APLA ’18: Braskem continues pursuing sustainability with new initiatives

CANCUN, Mexico (ICIS)–Braskem has recently identified a series of initiatives to promote the circular economy, continuing a commitment to sustainability that goes back nearly a decade when it started producing renewable polyethylene (PE), an executive at the company said.

Among Braskem’s goals under the initiatives is to change the general opinion that recycled plastic results in lower quality, said Edison Terra, vice president of Braskem’s business unit for polyolefins, renewables and Europe.

He made his comments on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the Latin American Petrochemical Conference (APLA).

Other programmes would target mechanical and chemical recycling, he said.

The company outlined the initiatives in a document titled “Braskem’s Positioning for the Circular Economy”.

Some programmes would create partnerships to develop products that would encourage recycling and reusing plastic packaging, especially single-use packaging, the company said.

The document also calls for more investments in renewable resources and supporting new technologies, business models and systems for collecting, recycling and recovering materials.

One initiative involves Braskem reducing the loss of pellets in its industrial processes by 2020. It has joined other companies in committing to have all plastic packaging reused, recycled or recovered by 2040.

Braskem will report on its progress in pursuing these initiatives in its annual report.

Prior to the document, Braskem has long been involved in developing renewable chemicals.

Braskem had started producing renewable PE at the start of this decade at its complex in Triunfo, Rio Grande do Sul state. The resin was made with ethylene that was produced from dehydrating ethanol. The ethanol was produced from sugarcane.

Braskem has a Renewable Chemicals Research Center in Campinas, Sao Paulo state, where it is using several methods to develop strains of microorganisms to produce renewable chemicals.

More recently, the company has launched renewable ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), which it developed in partnership with Allbirds. Allbirds will use the material in its new line of footwear called Sugar.

Brazil has a significant advantage in developing renewable feedstock because it ranks among the most cost-advantage producer of sugar, thanks to sugarcane.

The APLA annual meeting runs through Tuesday.

Interview article by Al Greenwood