Sustainable investment

Partnerships with universities and research centers in Brazil and abroad form Braskem’s technological base for the development of new resins from renewable raw materials

In September 2010, Braskem entered into a partnership agreement with the National Bioscience Laboratory (LNBio) located in Campinas, São Paulo for the installation of a laboratory to be used by the company’s research team, which will gain full access to state-of-the-art equipment of the laboratory, in association with the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Under the partnership, Braskem began using a 200 square meter area, with 40 researchers from the company participating. The objective is to conduct research in the field of biotechnology and develop products that are economically competitive and sustainable, always using raw materials made from renewable resources.

However, this is not Braskem’s first experience with partnerships in technology and innovation in this area. In 2008, Braskem entered into a cooperation agreement with the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and the São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (FAPESP) involving approximately R$ 9 million to develop research on biopolymers.

Green Polypropylene

After inaugurating the world’s first industrial-scale green ethylene plant, which will produce polyethylene from renewable raw materials, Braskem is now focusing on the development of an innovative and economically competitive process for the production of green polypropylene. In 2008, Braskem already produced green polypropylene in its laboratories. The samples were obtained at Braskem’s Technology and Innovation Center on a pilot scale, where homopolymers and copolymers were produced, and were certified by the U.S. laboratory Beta Analystic Inc., the world leader in carbon isotope analysis, as being 100% from renewable raw materials. Now Braskem has been intensifying its research to improve competitiveness on an industrial scale

As part of this effort, in 2009, Braskem formed a partnership with Novozymes, the global leader in the production of industrial enzymes, to expand research for the development of polypropylene (PP) made from sugarcane.

Braskem was the first company in the world to produce and analyze polypropylene made from a 100% renewable source on an experimental basis. The partnership with Novozymes aims to boost the development of the technology and is a key element of Braskem’s effort to becoming the global leader in green polymers, benefitting from Brazil’s competitive advantages in the field of renewable resources.

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