London, Tennessee
A new $100 million plant under
construction here will create 50 new manufacturing jobs and help
create a bio-based economy that will help reduce U.S. reliance
on foreign oil by using renewable resources to make
high-performance products and energy,
DuPont Chairman and CEO
Charles O. Holliday, Jr. and
Tate & Lyle PLC Chief Executive Iain Ferguson said today.
DuPont and Tate &
Lyle have formed a joint venture to build the plant, which will
use renewable resources to replace petrochemical-based products.
DuPont and Tate & Lyle scientists have developed a new method to
use corn to produce 1,3 propanediol (PDO). This new product,
Bio-PDO™, is a key ingredient in the production of
DuPont™ Sorona®, the newest DuPont polymer for clothing,
carpeting, plastics and many other possible uses.
The production of
Bio-PDO™ consumes 30-40 percent less energy than petroleum-based
PDO (on a per pound basis). Production of 100 million pounds of
Bio-PDO™ in the Loudon plant will save the equivalent of 10
million gallons of gasoline per year.
"The world is in a
position today where we can no longer afford to rely solely on
oil and oil-derived products to sustain us," DuPont's Holliday
said. "Biology-based solutions offer us the opportunity to
transform economies by creating new, high-performance
bio-materials that use less energy to manufacture, are preferred
by our customers and are better for the long-term health of our
economy and the environment."
"We think the time
for corn is now and that we are ideally placed to bring this new
bio-based material to market," said Tate & Lyle's Ferguson.
"Bio-PDOTM delivers on green credentials and meets both the
environmental and economic need to reduce oil-dependency. The
corn fields of today will be the oilfields of the future and we
believe that our joint venture, due on stream next calendar
year, is well matched to meet the demands of the current
climate."
"This $100 million
investment by DuPont and Tate & Lyle will help keep our state on
the cutting edge for biotechnology-related industry," said
Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen. "I'm also pleased to see new
manufacturing jobs created in East Tennessee, and that these new
products will be focused around renewable resources."
The U.S
Environmental Protection Agency
presented DuPont with its annual "Presidential Green
Chemistry Award" in 2003 for the company's research leading to
the development of the Bio-PDO™ process. For more information
about DuPont™ Sorona®, visit:
www.dupont.com/sorona.
Tate & Lyle is
a world leading manufacturer of renewable ingredients. It uses
innovative technology to transform corn, wheat and sugar into
value-added ingredients for customers in the food, beverage,
pharmaceutical, cosmetic, paper, packaging and building
industries. The Company is a leader in cereal sweeteners and
starches, sugar refining, value added food and industrial
ingredients, and citric acid. Tate & Lyle is the world
number-one in industrial starches and is the sole manufacturer
of SPLENDA® Sucralose. The Company operates more than 60
production facilities in 28 countries. Additional information
can be found on
www.tateandlyle.com.
DuPont is a
science company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by
solving problems and creating solutions that make people's lives
better, safer and easier. Operating in more than 70 countries,
the company offers a wide range of products and services to
markets including agriculture, nutrition, electronics,
communications, safety and protection, home and construction,
transportation and apparel. |