Braskem, the third-largest resin producer in the US, recently announced that its board of directors has approved a green polyethylene project.

This project, for which investment of $ 500 million was approved, will produce ethylene & polyethylene from sugarcane ethanol, with operational startup scheduled for 2011 at the Southern Petrochemical Complex in Rio Grande do Sul state.

Braskem has already concluded the conceptual and basic-design phase, and the detailing phase & the start of construction will begin in early 2009. The company has already made firm reservations for the project's critical equipment, like the feed gas compressor and refrigeration compressor, which are high-technology equipment that must be ordered in advance to ensure the project timetable is met. To finance what will be the first commercial-scale operation in the world producing green polyethylene made from 100 per cent renewable raw materials, Braskem plans to use 30 per cent of its own funds and seek finance for the remaining 70 per cent.