Dow enters Brazil sugar cane-based plastics venture

São Paulo, Brazil -- Dow Chemical Co., and Crystalsev - one of Brazil's largest ethanol players - are forming a joint venture to design and build a world-scale facility in Brazil to manufacture polyethylene from sugar cane. The plant is expected to start production in 2011 with a capacity of 350 kilotonnes per annum, Dow said 19 July.

The new facility will use ethanol derived from sugar cane to produce ethylene monomer. The process will produce significantly less CO2 than the traditional polyethylene manufacturing processes which use petroleum-based feedstock.

The companies have started a one-year feasibility study to assess the engineering design, location, infrastructure needs, supply chain logistics, energy and economics of the project. This will also look at the possibility of receiving approval for the project and the process as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) - a United Nations-backed scheme to help companies manage their carbon credits from emerging market projects.

The new facility will use Dow’s Solution technology to manufacture linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), which is used in applications, including pipes, films, membranes, and food and specialty packaging. The JV's product will be molecularly identical to conventional LLDPE resins and be fully recyclable using existing infrastructure, added Dow, which claims to be the world's largest polyethylene producer.