A new route to the production of monoethylene glycol, a key monomer in the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), has been discovered, Illinois-based biotech company LanzaTech has announced, as per Sustainableplastics.
The method builds on the carbon capture technology previously developed by the company. That technology is based on a microbial gas fermentation process that initially could convert carbon monoxide into ethanol, but today provides a sustainable pathway to produce a range of platform chemicals. Gas streams from multiple sources are used, including industrial off-gases from steel and alloy mills; petroleum refineries, petrochemical complexes and gas processing facilities; syngas generated from municipal solid waste, organic industrial waste, agricultural waste; and reformed biogas.
To produce MEG, LanzaTech uses carbon emissions from steel mills or gasified waste biomass and a proprietary engineered bacterium to convert carbon emissions directly into MEG through fermentation. This bypasses the need for an ethanol intermediate, and simplifies the MEG supply chain as it eliminates the multiple processing steps required to convert ethanol into ethylene, then ethylene oxide and then to MEG.
The direct production of MEG was proven at laboratory scale and the presence of MEG was confirmed by two external laboratories. The discovery is a breakthrough in the production of sustainable PET that has vast potential to reduce the overall environmental impact of the process, said Dr. Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech.
As per MRC, Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone), a global leader in tires and sustainable mobility solutions, today announced an exclusive partnership with Carbon Capture and Transformation (CCT) company, LanzaTech NZ, Inc. (LanzaTech) to address end-of-life tire waste. The two companies will co-develop the first dedicated end-of-life tire recycling process leveraging LanzaTech's proprietary CCT technology, creating a pathway toward tire material circularity and the decarbonization of new tire production.
mrchub.com