In California, start-up firm Origin Materials has received a $5 million investment from specialty chemicals group AECI to support the company’s renewable technologies development. Under the partnership, AECI would assist Origin and its customers and industrial partners in developing and industrializing the process for producing at least 95% biobased polyethylene terephthalate plastic bottles at commercial scale. The product could go into market as early as 2020.
AECI has been exploring the possibility of acquiring green technologies that complement its existing specialty chemicals portfolio, which CEO Mark Dytor said in a statement includes “going green and taking bottles from a petroleum-based polymer to a 100% green bio-based polymer.”