Nexus Circular and Braskem have signed a 10-year definitive commercial agreement for the supply of circular feedstocks from a new advanced recycling facility. Braskem completed a strategic investment in Nexus Circular in January 2022.
The contracted volumes of advanced recycled circular products from Nexus will support Braskem's strategic objective to sell 300 thousand metric tons of products with recycled content by 2025 and 1 million metric tons by 2030. Braskem America's CEO Mark Nikolich said, "We look forward to a long and growing partnership with Nexus to secure high-quality feedstock for the production of Braskem's certified circular PP resins. This supports our corporate initiative to develop a carbon neutral circular economy for plastics while supporting our clients' goals for plastics with recycled content."
This project will add to Braskem America's existing sustainable PP and PE portfolio, which currently consists of nine Post-Consumer Recycled (PCR) products including two PCR PP grades that can be used in a wide range of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) food contact applications where PP is used today. Braskem's full range of PCR solutions can be used in a variety of PP and PE applications, including but not limited to consumer packaging.
The sorting area of a commercial Nexus chemical recycling plant. Image: Nexus Circular LLC
Braskem is also targeting 1 million tonnes/year of bio-based polyolefin supply by 2030, announcing a project to evaluate an investment in producing carbon negative bio-based polypropylene (PP) in the U.S. The project would utilize Braskem's proven, proprietary technology to convert bioethanol into physically segregated bio-based polypropylene. Braskem is exploring partnership opportunities for this project with several clients, brand owners, and suppliers.
Mark Nikolich, Braskem America CEO, commented, "Building on our core technology and market leadership, we are actively evaluating a project to produce the world's first bio-based polypropylene on an industrial scale to support our ambitious sustainability objectives and deliver tangible solutions to our clients. As an established leader in the innovation and production of bio-based materials, we have seen the demand for Braskem's bio-based materials grow significantly since our initial product launches. This new U.S.-based project would not only serve a growing market for sustainable solutions but also reduce Braskem's reliance on fossil feedstock. Expanding our portfolio to include bio-based PP supports Braskem's goal of 1 tonnes of biopolymers capacity by 2030 and becoming carbon neutral by 2050."