Technological watch

Sumitomo Chemical has successfully conducted the first waste-based polyolefin production at its laboratory in Japan, by use of the ethylene produced by Axens ethanol-to-ethylene technology Atol®. This process value chain is complemented with the upfront “Waste to Ethanol” technology by Sekisui Chemical.
Commencement of a New Phase
This project promotes circular economy making it possible to , a key product in the petrochemical industry. With this first trial production, the project has entered into a new phase to corroborate the quality of the product on the laboratory basis until mid-2022 toward the next step, which will be the start-up of a pilot plant, currently under construction in Japan.
At full roll-out, the project will enable the production of waste-based polyolefin at industrial scale, which will represent a leapfrog towards a sustainable economy based on renewable carbon.
“We are excited to work with Sumitomo Chemical in this project that tackles the problem of waste plastics in Japan. Since the beginning of the project back in 2020, we have been seamlessly working with Sumitomo Chemical and this amazing teamwork has made it possible to keep project on track. This project paves the way towards plastics sustainability, accelerates the deployment of circular economy in Japan and reduces substantially the GHG emissions of the value chain,” Frédéric Balligand, Axens renewables business group director.
Source: Axens