Virent?s Chemical Completes Plant-Based PET Bottle

Madison, WI (PRWEB) June 07, 2011

Virent announced it has successfully made Paraxylene (PX) from 100% renewable plant sugars. The PX molecule, when combined with existing PET technology, allows manufacturers to offer customers 100% natural, renewable, plant-based PET and packaging. This announcement is the culmination of Virent?s mixed-xylenes development which started in 2010.

?Today confirms a significant achievement for global leaders in consumer products,? said Virent CEO, Lee Edwards. ?Our plant-based PX paves the way for 100% sustainable, recyclable products and packaging with complete freedom from crude oil.?

Virent?s Paraxylene, which has been trademarked BioFormPX?, can be used in bottling, packaging and in a wide variety of fibers and materials. The chemical is made through a patented, catalytic process which converts plant-based sugars into PX molecules identical to those made from petroleum. All of Virent?s chemicals are ?drop in? replacements that enable full utilization of existing processing and logistics infrastructure without blending limitations. ?Our PX can be blended at any ratio the customer desires, and made from a wide variety of feedstocks, including sugar cane, corn, and woody biomass,? explains Edwards. ?Our catalytic process is tunable to customer specs, and situated to meet the entire spectrum of fossil fuel replacement.?

The company is working with potential partners and customers to explore large-scale commercial options to augment its existing 10,000 gallon per-year demonstration plant in Madison, Wisconsin.

About Virent

Virent is in the business of replacing crude oil by applying clever chemistry to create the chemicals and fuels the world demands using a wide range of naturally-occurring, renewable resources. Patented technology features catalytic chemistry to convert plant-based sugars into a full range of products identical to those made from petroleum, including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and chemicals for plastics and fibers. The products are ?drop in? replacements that enable full utilization of existing logistics infrastructure without blending limitations.

The development of Virent?s BioForming? technology platform is supported through strategic investors including Cargill, Shell and Honda, as well as over 100 employees based in Madison, Wisconsin. The company has received several grants from the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Energy and Agriculture and has been recognized with many honors, including the World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer award and the EPA?s Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award.

Please visit us at http://www.Virent.com.

Contact

Kelly Morgan

Marketing Manager, Virent

Kelly_morgan(at)virent(dot)com

608-237-8603

3571 Anderson St.

Madison, WI 53704

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BioPlastek 2011 Forum: Virent?s Para-Xylene Enables Production of 100% Plant-Based PET Bottle

Skillman, NJ (PRWEB) June 10, 2011

Skyrocketing resin prices have intensified the race to create plant-based PET bottles as replacements for petroleum-derived ones. This led to recent dual announcements, first by H.J. Heinz Company of plans to use Coca-Cola?s 30% plant-based PET PlantBottle? for packaging its ketchup, and then by PepsiCo which announced a 100% plant-based PET bottle in the laboratory. Bio-based ethylene glycol is available and replaces 30% of the fossil fuel.

The more challenging issue has been how the other monomer of PET, namely the PTA component, can be replaced by a bio-based version to cost-effectively achieve 100% renewable PET packaging near-term.

The ?holy grail? of a bio-based PTA may finally be a reality with the announcement by Virent on June 6th that it successfully made para-xylene (PX) from 100% renewable plant sugars. A patented catalytic process is used to convert the plant-based sugars into PX, identical to that made from petroleum. The conversion of PX to PTA is widely utilized commercial chemistry. In essence, the bio-based PX fills in the ?missing piece? to make a 100% bio-based PET bottle.

Further details on this remarkable achievement will be presented by Kieran Furlong, Virent?s commercial manager-chemicals, in a late addition to the BioPlastek 2011 Forum program. The Forum will take place on June 27-29, 2011, at The Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.????

Especially noteworthy is that the PX was made in Virent?s 10,000 gal/year demonstration plant. Others who claim to have converted biomass directly to aromatic intermediates (including PX) are believed to have done so only in a lab environment.

Virent used US-grown beet sugar as the feedstock in this demonstration. A similar process has been demonstrated at smaller scale with a wide variety of feedstocks.

To hear history in the making, register today at http://bioplastek.com to attend the BioPlastek 2011 Forum.

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