The partners aim to commercialize lactic-to-acrylic-acid technology that Procter & Gamble has been developing in its laboratories and which it licensed to Cargill in May.

“By leveraging Cargill’s processing technology and IFPEN/Axens’ know-how in catalysis and scale up, we’re aiming to produce acrylic acid from renewable sources thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50 percent,” said Jill Zullo, vice president of bio-intermediates in Cargill’s bio-industrial business. She added that more than 6 million t of fossil-based acrylic acid will be produced this year.

Efforts will focus on the catalyst and process development needed to convert lactic acid into bio-based acrylic acid at scale. Acrylic acid is used in various applications, from hygiene products to household paints.

The companies will advance the technology according to staged milestones. Although it will be several years before it is ready to be deployed at commercial scale, they said test samples could be ready for potential customers sometime within the next 12 months. 

Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist