FORT COLLINS, Colo. — June 21, 2018 — Colorado State University polymer chemists have taken another step toward a future of high-performance, biorenewable, biodegradable plastics.

Publishing in Nature Communications, the team led by Professor of Chemistry Eugene Chen describes chemical synthesis of a polymer called bacterial poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), or P3HB. The compound shows early promise as a substitute for petroleum plastics in major industrial uses.

P3HB is a biomaterial, typically produced by bacteria, algae and other microorganisms, and is used in some biomedical applications. Its high production costs and limited volumes render the material impractical in more widespread commodity applications, however.

The team, which includes the paper’s first author and research scientist Xiaoyan Tang, used a starting material called succinate, an ester form of succinic acid. This acid is produced via fermentation of glucose and is first on the U.S. Department of Energy’s list of top 12 biomass-derived compounds best positioned to replace petroleum-derived chemicals.

The researchers’ new chemical synthesis route produces P3HB that’s similar in performance to bacterial P3HB, but their route is faster and offers potential for larger-scale, cost-effective production for commodity plastic applications. This new route is enabled by a class of powerful new catalysts they have designed and synthesized. They have filed a provisional patent through CSU Ventures for the new technology.

Posted June 28, 2018

Source: CSU – Anne Manning

TERREBONNE, Quebec— June 27, 2018 — Loop Industries Inc. announced that, as a next step in commercializing its Generation II technology, it is designing a fully integrated manufacturing facility to upcycle waste PET and polyester fiber into virgin quality Loop™ PET resin and polyester fiber. Loop is in the process of engaging engineering partners to complete the integrated design.

“A fully integrated start-to-finish process will soon exist to commercialize Loop’s innovative Generation II technology and help tackle the global plastic crisis,” said Daniel Solomita, CEO and Founder of Loop. “These facilities will make it possible for all forms of waste PET and polyester fiber, even ocean plastics that have been degraded by the sun and saltwater, to be fully recovered and upcycled into PET of the highest purity and performance quality.”

This integrated innovation will join Loop’s proprietary depolymerization technology with state of the art PET production processes, allowing plastic waste to be utilized as feedstock to produce Loop PET resin and facilitate the transition to a circular economy. The technology will take waste PET and polyester fiber that can include PET plastic bottles and packaging of any color, transparency or condition, and carpet and other polyester textiles that may contain colors, dyes or additives and separate the PET from all contaminants to produce virgin quality FDA-approved food-safe Loop™ PET resin and polyester fiber.

“To encourage more recycling at the community level and reduce climate causing emissions, Loop facilities are planned to be optimally located adjacent to large population centers where ample feedstock can be found,” added Solomita.

This integrated manufacturing design will be the basis for Loop’s commercialization strategy, which is now the company’s focus in order to capitalize on its technology and respond to the demands of consumers, governments, non-governmental organizations and brand owners who have committed to ambitious sustainability targets.

Posted June 27, 2018

Source: Loop Industries

COLUMBIA, Md. — June 26, 2018 — W. R. Grace & Co., an independent supplier of polyolefin catalyst technology and polypropylene (PP) process technology, has granted a license which allows PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk. (CAP) to expand its existing UNIPOL® PP plant. The world-scale capacity UNIPOL PP facility, located in Ciwandan, Indonesia, will be expanded to 590 KTA of polypropylene.

CAP is the largest integrated petrochemical company in Indonesia and operates the country’s only world-scale size Naphtha Cracker. The CAP plant is strategically located in Banten province, providing convenient access to key customers.

Grace’s all gas-phase UNIPOL PP Process Technology provides the most advanced and broadest range of homopolymers, random copolymers, and impact copolymers in the industry. As the simplest of all PP process technologies, without any moving parts inside of the reactor and less equipment than any alternative, its reliable, safe, and stable operation leads to lower capital, operating, and maintenance costs.

Suryandi, CAP’s corporate secretary, said: “The expansion of our plant gives us the opportunity to serve the growing PP market demand in Indonesia. The UNIPOL PP Process Technology gives us the ability to make a broad range of products and remain highly competitive in the region.”

Al Beninati, President of Grace’s Specialty Catalysts business segment, said, “Grace is excited to partner with CAP and enable them to expand their supply of advanced PP products to customers in Indonesia. Combined with our non-phthalate CONSISTA® catalysts, the UNIPOL PP Process Technology will help the Ciwandan facility meet the increasing demand for polypropylene resins in the Indonesian market.”

Posted June 27, 2018

Source: W. R. Grace & Co

EVRY, France — June 26, 2018 — Global Bioenergies announces having reached a new milestone in scaling up its C3 process converting renewable resources into isopropanol and acetone. These two biobased compounds target large markets in the cosmetics and solvent segments. They can also be converted into polypropylene, a key component in the plastics industry, with market value exceeding $70 billion. A first pilot run was successfully conducted in December 2017. A demonstration run of several cubic meters, representing a further 20 fold increase in scale has now been successfully carried out, and paves the way towards a first commercial plant.

The C3 process, which enables the production of renewable isopropanol and acetone, is the second process reaching Demo plant scale in Global Bioenergies’ portfolio. This process is based on a breakthrough innovation: bacteria with a core metabolism rewired in order to increase the production yields from sugars, and thus reduce the production costs of biobased products.

The two compounds, isopropanol and acetone, are used by many industries — solvents, materials, cosmetics — and can be converted into propylene and eventually polypropylene, a key component in the plastics industry with a market value exceeding $70 billion.

The trend and market pull on these biobased molecules, including green polypropylene, is driven by commitments to sustainability from large corporations in the food, cosmetic, toys and furniture industries.

At the end of 2017, ARD, who operates Global Bioenergies’ industrial pilot for the Isobutene process, carried out the first step in scaling-up the C3 process. The next phase, at Demo plant scale, was subcontracted to Bioprocess Pilot Facility (BPF) located in Delft in the Netherlands. ARD and BPF are both members of the Smartpilots consortium, which gathers the main European institutions focused at scaling up innovative processes.

The first test was successfully carried out: the fermentation profile obtained in the 4 m3 fermenter reproduced those obtained at laboratory and pilot scale.

Frédéric Pâques, COO of Global Bioenergies, stated: “The close collaboration between the teams at Global Bioenergies and BPF was key to reach success. BPF has shown reactivity and a thorough industrial experience. The results not only validate this scale-up step, but also demonstrate the robustness of our process.”

Marc Delcourt, CEO of Global Bioenergies, added: “This is the final scale of fermentation before commercial operations. A number of validations remain to be done and engineering studies have only recently begun, but we are already engaged in concrete discussions with major international industrialists to partner on the commercial deployment of the process. The C3 process is now the second pillar upon which value is being created at Global Bioenergies, after the Isobutene process.”

Posted June 27, 2018

Source: Global Bioenergies