Brazil Ethanol Mills Eye Move into Plastics with Chemical Firms

Brazilian ethanol mills are reaching out to chemical companies to develop plastics and other products in a bid to diversify. The mills harvest sugar cane and crush it into sugar or ethanol, but the operators are now looking to earn new revenue by sourcing ethanol as a raw material for plastics and products ranging from solvents to cosmetics.

Could Sugarcane Ethanol be headed to Sunoco’s Plants?

Sunoco announced it is selling its polypropylene plants in Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia to Brazil’s Braskem for $350 million. As readers of this blog know, Braskem has been investing heavily in the sugarcane sector to use ethanol not as a fuel for cars but as a feedstock for its plastics business. While Braskem has not said anything about how it may change the way it uses its new assets in the U.S., one has to wonder if what works in Brazil works for the U.S.?

Green Chemicals Industry Set to Grow in Brazil

Ethanol investments by local and foreign companies in Brazil are projected to total $3 billion through 2012. The chemical sector currently consumes around 1 billion liters per year of ethanol, with the volume expected to rise to 5 billion liters per year in the next three years and to 10 liters per year within five years.

Novozymes, Braskem To Develop Plastics From Sugarcane

Danish enzyme producer Novozymes said Monday it has entered a research partnership with Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem to develop large-scale production of polypropylene from sugarcane. Polypropylene is a plastic up to now derived from oil that is used in a wide range of everyday products, from food containers, drinking straws, and water bottles to washing machines, furniture, and car bumpers. The companies say the market is estimated to be $66 billion, with an annual growth rate of 4%.

Tetra Pak to Trial “Green Plastic” from Sugarcane Ethanol

Packaging giant Tetra Pak has announced that it will undertake a trial of a green plastic made from sugarcane. Today’s news release said Tetra Pak will purchase limited volumes of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) derived from sugarcane feedstock. The companies say this is “the first move toward using green polyethylene in the carton packaging industry.”

Cane Ethanol “Green Polyethylene” a Hot Selling Item in Brazil

Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem (NYSE: BAK) has negotiated contracts for 60% of its sugarcane ethanol-based polyethylene (PE) production and estimates by year-end it will have 70% negotiated.

J&J to use Sugarcane Carbon-Neutral Bioplastics

Last week, Brazil’s largest petrochemical firm Braskem said it has reached an agreement to sell sugarcane-based polyethylene to Johnson & Johnson starting in late 2010. Braskem will produce what it has labeled green polyethylene at a plant being constructed in the country’s southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul. Under the agreement, J&J will use the bioplastic in its line of sunblock lotions Sundown. According to Braskem, J&J is also considering using green polyethylene “in other product lines and other regions in the world.”

Brazilian Ethanol Attracts Bioplastics Investors

Brazil’s highly developed sugarcane-based ethanol industry is attracting investments in bioplastics, and second-generation technologies are growing strongly too. Yet ethanol makers are grappling with market instability, says Carlos Coutinho, PricewaterhouseCoopers in a report in ICIS, a must read for the chemicals industry.

Coca-Cola Launching Sugarcane-Plastics Bottles

Coca-Cola announced it is introducing a new plastic bottle partially made from sugarcane, becoming the latest drink maker to try to make more eco-friendly packaging as consumers become more concerned about waste generated by plastic bottles.

Braskem’s Sugarcane Plastic

Braskem starts construction of its Green Polyethylene Project in southern Brazil. The plant will be the first in the world to use sugarcane ethanol to make 100% renewable ethane and polyethylene on a commercial scale.