Avantium and Sphera cut GHG emissions with Dutch sugar beet-based plantMPG

Avantium has partnered with software company Sphera to perform an LCA on plant-based mono propylene glycol (plantMPG), produced with Avantium’s Ray Technology from sucrose derived from Dutch sugar beet. PlantMPG is a chemical intermediate used in various applications, including in functional fluids and unsaturated polyester resins. The ISO-certified LCA for plantMPG shows a significant improvement of up to 81% greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions over the full life cycle when compared to its incumbents. The LCA takes into account wastewater treatment as the end-of-life for plantMPG. Avantium’s plantMPG is compared to current MPG production routes from fossil raw materials (naphtha and shale-derived PP) and renewable raw materials (soy and rapeseed-derived glycerine).  

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TotalEnergies Corbion and Tomra announce successful demonstration of PLA bioplastic sortability 

TotalEnergies Corbion has announced a breakthrough in the circular plastics economy by proving that polylactic acid (PLA) bioplastic can be sorted with municipal plastic waste. With the aim of determining the sortability of PLA from municipal mixed plastic waste, TotalEnergies Corbion and TOMRA Recycling conducted a sorting test in August 2022. The outcome showed that PLA can be easily sorted out from other plastics waste. Using a Near Infra-Red (NIR) sorting machine, PLA trays mixed with other post-consumer plastic items were fully recovered with a very high purity at the TOMRA center in Mülheim-Kärlich, Germany. Additionally, when the PET bottle fraction was sorted from the mixed plastics waste stream, no PLA trays ended up in the PET stream. The industrial test shows that PLA is sortable and will not contaminate other recycling streams. 

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Neste and partners join forces to create a bioplastics supply chain 

Neste, Idemitsu Kosan, CHIMEI, and the Mitsubishi Corporation have agreed to build a renewable plastics supply chain utilizing bio-based hydrocarbons (Neste RE). It will be used for the production of styrene monomer (i.e. bio-SM) and its renewable plastics derivatives including acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (i.e. bio-ABS). The bio-SM production in Japan and the renewable plastics production in Taiwan will mark the starting point of such production in each country. They are planned to take place in the first half of 2023. Neste, a leading producer of renewable and circular feedstock for the polymers and chemicals industry uses, will provide Neste RE to Idemitsu Kosan, the biggest SM manufacturer in Japan. For this collaboration, Neste RE is produced from 100 per cent bio-based raw materials such as waste and residues. Its use can significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared with conventional fossil feedstock use. 

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