Biobased Monomers for a Defossilised Speciality Polymer Industry

Polymers provide solutions to many critical functions in modern life, from the single use plastics that have been the focus of recent environmental campaigns, to longer acting structural polymers and rubbers, to paints, lubricants, coatings and drug delivery formulations. The use of polymers is being re-evaluated in the light of the sustainable development goals and the need to leave the planet in a state fit for future generations. Many polymers remain essential for the functions they provide, and there is a drive to improve their sustainability, including through the design and manufacture of bioderived, potentially “net-zero” analogous polymers. Synthomer is a British manufacturer of high-performance speciality polymers and ingredients. Speciality polymers, accounting for less than 5% of the global polymer industry, are distinct from large volumes polymers used as plastics materials, but are indispensable to solve technical challenges. Synthomer thus work with over 6000 customers supporting the delivery of thousands of products from adhesives to coatings, construction and speciality healthcare applications. They employ 4,400 people across Europe, North America and Asia, and are a FTSE registered company, headquartered in London, with revenue of £2.0 B in 2023. To make a significant step change in the defossilisation of the fine chemicals industry, advancing knowledge, technical innovation and speed is critical. Synthomer has decided to join forces and build on an existing relationship with the University of York Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence, and their expertise in biobased chemistry, to catalyse the changes required. The ambition of this project is to co-deliver, after 3 years, a platform of bioderived monomers, ideally 4 or 5 species, that would act as replacements for essential building blocks of Synthomer’s products. These bioderived monomers would be from renewable sources, non-competitive with food, using CO2 from the atmosphere as they grow. Processes to form the monomers from the biomass would be as sustainable as possible, and Life Cycle Assessment would be conducted for the most promising candidates to mitigate the risks of undesirable side effects, for example from indirect land use change. Our Prosperity Partnership will bring together world-leading industry expertise in the manufacture of synthetic polymers, product performance and market requirements with outstanding academic biobased chemistry and sustainable polymer research. We will explore end-of-life options and end-use performance, and develop an understanding of how new monomers can be exploited in combination with existing monomers to optimise design and development of high-performance polymers. The products generated will contribute to Synthomer’s public commitment to reach net zero by 2050, whilst also building UK expertise and commercial competitive advantage in this important area. Using these ingredients will allow Synthomer’s customers to reduce their own carbon footprint, comply with future regulations and significantly advance their own sustainability goals. With co-creation and sharing of information at its heart, this Prosperity Partnership promises wide ranging benefits to colleagues across academia, industry and policy who are striving to develop the sustainable polymers required for the future. The project aligns with the strategic priorities of EPSRC, primarily Engineering Net Zero, and of the UK Government policy (Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy, 2021; and Mission Zero, 2022). The chemical industry is “one of the key blind spots in the global net zero energy debate” (IEA, 2018), where future innovation and growth will depend on value chains embracing sustainable feedstocks (Road to Net Zero, Cefic, 2022).