Braskem at the K Fair: innovations, circular economy and combating climate change

 

The K Fair, held in Düsseldorf, Germany, celebrated its 70^th year in 2022 with its usual hefty numbers: over three thousand exhibitors from 61 countries. Braskem made an appearance once again - at the world's largest event in the plastics and rubber industry. Take a look at some of the innovations presented by Braskem!

Wenew
In this year's edition, Braskem presented to the market its new circular economy ecosystem, Wenew. It's a concept that also shares its name with Braskem's portfolio of chemicals and resins with recycled content.

In addition to products, the Wenew ecosystem embraces other initiatives aimed at promoting the circular economy under the concept of Wemove. These are collaborative actions focused on education for the disposal of plastics and recycling, new technologies and circular design.

Combating climate change
This was one of the more popular themes presented by Braskem at the K Fair. Under the I'm greenT bio-based brand, Braskem has been offering a portfolio of renewable products derived from sugarcane since 2010, which act to capture carbon from the atmosphere during its production process. But the investments and actions of research and development of products and technologies in this field do not stop there.

Some further developments include: investments of around US$ 60 million which are underway to expand the production capacity of renewable ethylene at the Triunfo plant in Rio Grande do Sul (RS); a project with SCG Chemicals, a leading chemical company in Thailand, for the potential installation of an I'm greenT bio-based biopolymer plant in the country; a partnership with Lummus for the licensing of technologies for the production of biopolymers; and the launch of the joint venture Sustainea with the Japanese company Sojitz for the production of bioMEG (monoethylene glycol) and bioMPG (monopropylene glycol) for the PET and textile bottle market, plus a wide variety of applications, including cosmetics and personal care.

Collaborative innovation
The sum of forces to accelerate innovation is another agenda promoted by Braskem and this was highlighted at the event. Cazoolo, the first innovation hub focused on the creation of circular packaging in Brazil, is one of the recent projects which has launched under this approach, including Oxygea, a hub for startups that received an investment of US$150 million for the development of new businesses focused on sustainability and digital transformation.

New applications
Braskem has been working to identify new areas of plastic application, such as a solution for replacing wooden sleepers with plastic sleepers in rail transport. Dubbed "Smartrails", the solution provides advantages that include lower environmental impact, lighter weight and better operational performance - a true innovation in the development of permanent route materials and a new approach to polymeric sleepers.