Neste world-first in the bio-based polymer industry

Climate change and plastic pollution continue to grow, bio-based polymers are gaining increased prominence in the minds of consumers. Seeing, the Neste recently announced a world-first in the bio-based polymer industry.

Neste world-first in the bio-based polymer industryNeste jointly announcing the first parallel production of bio-based polypropylene and bio-based low-density polyethylene at commercial scale.

This venture leverages Neste’s experience in renewable hydrocarbons derived from sustainable bio-based raw materials, as well as LyondellBasell’s technical capabilities in large scale chemical production. An initial production run has successfully resulted in the production of several thousand tonnes approved for use in food packaging.

The polymer itself is marketed under the brand name Circulen, and has been added to LyondellBasell’s circular economy product line. An independent third party tested the polymer products using carbon tracers and confirmed they contained over 30% renewable content.

This pioneering collaboration with LyondellBasell marks a major milestone in the commercialization of Neste’s renewable polymers and chemicals business focusing on developing renewable and circular solutions for forward-looking sustainable brands.”

With the industrial production of bio-based polypropylene, IDTechEx projects that the market size for bio-based polymers will be 2.7 Mt by 2023.

Bio-based polyolefins look set to benefit from a CAGR three to four times as large as their petrochemical equivalents, as consumers increasingly become aware of the benefits of using bio-based alternative