Brazil's leading petrochemical maker Braskem has announced plans to invest R$ 8,25 million over the next three years to expand research work on green propylene for the production of polypropylene (PP) based on 100% renewable raw material. Braskem produced the first green polypropylene of the world in 2008, certified as from 100% renewable origin. With such investment through Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (Fapesp), which holds 50% of the project, Braskem is already working on the details required to reach commercial scale. Braskem partnership in this project is the biotechnology area of the University of Campinas (Unicamp). "Our technology has already been tested in pilot experiments, and we are improving our polymers with more competitive technologies in commercial scale, based on raw material of renewable source", says Antonio Queiroz, director of Innovation and Technology at Braskem. With full domain of the technology of green raw materials, Braskem is prepared to produce its portfolio of ethanol-based polymers.
In April 2009, Braskem launched the Cornerstone of the Green Polyethylene Project at the Petrochemical Complex of Triunfo, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The project investments will reach around R$ 500 million and should include the construction of an ethylene plant - the polyethylene raw material - based on ethanol. The start-up of the green ethylene plant is planned to occur in the fourth quarter of 2010, and the commercial operations might start in early 2011. This Unit will have the production capacity of 200,000 mtpa. Braskem's partnership with Toyota Tsusho for the Green PE trading in the Asian market has produced the first market result with the renewable resin, the contract established in Japan with Shiseido, one of the largest cosmetic companies in the world. In both partnerships, the potential demand already identified for the Green PE reaches around 600,000 mtpa, three times as much the capacity of the new plant under construction at the Petrochemical Complex of Triunfo.
03-Jun-09 
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