With a focus on sustainability, materials maker Braskem has opened a Renewable Innovation Center in Lexington, Mass.
An opening ceremony was held at the site Sept. 10. The 35,000-square-foot center will focus on innovation in renewable chemicals and sustainable materials.
Capabilities at the new center will expand Braskem's work in biotechnology, catalysis, process engineering and open innovation. One focus of the center will be early-stage science and engineering related to the conversion of biomass-based feedstocks — including sugars, cellulose, plant oils and lignin — into sustainable chemicals and materials.
In a Sept. 5 interview, Global Biotechnology Head Daniel MacEachran said construction of the center via a retrofit of an existing building began in April 2023. Braskem occupied offices at the site in January and began using the building's labs in July.
Braskem now employs 36 at the center, which represents an investment of $20 million. Work at the new center will complement the firm's global R&D work in Campinas and Triunfo, Brazil, and at a U.S. site in Pittsburgh.
"The overarching theme is early stage, renewable, bio-based products," MacEachran said. "Some can be drop-in technology, some will use other by-products."
São Paul-based Braskem has a solid track record of bio-based work. The firm has been making sugar-based polyethylene resins in Brazil since 2010.
"We've been at this for a while," Braskem America CEO Mark Nikolich said Sept. 5. "It's not an easy road, but we've learned a lot."
"We're the biggest biopolymer maker and we have a unique value proposition," he added. "We can go from the farm to disposal of polymer products."
Braskem is Brazil's largest petrochemicals firm and ranks as one of North America's largest suppliers of polypropylene resin. The firm employs more than 8,500 worldwide and posted sales of more than $14 billion in 2023.