Green petrochemical feedstock producer Anellotech (Pearl River, New York / USA; www.anellotech.com) has announced the successful start-up of its pilot plant producing benzene, toluene and xylenes (BTX) based on renewable feedstocks such as palm waste, bagasse, corn stover and wood. The company said kilogramme-scale quantities are now being made available to interested downstream players.

The technology-based group in December 2013 began initial operations at its Pearl River plant, which employs a catalytic fast pyrolysis process converting biomass into “green” aromatics. The output can be used as “drop-in” replacements for petroleum-based alternatives. Anellotech said its process is not only sustainable, it also ends up being cheaper since all chemical conversions take place in one reactor, using its “low-cost” zeolite catalyst and the non-food biomass feedstock.