Lummus Technology LLC and Citroniq LLC say they will build four plants in the U.S. to produce bio-based polypropylene.
Officials did not list a specific location for the plants, but in a news release said the first, scheduled for completion in 2027, will produce 400 kilotonnes per year of bio-polypropylene and will be first in North America with this production capability.
Lummus, a technology and energy company, and Citroniq, a Houston-based maker of carbon-negative materials, signed a letter of intent for the projects in April. It now has licensing and engineering agreements in place for the green PP plants.
The sites will use Houston-based Lummus' Verdene PP suite of technologies: ethanol to ethylene technology, dimer technology, olefins conversion technology and polypropylene technology.
"Combining Lummus' leadership in polypropylene licensing with Citroniq's carbon negative production capabilities will help us meet the growing demand for bio-polypropylene and accelerate the decarbonization of the downstream energy industry," said Romain Lemoine, chief business officer of polymers and petrochemicals for Lummus Technology.
Lummus says it is the only technology provider able to supply all the proven, low-energy technologies to produce renewable green PP from biogenic ethanol.
The agreement is a "testament of our commitment to bring sustainable plastics at world-class scale to the marketplace," said Mel Badheka, president & co-founder of Citroniq Chemicals.
Citroniq's E2O process produces carbon-negative plastics and olefins intermediates from 100 percent sustainable feedstocks, eliminating the use of conventional fossil fuel hydrocarbons and significantly reducing GHG emissions.