Sweet deal

The Dow Chemical Company and Crystalsev, one of Brazil's largest ethanol players, have announced plans to build a plant to manufacture polyethylene from sugar cane.

Under the terms of a memorandum of understanding between the two, Dow and Crystalsev will form a joint venture in Brazil to design and build the facility, which is expected to start production in 2011 and boast a capacity of 350,000 tonnes.

The new facility will use ethanol derived from sugar cane, an annually renewable resource, to produce ethylene - the raw material required to make polyethylene, the world's most widely-used plastic. Ethylene is traditionally produced using either naphtha or natural gas liquids, both of which are petroleum products. It is estimated that the new process will produce significantly less CO₂ compared to the traditional polyethylene manufacturing process.

The companies have already begun conducting a feasibility study to assess various aspects of the project, including engineering design, location, infrastructure needs, supply chain logistics, energy and economics. The study, which is expected to take one year, will also look at the possibility of receiving approval for the project and the process as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The CDM was developed by the United Nations to help companies manage their carbon credits from emerging market projects.