In Japan, Toyo Engineering Corporation (TOYO) has announced that it has been awarded a contract by compatriot Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd to construct an ethanol-to-ethylene pilot plant that will use waste-derived ethanol as raw material at Sumitomo Chemical's Chiba Works.
As announced in March 2020, Sumitomo Chemical has established a cooperative relationship with Sekisui Chemical Co. Ltd for the “social implementation” of a technology to manufacture polyolefin using waste as raw material.
The plan is to begin pilot production of high purity ethylene, which is the raw material for polyolefin, using waste-derived ethanol to be produced by Sekisui Chemical from the fiscal year 2022.
TOYO has worked with Sumitomo Chemical since the Basic Design of the plant and is currently carrying out detailed engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) under the awarded EPC lump-sum contract with completion scheduled for 2022.
