Origin starts commercial production of bio-based carbon materials

'Carbon-negative' products to improve the performance end-products, including tires. West Sacramento, California - Origin Materials, a US start-up producing carbon products from wood residue, has commenced commercial production at its facility in Ontario, Canada.

Origin 1, located in Sarnia, will use the company's core-technology platform to produce chemical intermediates hydrothermal carbon (HTC) and chloromethyl furfural (CMF) as well as oils and “extractives.”

The platform converts C6 cellulose into four isolated building-block chemicals, in one chemo-catalytic step with "almost zero carbon loss", according to Origin.

CMF is used to manufacture plant-based polyester, by converting the chloromethyl furfural into para-xylene, an intermediate feedstock for production-of PET.

"Origin 1 proves our technology's scalability and brings online an important manufacturing capability," Origin co-founder and CO-CEO John Bissell, said 11 Oct.

Origin 1 enables, for the first time, the commercial-scale production of Origin’s versatile chemical building-blocks, which can decarbonize and improve the performance of a wide range of end-products, including bio-based apparel and textiles, green tires for the automotive industry, and bio-based and fully recyclable packaging, targeting a ~$1 trillion addressable market.