Braskem and Haldor Topsoe jointly introduced the World’s first production of bio-based, renewable monoethylene glycol (MEG) plastic raw material from sugar. Haldor Topsoe is a global producer of biopolymers, and Braskem is the largest petrochemical company in the Americas.
Two companies have combined their know-how and resources to achieve the first-ever demo-scale production of bio-based monoethylene glycol (MEG). MEG is a raw material for PET (polyethylene terephthalate) widely used in textile and packaging markets, especially beverage bottles. The two companies have been involved in a technological partnership that began in 2017. Called MOSAIK, the technology development has been progressing according to schedule at the demonstration unit located in Lyngby, Denmark.
MEG is predominantly made from fossil-based feedstocks, such as naphtha, gas, or coal. The global MEG market represents a value of approximately $25 billion. The technology will also co-produce, in a lower quantity, monopropylene glycol (MPG), a wide variety of applications ranging from unsaturated polyester resins (UPR), commonly used in construction materials, to cosmetic products. The next phase will involve providing samples to strategic partners for testing and validation. The results of the demonstration plant operations and the validation of products will be essential for deploying the technology on a commercial scale.
