APLA '10: Green chems a step into the future - Carbocloro chief

08 November 2010 14:37  [Source: ICIS news]

RIO DE JANEIRO (ICIS)--The development of chemicals based on renewable feedstocks represents a step into the future, even though it seems the industry is going back in time by resorting to a pre-crude oil source of energy, an industry executive said on Monday.

“Green chemicals are like back-to-future,” said Carbocloro chief executive Mario Cilento, comparing the development of ethanol-based chemical feedstocks to popular 1980s movie trilogy Back to the Future.

Cilento pointed to the recent start-up of Braskem’s green polyethylene (PE) as evidence that chemical companies were increasingly focusing on the environment and sustainability.

Carbocloro itself planned to start using boats instead of trucks to move salt from the Santos port to its plant near the harbour using the waterways in the area, he said.

The change would allow the caustic soda maker to cut emissions associated with that route by 80%, he said.

Chemical companies needed to show that they cared about the environment and that they were doing something to help preserve it, Cilento told delegates at the 30th Latin American Petrochemical Association (APLA) annual meeting in Rio de Janeiro.

“It is not enough to be good - you need to show that you are doing [something] good,” the executive said.

The 2010 APLA conference opened on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro with nearly 800 delegates. The event will close on Tuesday.

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By: William Lemos
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