LanzaTech signs contract with Japanese chemicals firm

LanzaTech Global Inc., an Illinois-based developer of waste-to-fuels, chemicals and materials conversion technology, has signed a master license agreement with Sekisui Chemical Co. Ltd. of Japan to deploy, at commercial scale, a jointly developed platform that converts syngas derived from municipal solid waste (MSW) and industrial solid waste into ethanol.

Sekisui intends to build multiple facilities in municipalities across Japan that will incorporate equipment packages, engineering and advisory services, consumables and intellectual property provided by LanzaTech.

“We are pleased to expand our collaboration with longstanding partner LanzaTech, whose waste-to-ethanol technology is converting MSW into a valuable resource and providing an innovative solution to ending our reliance on fresh fossil fuels,” says Futoshi Kamiwaki, Sekisui’s senior managing executive officer. “Signing this agreement is an important next step on our path to commercializing this game-changing technology and realizing Sekisui’s vision of a more sustainable, low-carbon society for future generations.”

Sekisui expects its first commercial scale facility to produce 10,000 to 12,000 metric tons of ethanol annually. The ethanol output will be synthetic alcohol that can be converted into ethylene and kerosene for use as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and in material and chemical applications including the production of apparel, personal care items and packaging.

“Our continued collaboration with Sekisui is setting the groundwork for providing municipalities with a platform that reduces waste, captures carbon, generates valuable sustainable feedstocks and, importantly, creates local jobs," LanzaTech CEO Dr. Jennifer Holmgren says.

According to LanzaTech, about 56 million tons of combustible waste is generated in Japan each year, offering a sizable landfill and incinerator diversion opportunity.

The new agreement follows the creation of a 2017 pilot plant in Yorii-machi, Japan, and the 2022 completion of an MSW-to-ethanol demonstration plant in Kuji City, Japan, that has the capacity to produce approximately 400 tons of ethanol annually.

“With the application of this jointly developed biology-based platform, Sekisui can turn unsorted waste into a cost-competitive replacement for fossil fuel-derived feedstocks,” LanzaTech says. “The bioprocessing platform gasifies unsorted combustible waste accumulated at waste disposal facilities and converts this gas into ethanol using a microbial catalyst and gas fermentation technology that does not require any chemical catalysts, heat or pressure.”

Sekisui has more than 26,000 employees and 170 portfolio companies operating in 20 different countries with its focus in part on interlayer films, foam products and conductive particles.