Amerplast has entered into a supply partnership agreement with biopolymers manufacturer Braskem to market Green Polyethylene (Green PE) obtained from a renewable source, sugar cane ethanol, to tissue segment.
Polyethylene is the most widely used type of plastic in the world, especially by the automotive industry and manufacturers of cosmetics, packaging, toy, personal hygiene and cleaning products, among others.
While environmentally sustainable, Green PE has the performance characteristics of a traditional PE. For Amerplast’s customers such as tissue producers, it offers an alternative for meeting their packaging needs that is better for the environment.
Green PE is produced using ethanol, a by-product in sugar production. It contains no fossil raw materials and can be recycled in existing recycling streams.
Green PE however has the same quality and technical characteristics as conventional oil based polyethylene. Sugar cane is a 100 percent renewable and carbon dioxide depleting resource. Braskem’s Green PE removes up to 2.15 metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere for each ton produced, from cradle to Braskem’s gate, according to a life cycle assessment study, the company says.
Last year Braskem joined an ongoing collaboration between tire company Michelin and renewable products company Amyris to develop and commercialize renewable isoprene, sourced from various biomass.
