Three join on biobased acrylic acid

Agrifood giant Cargill is joining forces with two French companies to further develop and scale biobased acrylic acid based on a lactic acid technology it licensed in from Procter & Gamble earlier this year. This is claimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in production by 50% compared with conventional means of production.

Cargill’s partners are IFP Energies Nouvelles (IFPEN), which is developing production processes for advanced biofuels, bio-based products and plastics recycling; and Axens, an IFP Group company specialising in technologies to convert oil and biomass into cleaner fuels. They will supply their know-how in catalysis and scale-up to the project.

The companies said that they are “advancing the technology according to staged milestones”. Test samples could be ready within the next 12 months, although commercial-scale production is some years away. Acrylic acid is used in applications from hygiene products to household paints.