We live in a world where new sustainable lifestyle trends are emerging all the time – some people relinquish their carnivore desires, becoming vegetarian or vegan, while others forfeit their flyer miles and try to fly less. But have you ever tried to avoid the use of chemical products, given their severe socio-environmental challenges? What if you didn’t have to, because chemical products could be produced, used and disposed of sustainably?

Biomaterials, that is products made from biomass rather than fossil fuels, offer such an opportunity and research done by Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS) indicates that South Africa has the chance to be a leader in the field.

Given the range of their applications, avoiding chemicals seems like an impossible challenge. Chemical products are ubiquitous. Without us noticing it, they are in a vast quantity of plastic-based products that we use every day, from our clothes, cellular phones, cars, TVs, accessories to our health and pharmaceutical products, as well as in our food through fertilisers. While we can make efforts to reduce their usage, chemicals are vital to our everyday lives and, for now, ceasing the use of all chemical products is not feasible.

Chemical products come from the petro-chemical industry and are based on fossil fuel feedstocks, such as oil, gas, and to a large extent in South Africa, coal. Environmental concerns associated with the production process range from greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to climate change, to air and water pollution. Despite attempts by the petrochemical industry to mitigate environmental damage, current technologies do not allow such impacts to be meaningfully addressed without changing the production process.

Further, environmental problems do not quite end with production. Environmental harms continue to occur during the use and disposal of chemical products. In use, products, such as fertilisers pollute the surrounding soil and water resources. Ultimately, the disposal of chemical-based products, predominantly plastics and tyres, also has dire consequences for our ecosystems, like oceans and marine life, and through the food and water we consume, dire consequences for our health too.

However, the industry is important economically and downsizing would have negative consequences on employment and investment. Concentrated around the multinational Sasol, the sector accounts for 6% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and 25% of the manufacturing sector in South Africa. Employment was estimated at 170,000 in 2017, with just over 115,000 workers employed in chemical manufacturing.

Sasol, through its coal- and gas-to-liquid technologies, is also the world leader in the Fischer-Tropsch process, which could be central in the development of so-called “green hydrogen”, set to underpin the transition to sustainability for many sectors, from shipping to steelmaking and chemical production itself.

So, as a society, how can we reconcile our developmental imperatives with our need to be environmentally conscious?

We require a move from business-as-usual. Transforming the chemical value chain is imperative in order to ensure its long-term sustainability (economically, socially and environmentally). This would maintain market demand, as more countries, firms and customers turn their back on carbon-intensive products and/or jurisdictions, as well as reduce the environmental liability of the industry, in turn preserving employment and investments. This would also ensure that the industry plays its part in the transition to sustainable practices underway globally.

Setting the chemical value chain on a sustainable pathway requires a set of important interventions. Firstly, we need a shift from using harmful feedstocks (such as coal), to more sustainable options, such as “green hydrogen” and biomass.

Secondly, we need to optimise the production process to reduce the amount of resources used (be it energy, water, carbon, or materials).

And thirdly, we need to harness circular economy opportunities to improve waste management by gradually decoupling growth from the consumption of finite resources. Biomaterials offer a unique opportunity to help reduce the socio-environmental impact of traditional chemical products, while safeguarding the economic contribution made by the industry. Biomaterials are plastics and composite-like products derived from organic waste and plant matter. Their production, use and disposal can provide a sustainable avenue to the chemical industry.

For South Africa, the development of bio-based feedstocks offers an opportunity to leverage a strong technological base and a rich agricultural and waste environment that can position the country for the long-term development of a sustainable chemical value chain.

Firstly, biomaterials are at the core of the transition of the chemical value chain to a green industrial model of development. In line with the global shift to sustainable industries, chiefly from a climate change perspective, transitioning to biomaterials ensures that the local carbon-intensive industry retains its access to markets as well as finance. Carbon-intensive industries, particularly those based on coal, increasingly face barriers to access finance and markets.

Secondly, the transition away from harmful fossil fuel feedstocks to biomass would contribute to shielding the chemicals industry from the long-term, but inevitable adjustment towards electric vehicles. Chemicals production is intrinsically linked to the refining of liquid fuels, the currently dominant product of the petrochemical industry. With the emergence of electric vehicles, the liquid fuel industry could face rationalisation as a result of declining demand. Due to the complex integration of liquid fuels and chemicals production, the transition to electric vehicles will also influence the cost and use of fossil fuel-based chemicals.

Thirdly, the country contains an array of skills and competencies in the research and development of biomaterials, under the leadership of the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). A programme to build five biorefineries is  underway, with the first one already running in eThekwini.

Fourthly, biomaterials have the potential to mitigate imbalances in the plastics and chemicals sector resulting from Sasol’s unique production processes. The company’s unique coal- and gas-to-liquid production processes produce a highly atypical mix of by-products relative to traditional oil- and gas-based facilities in other countries. In particular, South Africa under-produces ethylene (a key input into plastics production) and overproduces propylene, leading to material import of ethylene into the country. Biomaterials could help bridge this gap.

Fifthly, by positioning the country as a pioneer in the field, biomaterials would offer the opportunity to tap into large future markets and increase the localisation of key supplies. Biomaterials have the potential to displace a large share of existing chemical-based products. Companies such as Coca-Cola, Toyota and Airbus have committed to increasingly using biomaterials, which could create a critical mass of future demand for biomaterials. In addition, the production of biomaterials opens the door to develop new capabilities in biotechnologies as a spin-off opportunity.

Lastly, biomaterials offer the potential to better share value in the chemicals and plastics space, by looping agriculture and waste management into the value chain. Key feedstocks are municipal solid waste and waste from the sugar industry, and agriculture. Such linkages could generate material opportunities for small businesses and entrepreneurs in the country.

All transitions involve costs and benefits, and barriers to developing a competitive South African biomaterials industry nevertheless persist. Three broad challenges along the biomaterials value chain can be identified:

–        the creation of viable technology;

–        the availability of affordable and reliable feedstocks; and

–        the productive competitiveness of biomaterial manufacturing.

In addition, key differences exist between bio-based and biodegradable products – while biomaterials can be biodegradable, this is not automatic and requires careful attention.

In light of these challenges, TIPS, in collaboration with the United Nations Part­nership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) and the South African government, developed an action plan and implementation strategy to further the development of the sector in South Africa. It aims to both reinforce existing initiatives and offer suggestions for new approaches, with the goal of deepening the value chain and removing barriers. Such interventions include the creation of a biomaterials liaison group, spearheaded by the Department of Trade and Industry; the establishment of an industry partnership programme to partner with end-users of biomaterials and match them with local production capacity; starting a feedstock programme; hosting a biomaterials expert group; the further development of biorefineries under the leadership of the CSIR and DSI; and the creation of a bridge funding facility under the auspices of the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA).

Biomaterials are an industry of tomorrow and offer a unique inroad for South Africa to insert into a sustainable chemicals future. South Africa, for one, has an opportunity to be ahead of the curve and position itself as a leader in the field. Unlike the alchemists who unsuccessfully tried to turn common metals into gold, the future of chemistry will be based on turning biomass into sustainable chemicals. Let’s get baking! MC

Gaylor Montmasson-Clair is a Senior Economist at Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS), based in Pretoria. The report on which this article is based can be found on the TIPS website.