Bio-based polyethylene and MEG
Polyethylene and MEG made from sugarcane ethanol instead of oil or gas; chemically identical, about 0.2% of PE, sold at a premium.
Bio-based chemicals · Bio-based polymers & platforms · No. 114
- Single chemical
- Feedstock: Crops and biomass
- bio-ethylene capacity 260 kt/yr at Braskem Triunfo (2023); green PE sales 191 kt in 2024, up 23% (S&P Global, Feb 2025); over 1.2 Mt produced 2010-2023
- -3.0 t CO₂e per t
- HS 390110
Some shampoo bottles are made of plastic grown in Brazilian cane fields, chemically identical to plastic from oil.
Chart: Illustration: Bio-based polyethylene and MEG
Where it comes from
Chart: Map of where it comes from
Cane ethanol is passed over a hot catalyst to make ethylene, then polymerised in ordinary reactors; it takes about 1.7-1.75 t of ethanol per tonne of ethylene.
Three things to know
- Braskem's 2023 expansion cost $87 million and raised Triunfo's capacity by 30% to 260 kt a year.
- Braskem's 2025 study puts bio-HDPE about 5 kg CO2e per kg better than fossil HDPE.
- Over 1.2 Mt of bio-PE was made between 2010 and 2023, almost all at one Brazilian plant.
The journey
- 1 SugarcaneAbout 80-85 litres of ethanol per tonne
- 2 EthanolTrucked from mills to Triunfo, southern Brazil
- 3 DehydrationCatalyst at 350-450 C makes ethylene
- 4 PolymerisationStandard reactors make HDPE, LLDPE or EVA
- 5 Use and recyclingRecycled with fossil PE, not biodegradable