Manufacturing Polyolefin using Waste as Raw Material

Members, their roles and points of cooperation

・SEKISUI CHEMICAL converts wastes into ethanol

・Sumitomo Chemical produces polyolefins from the waste-derived ethanol

・Points： To establish a circular economy with chemical recycling of wastes into polyolefins

Scheduled implementation time

・Test production will begin in fiscal 2022, with the aim of full-scale launch in fiscal 2025.

Description of technology and business model

・SEKISUI CHEMICAL, in cooperation with LanzaTech Inc. of the US, has developed a technology to gasify the entire wastes collected at waste treatment facilities into carbon monoxide and hydrogen, and to convert this gas into ethanol by microorganisms without using heat or pressure.

・Sumitomo Chemical will develop technology to produce polyolefins via ethylene from the waste-derived ethanol, utilizing technologies and know-how it has cultivated over many years in the petrochemical field.

Achievements and goals

・Through the cooperation of the two companies, we will establish a circular economy in which polyolefins are manufactured from wastes, thereby reducing the use of new fossile resources and contributing to the costruction of a sustainable society by reducing plastic wastes and carbon dioxide emissions generated during waste incineration.

URL that introduce this initiative

・Sumitomo Chemical release：

https://www.sumitomo-chem.co.jp/english/news/detail/20200227e.html

・SEKISUI CHEMICAL release：

https://www.sekisuichemical.com/whatsnew/2020/1347675_36556.html