At some point in early 2013, German speciality chemicals producer Evonik Industries (Essen; www.evonik.com) took the next step in its quest for commercial production of sustainable, high-performance plastics when it began operating a pilot plant for Omega-amino-lauric acid (ALS) in the central Slovakian town of Slovenska Lupca.

ALS is an alternative to petroleum-based laurin lactam (LL) and in the manufacture of sustainable plastics, yields an identical PA 12, states the company. With the pilot plant running, the company has moved a step closer to developing a commercial-scale plant for the alternative raw material.

The development of the biotechnological process, which is being funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research, relies on renewable resources. Evonik has selected palm oil as the starting material and has used it as a base for other chemical products. The new process has the potential to eventually complement the butadiene-based production of PA 12; how far away this is to becoming a reality is anyone's guess for now.

"This new, alternative raw material makes us less dependent on limited fossil resources and provides our back-integrated production a second pillar to stand on," states Gregor Hetzke, head of the company's performance polymers business. Indeed, the company finds itself in the planning phase of a second petroleum-based polyamide 12 plant in Singapore. When completed in 2014, the plant will have a capacity of 20,000 t/y – see Plasteurope.com of 06.07.2012.