Four Asia chemical majors in consortium to build green polyester supply chain
Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp, South Korea’s SK geo centric, Thailand’s Indorama Ventures Ltd (IVL), and India Glycols along with three other companies are part of the consortium, the companies said in a joint statement on Thursday.
The project aims to utilize renewable and bio-based materials as well as materials produced via carbon capture and utilization (CCU) to manufacture polyester fibers for THE NORTH FACE brand in Japan.
Outdoor apparel and equipment brand THE NORTH FACE is operated by Goldwin in Japan.
Chiyoda will supply CCU-based paraxylene (PX) to the supply chain, while Thai polyester producer IVL will contribute renewable CCU-based purified terephthalic acid (PTA).
In March 2022, Chiyoda started producing carbon dioxide (CO2)-based PX at its pilot plant at the company’s Koyasu Research Park in Kanagawa prefecture as part of a project linked with Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NED).
SK geo centric and Neste will be supplying renewable PX and renewable naphtha, respectively.