to value-added chemicals.
"Sustainability of plastics is the future for our industry," Whitesell said. "Braskem aims to expand its portfolio of resins with recycled content to divert plastic waste away from incineration, landfills and the environment. I am excited to be a part of this effort and commitment.
"I also hope to achieve continued advancements in our best-in-class approach to the health and safety of our operations, improvements in our feedstock logistics, and achieving our sustainability goals by the proactive actions of our dedicated facility team."
