Industry-ready process makes plastics chemical from plant sugars

Companies often grapple with creating more sustainable and environmentally friendly products while also staying profitable. A team of researchers at UW-Madison and the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) have responded. In new research published in Energy and Environmental Science, they describe an efficient and economically feasible process for producing HMF — 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, a versatile plant-derived chemical considered crucial for building a renewable economy.