PET major M&G Chemicals plans to invest in biorefinery in China to make feedstock ethylene glycol from straw

25-Nov-13

PET resin major M&G Chemicals plans to invest in a biorefinery in China that will make PET building block ethylene glycol from straw, as per PlasticsNews. M&G of Tortona, Italy, part of the Mossi Ghisolfi Group, will build the biorefinery in Fuyang, in Anhui province with Chinese company Guozhen as partner. The biorefinery will process 2.2 bln lbs of straw annually. In addition to ethylene glycol it will make ethanol and byproduct lignin will fuel an electric cogeneration plant. The plant will use enzyme technology supplied by Beta Renewables a company partly owned by Mossi Ghisolfi Group. M&G estimates the biorefinery will cost about US$500 mln and be on stream in mid-2015. Beta Renewables recently started up a biorefinery in Crescentino, Italy. “This is the first act of a green revolution that M&G Chemicals is bringing to the polyester chain to provide environmental sustainability,” noted M&G Chemicals CEO Marco Ghisolfi in a news release. He cited growing demand for sustainable materials as evidenced by Coca-Cola Co.’s aim to use partially plant-based PET in all its bottles by 2020. M&G plans to raise about US$500 mln in an initial public offering on the Hong Kong exchange by the end of the year.