Toyota Tsusho Now Strategic Investor And Corporate Partner With Anellotech In The BTX Supply Chain

Toyota Tsusho now strategic investor and corporate partner with Anellotech in the BTX Supply Chain

18-Jul-16

Anellotech, a sustainable technology company focused on producing cost-competitive BTX (benzene, toluene and xylene) from non-food biomass, made public Toyota Tsusho Corporation as a multinational strategic equity investor and corporate partner in the renewable aromatic chemicals supply chain. Toyota Tsusho is a member of the Toyota Group and is one of the major value chain partners (along with Suntory) in the Anellotech alliance, further validating the global market opportunity for Anellotech’s Bio-TCat™ technology.

Toyota Tsusho’s investment has been used to fund development of Anellotech's Bio-TCat technology, including the installation and commissioning of Anellotech’s new, fully-integrated development and testing facility (“TCat-8™”). This 25 meter-tall unit’s purpose is to confirm the viability and suitability of the Bio-TCat process for scale-up, and generate the data needed to design commercial plants using Bio-TCat technology. The TCat-8 unit was jointly designed by Anellotech and its R&D partner IFPEN, and will use a novel catalyst under joint development by Anellotech and Johnson Matthey. After verification of the continuous operation of TCat-8, Anellotech Alliance partner Suntory plans to move ahead with studies to consider the development of the first commercial-scale Bio-TCat plant.
The TCat-8 unit has been installed at host South Hampton Resources’ Silsbee, Texas location. Remaining construction activities required to bring the unit online are scheduled to be completed shortly, followed by commissioning and startup of this first-of-its-kind development and testing facility later this year. Toyota Tsusho management recently visited the TCat-8 unit at Silsbee, and, noting the advanced stage of development, elected to make public their involvement in the program.

Toyota Tsusho’s interest in Anellotech’s technology is aligned with their goal of promoting sustainable bio-materials, including bio-based polyester (polyethylene terephthalate, or “PET”). Bio-sourced, “drop-in” BTX made from the Bio-TCat process is also useful in the manufacture of other derivative plastics including polyurethane, polycarbonate, polystyrene and nylon. These petro-identical, but now bio-sourced, derivatives have applications across a broad range of large global markets including polymer packaging & textiles, automotive, construction, adhesives, paints, coatings, appliances and detergents. “Toyota Tsusho is an outstanding partner for Anellotech and has provided significant financial support to our development process,” said David Sudolsky, President and CEO of Anellotech. “Our companies share a common goal of developing Anellotech’s Bio-TCat process and cost-competitively producing renewable BTX. Sudolsky added, “As we saw at the Sustainable Brands conference in June, consumer brand owners are looking to replace petroleum inputs in their products with bio-sourced alternatives as a key component of their corporate sustainability programs. Anellotech looks forward to continuing our progress and commercial deployment of the Bio-TCat process to further enable the sustainability performance of consumer brands around the globe.”