Pushed by high oil and feedstock prices, the world's largest chemical companies including DuPont, Dow Chemical, Cargill and Braskem, are speeding up production of bio-plastics made from crops including sugarcane, corn, maize and wood.
Dow, the world's largest producer of polymers is investing $US500 mln in a new factory in Brazil that will produce polyethylene made from ethanol made from sugarcane. Production is slated to commence in 2011 at the 350,000 tpa plant. Brazil's Braskem has embarked on a similar venture, aiming to produce 200,000 tpa of polyethylene. In the US, Nature Works (a subsidiary of Cargill) has opened a factory in Blair, Nebraska, producing 140,000 tons of PLA from corn starch.
In Britain, Innovia Films is building a new production line that will boost its ability to produce plastic film made from wood cellulose by 12% to 28,000 tpa.
25-Jun-08 
{{comment.DateTimeStampDisplay}}
{{comment.Comments}}