Renewable PU will be an early outcome of UPM-Dongsung partnership
Industrial group UPM has announced a partnership with Korean group Dongsung Chemical. The companies have said they will work together to accelerate the introduction of renewable, sustainable forest-sourced materials to reduce fossil resource consumption.
UPM had already announced an investment of €750 million in what it is calling the world’s first industrial-scale biorefinery for converting sustainably sourced, wood-based biomass into “next-generation biochemicals”.
The factory will be at Leuna, a centre for chemicals manufacturing, 30 kilometres west of Leipzig. UPM’s aim is for the facility to produce 220,000 tonnes of biochemicals annually and for production to begin before the end of 2023.
One of the products the factory will make will be bio-based mono-ethylene glycol (MEG), which Dongsung Chemical has said it intends to develop into renewable polyurethane for use, initially, in footwear. Its chief executive, ManWoo Lee, said this was part of a wider strategy of “focusing on carbon-reduction projects”.
UPM said it supported this stance, with its vice-president for biochemicals operations, Michael Duetsch, adding: “UPM is building a world beyond fossils, and we will work with our partners at Dongsung to deliver outstanding solutions for their customers, who are also eager to reduce their carbon footprint.”
