ETB Global Makes Lego Bricks, Latex Gloves, and Tires Green

The start-up established itself at the Brightlands Campus on the Chemelot chemical site in Geleen at the end of 2020. The technology has proven successful in the laboratory. The goal is to have it ready for commercial applications by 2026. For this, ETB Global plans to build a demonstration plant where bio-butadiene will be produced. The design for this should be completed this summer, allowing construction to begin in the fourth quarter. “This plant will produce 100 kilograms of bio-butadiene per day. This is not yet a commercial amount, but it is enough to demonstrate that we can create products from it that we can showcase,” says CEO Noah Vladimir Hirsch Trembovolsky of ETB Global.

22.5 million tons of CO2 emissions

Butadiene is one of the raw materials (monomer) used in the production of popular plastics such as ABS (Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene), SBR, NBR, and BR, rubber, and other chemical compounds. It is a gas formed during the cracking of petroleum. It is found in countless products we use daily, such as LEGO toys, car tires, latex gloves, medical devices, computers, hard hats, and also in perfume and paint. Currently, 95 percent of butadiene is made from petroleum, amounting to around 15 million tons per year. This results in 22.5 million tons of CO2 emissions.

Bio-butadiene

ETB Global has developed a technology to produce butadiene from bio-ethanol, derived from agricultural waste streams. This occurs in a reactor, using a patented catalyst. From this bio-butadiene, bioplastics and biorubber can be made. The founders of the startup began working on the technology in 2013 in their laboratory in Moscow. “At that time, oil prices were as high as they are now, and the industry was looking for alternatives to create essential chemical building blocks such as butadiene,” Trembovolsky explains. “The question was whether we could make butadiene from something else. This had been done before. The first butadiene was made from bio-ethanol. After World War II, the choice was made to derive it from petroleum because it was more efficient.” Butadiene thus became a byproduct in naphtha crackers where ethylene is produced, the other critical raw material for plastic.

Footprint equally important

Now, oil prices are high again, and there is a second argument for making it from bio-ethanol: climate change. The CO2 footprint weighs just as heavily as efficiency these days. The geopolitical situation, such as the war in Ukraine, also forces the chemical industry to make different choices. For example, oil from Russia is no longer abundantly available. “We can make ethanol anywhere and from any biomass, whether it is agricultural or other waste,” says the CEO. “It is an essential raw material for the chemical industry. We can produce both ethylene and butadiene from it.” Thus, fellow startup Syclus is going to build a large plant at Chemelot, which will produce over 100,000 tons of bio-ethylene per year from bio-ethanol starting January 2026. ETB Global will eventually make use of the same bio-ethanol.

Long journey

According to him, the development of the catalyst that could produce bio-butadiene was a long journey of many years. The first experiments took place in the laboratory. When those were successful, the first patents were filed, and ETB Global started discussions with the chemical industry. Initially, the focus was primarily on economic viability with low energy consumption. Later, it became clear that the low CO2 footprint was also a significant advantage. The process consumes much less energy than cracking naphtha (petroleum) because it can operate at lower temperatures in a reactor. All fourteen necessary reactions occur simultaneously in one step, which is much more efficient than cracking naphtha.

Advantages

The process has several advantages. The CO2 emissions and energy consumption are three times lower than traditional butadiene production. There is also no waste produced, as the by-products are green hydrogen and bio-ethylene. Both can be effectively utilized by other chemical companies at Chemelot. The reactor can be integrated into existing chemical production chains without major adjustments.

Pilot plant

After the successful lab tests, the process was scaled up from grams to kilograms. A pilot plant was built in Moscow in 2015, which became operational a year later. During that time, oil prices dropped to their lowest point ever, and the startup barely managed to compete with fossil butadiene producers. That was when ETB Global began promoting the sustainable aspect of its technology at conferences in Europe and the U.S. In those countries, the chemical industry was more receptive to biobased alternatives as it was undergoing an energy and resource transition. In 2019, Trembovolsky made contact with a representative of the ‘Redefining Chemistry’ program from the Brightlands Innovation Factory, who was looking for startups wanting to establish themselves at the Limburg Brightlands Campus for innovative companies.

Move to Chemelot

Unlike many countries around the world, companies in the EU must pay for their emissions, and increasingly stricter regulations are being imposed on the use of fossil raw and fuel materials. This provides fertile ground for startups like ETB Global. Trembovolsky: “Our market is global, so until now, we barely looked at domestic markets. However, to accelerate and scale up, we need to be close to the users and near the location where the transition is taking place. That’s how the Brightlands Campus emerged as the best choice.”

In 2020, the startup participated in a transition program at Chemelot, and by the end of that year, ETB Global established itself in the Netherlands. Trembovolsky moved with his family from Moscow to Limburg.

New laboratory

After the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the company had to move its patents from Russia to the EU and could no longer use its laboratory in Moscow. Therefore, a new laboratory is being built at the Brightlands Campus. It will be operational this summer.

Since 2022, ETB Global has been receiving assistance from Ernest Lempers, an internationally experienced entrepreneur from Maastricht, who is helping the company in ‘de-Russifying’ itself. He joined as CFO, invested in the company himself, and became a shareholder. Lempers has increasingly invested in companies combatting climate change in recent years, as he believes that this approach needs to be expedited. “I primarily invest in companies focused on recycling or that address CO2 emissions. Thus, ETB Global is a double excellent example. If we produce all butadiene in our way, we can save as much CO2 as a forest the size of Canada can absorb,” he says.

Alternative for SABIC cracker

For the demo factory at Chemelot, 10 million euros is needed, which ETB Global is seeking investors and subsidies for. Once the factory is operational, the startup intends to license the technology. The question is whether the company needs its own flagship plant for this, together with customers or in a joint venture. In any case, the demand for bio-butadiene at Chemelot will increase, especially since petrochemical company SABIC is threatening to close one of its naphtha crackers at Chemelot, jeopardizing the production of ethylene and butadiene. This role could be taken over by Syclus and ETB Global. “That’s why Chemelot could be a great location for the first commercial bio-butadiene plant in Europe,” says Trembovolsky.

Green Chemistry Accelerator

In recent months, ETB Global has received help and support from the Green Chemistry Accelerator, an acceleration program of the Green Chemistry New Economy (GCNE) platform, Invest-NL, and the Regional Development Agencies (ROMs) in the Netherlands. Experts assist startups in the green chemistry sector within this program with a tailored plan to achieve their key goals in one hundred days. This customized support also enables the accelerated financing of pilots and demo plants. The five selected startups will conclude the program on February 16 with a meeting at Change Inc. in Amsterdam. In total, five startups have been selected for the program. Besides ETB Global, they are Paques Biomaterials, Relement, Susphos, and Torwash. All are promising gamechangers for the greening of the chemical industry.

Transforming the chemical industry

Through the program, Trembovolsky connected with a community of like-minded startups. “I love that,” he says. “We all face the same challenges, target the same markets, and share similar ideas. We all want to change the chemical industry. Because the program is tailored, each startup gets what it needs. In our case, that’s a better and clearer view of our financial strategy. We now know how much money we need to spend and how much we need to raise. Most startups focus on their end goal, but we are still years away from that. This program taught us to focus better on what we need now. That was a significant shift in our mindset. Additionally, we now have easier access to potential investors and partners.”