Neste and Lyondell Basell Start Commercial-Scale Production of Bio-Based Plastic

Neste and Lyondell Basell jointly announce the first parallel production of bio-based polypropylene and bio-based low-density polyethylene at a commercial scale at the production site in Wesseling, Germany.

Helsinki/Finland; Wesseling/Germany — The joint project used Neste’s renewable hydrocarbons derived from sustainable bio-based raw materials, such as waste and residue oils. The project successfully produced several thousand tonnes of bio-based plastics which are approved for the production of food packaging and being marketed under Circulen and Circulen Plus, the new family of Lyondell Basell circular economy product brands.

Neste’s President and CEO Peter Vanacker commented that this collaboration with marked a major milestone in the commercialization of renewable polymers and chemicals focusing on developing renewable and circular solutions. Lyondell Basell’s cracker flexibility allowed it to introduce a new renewable feedstock at its Wesseling, Germany site, which was converted directly into bio-based polyethylene and bio-based polypropylene. An independent third party tested the polymer products using carbon tracers and confirmed they contained over 30 % renewable content. The company sold some of the renewable products produced in the trial to multiple customers, one of which is Cofresco, a company of the Melitta Group and with brands like Toppits and Albal. Cofresco plans to use the Circulen Plus bio-based polyethylene to create sustainable food packaging materials.

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20/05/2019 - How can the share of bio-based raw materials used in the European chemical industry be increased to 25 % by 2030? As conclusion of its two-year work, the EU project Road To Bio has published a roadmap that outlines how this goal could be achieved. Based on the analysis of nine product groups, the roadmap identifies opportunities, challenges and actions across industry, policy and civil society to advance the replacement of fossil products by bio-based products. read...