Japan's Asahi Kasei to produce acrylonitrile with biomass raw material

Recent demand growth has been particularly robust in the applications of carbon fibre as a material to reduce the weight of wind turbine blades, etc., and nitrile rubber for medical gloves whose use is expanding due to heightened awareness for hygiene. In order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, measures to reduce CO2 emissions throughout the product chain of fossil fuel-derivatives are gaining momentum, and AN-customers are increasingly seeking to manufacture products using AN with low CO2 emissions in order to contribute to GHG reduction, Asahi Kasei said in a media statement.

Under these circumstances, Asahi Kasei and TSPC sought to reduce CO2 emissions across the AN supply chain, and in October 2021, TSPC became the first AN manufacturer in Asia to acquire ISCC PLUS certification. The certification system enables TSPC to produce and sell AN using biomass raw material allocated by the mass-balance method. TSPC is scheduled to begin producing AN using biomass propylene in February 2022. In order to contribute to society’s carbon neutrality, the Asahi Kasei will continue efforts to further reduce CO2 emissions by improving the AN catalysts and processes based on original technologies as well as the procurement of biomass raw material, aiming to be a global sustainable partner for its customers.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (GK)