Axens starts up ethanol-to-ethylene plant in Japan
Summary
At full rollout, this project will attain the production of waste-based polyolefin at industrial scale, representing a step forward towards a circular economy based on renewable carbon. Building upon the historic 2021 achievement of the first waste-based polyolefin production at lab scale, the cooperation between both companies entered into a new phase with the construction and start-up of the first Atol plant. This success proves the reliability and robustness of Axens Atol technology, which will be capable of processing a wide variety of ethanol feedstocks derived from various origins. Axens now counts five Atol references in the world, demonstrating the versatility of a technology which is at the crossroads of various value chains, from polymers and chemicals to biofuels. This project clearly addresses the waste plastics issue and Axens is committed to support our customers and partners to accelerate the deployment of circular economy the world,” said Frédéric Balligand, Axens renewables product line vice-president Atol is a technology for production of polymer grade ethylene by dehydration of any kind of renewable ethanol from biomass or waste.