It is now 20 years since the joint venture between DuPont and Tate & Lyle first announced its $100 million project to commercialise a new, high performance, renewably sourced biomaterial –100% bio-based 1,3 propanediol (PDO).

Two years later, production commenced at the company’s plant in Loudon,Tennessee, USA.

In 2022 the business was taken over by Primient Covation, headquartered in Lawrenceville, Georgia, and began operating the PDO business under the company name CovationBio PDO, as the producer of Susterra and Zemea-branded PDO ingredients.

These high-performance, renewably sourced biomaterials are helping to reduce global dependence on petroleum-based materials across a variety of consumer and industrial applications, including apparel and footwear, adhesives, coatings, cosmetics, foods and flavours, heat-transfer fluids, home and personal care products, inks and pharmaceuticals.

CovationBio PDO is the world’s first and largest producer of 100% bio-based 1,3 propanediol with an annual capacity of 77,000 tons and plans for a future expansion on the horizon.

“Susterra and Zemea give our customers an option to transition to a 100% biorenewable, raw material ingredient based on the C14, ASTM 6866 standard method,” explains John Hurban, vice president of global marketing and sales at CovationBio PDO. “They also enable our customers to drive an overall reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and lower their carbon footprint. We are now in the process of planning our next 33,000-ton expansion and excited to be part of this journey with our value chain partners to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.”

www.CovationBioPDO.com