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(Plastemart) -- Toray
Industries, Inc. succeeded in producing laboratory-scale samples of the
world's first fully renewable biobased PET fiber by using fully renewable
biobased PET derived from biobased paraxylene from Gevo, Inc., a leading company
in renewable chemicals and advanced biofuels. Gevo has succeeded in converting
isobutanol, produced from biomass by employing its own highly effective
production method that uses synthetic biology, to synthesize para-xylene
employing conventional chemical process used in commercial operations.Toray used
terephthalic acid synthesized from Gevo's biobased para-xylene and commercially
available renewable mono ethylene glycol (MEG) as raw materials, and
successfully produced the PET samples by applying a new technology and PET
polymerization in June this year. This biobased PET has exhibited properties
equivalent to petro-based PET in laboratory conditions.
Toray has also succeeded in the production of a fiber using this fully
renewable biobased PET for the first time in the world. The success of this
trial, albeit under laboratory conditions, is proof that polyester fiber can be
industrially produced from fully renewable biomass feedstock alone. This is a
significant step that would contribute to the realization of a sustainable,
low-carbon society.
Perspectives of development of polymer markets, pricing issues and other
important aspects will be discussed at The Polymers
Summit-2011, which will be held in Moscow on November 30, 2011 at the
Ritz Carlton Hotel. The Summit will be organized by MRC with the support of
ICIS. The main idea of the Summit is to find a "the golden mean" between
producers and converters. When producers receive exactly such margin of
production, which helps them to invest in production expansion in order to
substitute polymers imports, and the converters receive such price of feedstock
that helps them to compete imported finished products. The Summit site gives an
access to the live video of the Summit, speakers" presentations, as well as
opportunities to ask questions or make appointments to any Summit
partcipant.
mrcplast.com
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