Novomer gets $18.4M from DOE (Boston)

Novomer Inc. has received $18.4 million from the U.S. Department of Energy for a project that seeks to convert waste carbon dioxide into plastics for use in bottles, laminates and other applications, the company announced.

The Boston-based company said the award is the second phase of a DOE grant and is part of a national effort to capture CO2 from industrial sources for storage or beneficial use.

The $2.1 million first phase was pilot development, and the company now will move into larger-scale development of its CO2-to-plastics process, Novomer said.

The project has the potential to convert CO2 from an industrial waste stream into material that can be used in the manufacture of bottles, films, laminates, coatings on food and beverage cans, and in other wood and metal surface applications, according to the DOE.

Novomer said it has secured site commitments to perform the next phase of the work in Rochester, N.Y.; Baton Rouge, La.; Orangeburg, S.C.; and Ithaca, N.Y.

Read more in the Boston Business Journal.