Conference looks at green chemistry for polymers

In the long-term industry will have to find substitutes for fossil fuels as supplies diminish and costs rise: so what is a sustainable resource for synthesis of conventional plastics? At Green Polymer Chemistry 2012 in Cologne, Germany, AMI brought together experts from agriculture, chemical engineering, biotechnology, the polymer industry and sustainability managers from brand owners and the automotive sector to hear all the angles on this topic.

LMC International studies the agricultural including sugar, grains and oilseeds. Worldwide, corn wheat and cassava accounted for 1.7 billion metric tonnes in 2010/11, and sugarcane and sugar beet generated 160 million tonnes (the lead producer is Brazil). On the vegetable oil side, palm predominates at 48 million tonnes (85 percent is grown in Malaysia and Indonesia) and is unique in being harvested from trees each year – the other oils are from seeds.

The agricultural industry is already seeing a ‘battle for acres’ globally. This began in 2002 with the drive to use bioethanol/biofuel, which increased demand for arable land for growing feedstock. By 2010 the area under cultivation had expanded worldwide by 70 million hectares. Besides biofuels, there are other factors such as the rise in per capita income in Asia, which means that consumers are eating more meat thus increasing the demand for animal feed. Bio-based plastics and other fine chemicals are now being produced from agricultural feedstocks and the challenge is to find sources that are sustainable in this global marketplace.

…Full Text: http://www.labelsandlabeling.com/news/latest-news/conference-looks-at-green-chemistry-for-polymers

Tags: LMC International studies, agricultural feedstocks, cellulose, sugar, Bio-based PET, pilot plants, industrial enzymes, The Green Polymer Chemistry conference

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Labels and Labeling, 2012-05-25.

Supplier

AMI - Auto Mobil International
Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM)
Avantium Technologies B.V.
BASF SE
Bayer CropScience
BioAmber Inc.
Braskem
Cargill, Inc.
Carrefour Group
Coca-Cola Co.
Danone GmbH
Draths Corp.
DSM
Geno (formerly Genomatica, Inc.)
Genzyme Corp.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
Lanxess AG
MICHELIN
Mitsubishi Corp.
Mossi & Ghisolfi Group
nova-Institut GmbH
Novozymes
Petron Scientech Inc.
Rhodia
Roquette
SABIC Ventures US Holdings LLC
SK Chemicals
Solvay
Süd-Chemie
Synthos SA
Tate & Lyle
Tectubes
tesa SE
Unifying Concepts in Catalysis (UniCat)
Vote Hemp
Wageningen University

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