Axens starts up its first ethanol-to-ethylene pilot plant in Japan

In Japan, in May 2022, Axens have demonstrated the successful start-up of the first ethanol-to-ethylene pilot plant based on Axens Atol technology with Sumitomo Chemical, which is going on the waste-to-polyolefins project in Japan.

At full rollout, this project will attain the production of waste-based polyolefin at industrial scale, representing a step forward towards a circular economy based on renewable carbon.

Building upon the historic 2021 achievement of the first waste-based polyolefin production at lab scale, the cooperation between both companies entered into a new phase with the construction and start-up of the first Atol® plant. This success proves the reliability and robustness of Axens Atol® technology, which will be capable of processing a wide variety of ethanol feedstocks derived from various origins.

Axens now counts 5 Atol® references in the world, demonstrating the versatility of a technology which is at the crossroads of various value chains, from polymers and chemicals to biofuels.