LanzaTech, a company focused on carbon recycling to create sustainable fuels, chemicals, and materials, has signed a Master License Agreement with Sekisui Chemical to implement a jointly developed platform that converts syngas from municipal solid waste (MSW) and industrial solid waste into ethanol at a commercial scale. Sekisui plans to establish multiple facilities across various municipalities in Japan, utilizing equipment packages, engineering and advisory services, consumables, and intellectual property supplied by LanzaTech.

The first commercial-scale facility is anticipated to produce between 10 to 12 kilotons of ethanol annually. This ethanol meets the synthetic alcohol standard set by the Japan Alcohol Association Standard (JAAS) and can be transformed into ethylene and kerosene for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), along with a wide range of applications in materials and chemicals, including apparel, personal care products, and packaging.

This recent agreement builds on a decade-long partnership aimed at diverting waste from landfills and incineration, converting it into valuable feedstocks that would typically be sourced from fossil fuels or food crops. The agreement follows the successful operation of a pilot plant in Yorii-machi, Saitama, Japan, established in 2017, and the completion of an MSW-to-ethanol demonstration facility in Kuji City, Iwate, Japan, in 2022, which can produce approximately 400 tons of ethanol annually.

“We are pleased to expand our collaboration with longstanding partner LanzaTech, whose waste-to-ethanol technology is converting municipal solid waste into a valuable resource and providing an innovative solution to ending our reliance on fresh fossil fuels,” stated Futoshi Kamiwaki, Sekisui Representative Director and Senior Managing Executive Officer. “Signing this Agreement is an important next step on our path to commercializing this game-changing technology and realizing Sekisui’s vision of a more sustainable, low-carbon society for future generations.”

“With this Agreement, we are progressing our vision for a circular carbon economy. Our continued collaboration with Sekisui is setting the groundwork for providing municipalities with a platform that reduces waste, captures carbon, generates valuable sustainable feedstocks, and importantly, creates local jobs,” remarked LanzaTech CEO Dr. Jennifer Holmgren. “We are grateful to Sekisui for their commitment to scaling carbon recycling across Japan and for being at the forefront of developing a global blueprint for other countries and businesses to follow on how to access and utilize the carbon locked in local garbage.”

Japan generates about 56 million tons of combustible waste annually, with municipal and industrial waste posing significant and escalating global challenges; the World Bank predicts that by 2050, waste generation will reach 3.88 billion tons per year, a staggering 73% increase from 2020 levels. Typically, combustible waste is either sent to landfills, producing methane—a greenhouse gas 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide—or incinerated for energy, releasing embedded carbon into the atmosphere.

Through this jointly developed biology-based platform, Sekisui will be able to convert unsorted waste into a cost-effective alternative to fossil fuel-derived feedstocks. The bioprocessing platform gasifies the unsorted combustible waste collected at disposal facilities and transforms this gas into ethanol using a microbial catalyst and gas fermentation technology, which does not rely on chemical catalysts, heat, or pressure.