Plastic with a negative carbon footprint

By producing ethanol from sugarcane, we do not only reduce our dependency on fossil resources, we also capture CO2. Through photosynthesis, sugarcane takes CO2 from the air and a portion of this CO2 is locked into bio-ethanol, the basis of our bio-based plastic!

How does that work? The bio-ethanol is dehydrated and broken down into ethylene and water. The ethylene is then polymerized into plastic resins within our plants. Up to now, we have been producing different types of polyethylene and EVA, a polymer widely used in foams such as shoe soles. As this product stores the CO2 from the sugarcane, bio-based plastic has a negative carbon footprint.

The difference between regular and bio-based plastic

The production process of bio-based plastic is not very different from how regular plastic is produced. Actually, the only difference is the raw material. Despite their different origin, bio-based plastic and regular plastic have the same basis: ethylene. This bio-based plastic is called 'drop-in', meaning that the molecular composition is exactly the same as regular plastic. That is why the use, application, quality and recycling of bio-based plastic is the same as that of normal plastic.

People can already find bio-based plastic in various places in society, especially in packaging and durable goods such as toys. Still, currently, bio-based plastic only accounts for 1% of all the plastic in the world. But as brand owners and retailers continue replacing regular plastics by drop-in bio-based alternatives, the relative share of bio-based plastics will increase in the years to come.