Earlier this year, Viridis Chemical announced a two-phase plan to design and construct capital improvements to increase production capacity at its renewable chemicals plant in Columbus, Neb. Recently, Viridis announced the completion of the Phase 1 capital improvement to produce USP grade bio-based ethanol and the commencement of the Phase II capital improvement to produce bio-based urethane grade ethyl acetate and expects to begin production of that product the first quarter of 2023.
Carl Rush, co-founder and CEO of Viridis Chemical, stated, “This is a huge first step for our company as we bring our USP grade bio-based ethanol product to market. We will now shift our focus to executing on our ethyl acetate expansion project. Upon completion of our ethyl acetate expansion project, we will be the first and only large-scale producer of bio-based ethyl acetate in North America and look forward to providing the domestic as well as global market with sustainable ethyl acetate for a variety of applications, including several consumer-facing products.”
Todd Duren, co-chair of the Columbus Economic Council and vice president of Corporate Services at Loup Power District, said “The city of Columbus is excited to welcome Viridis Chemical to our community, and we look forward to working with their team in this venture. Viridis will become a key addition to our industrial community, and will offer opportunities to our residents to work for a quality company that is motivated to be a community partner.”