Plastics manufacturing with CO2

Bayer (www.bayer.com) has taken a new direction in the production of high-quality plastics thanks to carbon dioxide from the energy industry. A pilot plant has gone on stream at Chempark Leverkusen to produce a chemical precursor into which CO2 is incorporated and then processed into polyurethanes. As a result, CO2 can now be recycled and used as a raw material and substitute for petroleum. The innovative process is the result of the Dream Production project, on which Bayer is working in cooperation with the energy company RWE, which supplies the CO2 used in the process. Other partners are RWTH Aachen University and the CAT Catalytic Center.The project is receiving federal funding amounting to approximately 5 million euro. Including the investment of Bayer and RWE the total budget amounts to some 9 million euro. If the testing phase goes well, the industrial production of plastics based on CO2 should start in 2015.