Page 282 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

258 Cha pte r T h i r tee n

The new facility will have a capacity of 350,000 metric tons, serv-
ing both Brazilian and international markets. The facility will use
ethanol derived from sugar cane, an annually renewable resource, to
produce ethylene—the raw material required to make polyethylene.
Ethylene is traditionally produced using either naphtha or natural gas
feedstocks, both of which are petroleum products. The new process,
using sugar cane both as a feedstock and as a process fuel, is estimated
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over one million metric tons
per year when compared to a similarly-sized conventional polyethyl-
ene plant, based on a critically-reviewed life-cycle assessment study.
The new facility will use Dow’s proprietary technology to manu-
facture DOWLEX™ polyethylene resins, which combine toughness
and puncture resistance with high performance and processability.
These materials are used in a range of different applications, includ-
ing pipes, films, membranes, and food and specialty packaging. At
a molecular level, the sugar cane-based product will be identical
to the resins manufactured at other Dow facilities. Thus, unlike
most re newable resource-based plastics, industrial customers will be
using a drop-in replacement made with a renewable resource, not
a different polymer altogether. Also, like the traditional product, the
sugar cane-based polyethylene will be fully recyclable using existing
infrastructure.

Green Chemistry at Dow AgroSciences
Dow AgroSciences LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary based in Indi-
anapolis, is a top-tier agricultural company with global sales of $4.5
billion. It was originally formed as a joint venture between Dow and
the Plant Sciences Division of Eli Lilly and Company. The company
provides innovative technologies for crop protection, pest and vege-
tation management, seeds, traits, and agricultural biotechnology to
serve the world’s growing population.
Many industries, including crop protection, have been under
considerable pressure to move toward greener chemistry. Green
chemistry, also known as sustainable chemistry, encompasses all
aspects of and types of chemicals and processes that reduce negative
impacts on human health and the environment including reduced
waste, safer products, and reduced use of energy and resources.
Accordingly, Dow AgroSciences has invested considerable R&D in
developing better and more environmentally sound products with
equivalent or superior performance to many accepted standards.
These “green insecticides” are able to effectively and selectively
control pests without posing significant risks to the applicator, con-
sumer and ecosystem as a whole, including mammals, birds, earth-
worms, plants and aquatic organisms. The company has earned
several awards for green and sustainable chemistry innovations,
including four Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards.