I don't know of any process that makes plastics directly from CO2, but the gas can be used to produce several intermediates.
Saudi Aramco recently acquired Novomer's Converge polyol technology, which uses CO2 to make polypropylene carbonate polyols. Polyols are a main component of polyurethanes. The Converge-based polyurethanes are used in coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers.
Covestro is also producing polyols made from carbon dioxide.
As mchannon noted, these companies cannot use the CO2 emitted from power plants. The gas needs to be pure so companies can do chemistry on it.
There are also some renewable routes to making plastics from CO2.
We already produce ethanol from sugar fermentation. This ethanol can be dehydrated to produce ethylene, the building block for polyethylene. Braskem is already doing this in Brazil. I believe Braskem is the ONLY company doing this, so that should tell you how cost effective the process is.
A company called Proterro was in the early stages of using a cyanobacteria that consumes bacteria to produce sugar. This sugar could then be fermented to produce ethanol, which could then be the feedstock for polyethylene.
Other companies have developed microorganisms that can ferment sugar to produce lactic acid. Polymerise this and you get polylactic acid (PLA), another plastic. This is one of the plastics used to make filament for 3D printers.
Other companies were developing micro-organisms that could produce polyhydroxalkanoates (PHAs).
Saudi Aramco recently acquired Novomer's Converge polyol technology, which uses CO2 to make polypropylene carbonate polyols. Polyols are a main component of polyurethanes. The Converge-based polyurethanes are used in coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers.
Covestro is also producing polyols made from carbon dioxide.
As mchannon noted, these companies cannot use the CO2 emitted from power plants. The gas needs to be pure so companies can do chemistry on it.
There are also some renewable routes to making plastics from CO2.
We already produce ethanol from sugar fermentation. This ethanol can be dehydrated to produce ethylene, the building block for polyethylene. Braskem is already doing this in Brazil. I believe Braskem is the ONLY company doing this, so that should tell you how cost effective the process is.
A company called Proterro was in the early stages of using a cyanobacteria that consumes bacteria to produce sugar. This sugar could then be fermented to produce ethanol, which could then be the feedstock for polyethylene.
Other companies have developed microorganisms that can ferment sugar to produce lactic acid. Polymerise this and you get polylactic acid (PLA), another plastic. This is one of the plastics used to make filament for 3D printers.
Other companies were developing micro-organisms that could produce polyhydroxalkanoates (PHAs).