Photanol BV and RENOLIT SE form a strategic partnership to develop polymers by using CO2 absorbed from the air in a direct, fully circular and CO2 -neutral conversion process without the usage of (fossil) oil and gas.
As such, this innovative process is an optimal solution to contribute to the reduction of global warming while still enjoying the benefits of virgin high performance polymers.
The process uses light and CO2 as raw material and produces so called monomers (building blocks for polymers) by photosynthesis of cyanobacteria while exhausting oxygen.
RENOLIT Board member and General Manager Healthcare Thomas Sampers: “This partnership is bringing a long series of benefits to our healthcare customers and patients, amongst which fully sustainable raw materials, better quality of medical devices due to higher purity of the raw materials and a secured supply-chain. Furthermore, Photanol will not only develop and manufacture monomers for the needs of RENOLIT Healthcare, but also for other applications of our Group.”
Veronique de Bruijn, CEO of Photanol: “We are excited to have an experienced partner on our side for the development of circular polymers which will have a huge impact on a global scale. Teaming up with RENOLIT helps us to bring this fascinating disruptive technology to many markets at competitive cost while taking care of the planet” .
Thomas Sampers and Veronique de Bruijn
The companies
The RENOLIT Group is a globally active specialist for high-quality polymer films, sheets and other polymer solutions. With more than thirty production sites and sales units in twenty countries, and with annual sales of more than EUR 1.0 billion in fiscal year 2019, the company with headquarters in Worms – around 70 km south of Frankfurt-am-Main – is one of the world’s leading polymer product manufacturers. More than 4,800 employees continue to further develop the knowledge and expertise gained from over seventy years of business.
Photanol develops and produces circular carbon chemicals. The Photanol proprietary technology utilises CO2 and cyanobacteria for their sustainable chemicals production platform providing next-generation clean chemicals. The unique technology reduces the impact of chemical industry on global warming by utilizing CO2 as feedstock rather than fossil resources. As compared to traditional bio-based technologies the chosen pathway also dramatically reduces the need for land and water. As such, Photanol can produce chemicals in a biological, sustainable and cost-effective way, while reducing atmospheric CO2 in the process.
Source: Photanol, press release, 2020-07-03.