Braskem tests using sugar to produce substance used in plastic PET type

SAO PAULO (Reuters)-Braskem is testing a renewable chemical process that can make her go into new market segment, the inputs for PET plastic used in beverage bottles and that has a global demand of million tonnes per year.
Greater Americas, petrochemical Braskem teamed up with the Danish expert in catalysts Haldor Topsoe to build a miniature plant that will test the feasibility of large-scale production of monoethyleneglycol (MEG) component, one of the main ingredients of the PET.
The unit tests will start operations in Denmark in 2019 and will occupy an area of about 100 square metres, with a height equivalent to two to three stories, told Reuters the warden of renewable chemicals of Braskem, Gustavo Sergi, without revealing investment values.
"We don't work even with MEG, we've worked with PET 10 or 15 years ago, but we can now evaluate the decision if we got in there on PET chain," said Sergi.
Currently, MEG is produced from oil or natural gas. Indian India Glycols manufactures the product from ethanol. The Brazil is an importer of the product. In 2015, the purchases of MEG the country totaled about 100,000 tons of, said the Executive.
Sergi calculates in tons per year 25 million to 30 million the demand of world market for MEG, and 85% of the product is intended for the production of PET, one of the top five world's resins. The remainder is used in applications for the textile industry, in antifreeze and solvents, he said.
According to Sergi, lab tests and pilots carried out by Braskem demonstrated that MEG from sugar has a yield greater than the obtained from ethanol, but he avoided quote precise figures.
"The first phase of testing is to use sugar cane coming, but our goal is to have flexibility in the technology, such as using sugar beet and sugar coming second generation from biomass," said the Executive, citing cellulosic sugar, which can be generated from waste such as straw.
The expectation is that a decision on proceeding with the construction of a factory on an industrial scale, with capacity for hundreds of thousands of tons, happens between 2020 and 2021, said Sergi.
MEG is one of the fronts of development of plastics produced from renewable sources by Braskem. A "green plastic" factory, which produces ethylene and polyethylene from sugar cane, was opened in 2010, in Triunfo (RS), with a capacity of 200,000 tonnes per year.
The investment in the unit since 2007 about sum of 300 million dollars, said Sergi, adding that the plant currently operates with almost total capacity.
"The demand for green plastic is growing. Export to Asia, Europe, United States and South America. Consumer companies have carbon reduction targets with Governments and their customers are also demanding, "said the Executive.