New Partnership to Set Up Braskem Unit in Denmark

The Odebrecht Group company and Danish company Haldor Topsoe plan to develop resin from sugarcane

At the start of the month, Braskem and the Danish company Haldor Topsoe, global leader in catalyzers and surface science, signed a technological cooperation agreement to produce monoethylene glycol (MEG) from sugarcane. The partnership includes the construction of a unit in Denmark, set to begin operating in 2019.

The unit will conduct tests to validate the technology and confirm its technical and economic feasibility, considered a crucial step before starting production on an industrial scale and before commercial operation.

Through the agreement, Braskem will expand its portfolio of renewable products, offering additional solutions to its polyethylene produced from sugarcane, sold with the I’m greenTM seal. “We are strengthening our leadership in innovative solutions that leverage the competitiveness of different biomasses and complement the traditional solutions offered by the petrochemical sector,” emphasized Gustavo Sergi, the company’s Director of Renewable Chemicals.

PET Bottles

MEG is a crucial component for the production of PET, an important resin for the textile and packaging sectors, and widely used to produce bottles. The partnership will make it possible to convert sugarcane into MEG at a single industrial unit, cutting the initial investment in production and boosting the competitiveness of the process.

“This initiative combines cutting-edge technology with in-depth experience in process design, economy of scale, and industrial operation, which will allow us raise renewable chemistry to a new level,” explained Mateus Lopes, Manager of Innovation in Renewable Technologies at Braskem. “After Green Polyethylene, this is another important step forward toward our sustainable vision of using biopolymers as tools for carbon capture,” he said.