Johnson Matthey has agreed to provide its butanediol (BDO) technology to China’s Fujian Zhongjing Petrochemical, which plans to build three new plants in phases. A location and timescale for the newbuilds were not disclosed.

The BDO will be used as feedstock for producing biodegradable plastic polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT), which is used in compostable packaging. Together the three plants will enable the production of a total of 600,000 t/y of PBAT.

According to John Edwards, Britain’s HM Trade Commissioner for China, the “huge commercial” project will be nine times larger than any other BDO project in the world.

In 2020, China produced about 60 million t of plastic waste, yet only 16 million t was recycled, according to the China National Resources Recycling Association. This, said Johnson Matthey, has prompted the Chinese government to introduce a raft of new laws and regulations to limit plastic waste and to promote plastic alternatives such as biodegradable plastics.