S2G Completes Bio-Based Glycol Production Campaign and Initiates Industrial Product Sales

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA and MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE–(Marketwired – June 14, 2016) – S2G BioChemicals Inc. (S2G), a Vancouver, BC-based developer of sustainable chemical conversion technologies, has announced that the Company has successfully initiated commercial production of fossil-free, bio-based glycols at the Memphis, Tennessee site of the Company’s operating partner, Pennakem LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Minafin Group.

S2G’s proprietary, highly-efficient process was integrated into Pennakem’s existing chemical facility beginning in April 2016 and has produced industrial-grade sugar-based glycols from natural, non-food waste during a five-week scale-up campaign. The bio-glycols will be used as a drop-in replacement for common petroleum-based chemicals currently used in a wide range of consumer and industrial products such as resins, PET/PEF plastic drink containers, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, coolants and antifreeze.

“The successful demonstration of S2G’s Bio-Glycol Process at scale validated the reliability and economic viability of our technology based on solid operational experience,” said Mark Kirby, President and Chief Executive Officer of S2G. “While glycol supply has long been dominated by oil and natural gas, S2G has proven our ability to provide natural, fossil-free glycols that challenge petrochemical glycols on both cost and performance.”

In addition, S2G achieved three significant customer-based milestones throughout the campaign. These included successful product evaluations by multiple industrial customers; the sale of bio-glycols to an industrial resin plant; and, the production of sample quantities of United States Pharmacopeia (USP) quality propylene glycol (PG) that has been reserved for select glycol customers who have expressed interest in sourcing high quality bio-glycols as a replacement for their petrochemical-derived sources.

“S2G bio-glycols have identical performance to petroleum-based materials, yet they generate far less greenhouse gas emissions,” said Jeff Plato, Director, Corporate and Business Development of S2G. “S2G looks forward to its products being integrated into the value chains of multi-national consumer and industrial product companies who want to curtail petrochemical-use and provide more sustainable products for their customers.”

“We are extremely impressed with the seamless integration of S2G’s innovative, high-yield bioconversion process into our existing chemical production infrastructure,” said Tom Waldman, President of Pennakem. “The combination of S2G’s innovative process and Pennakem’s 75 years of manufacturing expertise using biorenewable feedstocks will lower costs and could catalyze the demand for sustainably and economically produced bio-based glycols.”

S2G’s “sugar-to-glycol” technology is a simple, durable, and efficient process that utilizes low-cost renewable feedstocks to co-produce an economical supply of high value speciality chemicals and sustainable bio-glycols for use by consumer and industrial product manufacturers.

ABOUT S2G BIOCHEMICALS

S2G BioChemicals Inc. is a high-growth company providing an economical path to produce biochemicals for use in a wide variety of consumer and industrial products. As a second-generation biorefinery technology provider, S2G works with chemical refining companies to integrate their proprietary sugar-to-glycols process and deliver fossil-free biomaterials made from renewable agricultural and forestry waste. S2G’s success is the result of over 15 years of design, engineering and operation with the goal of eliminating the use of petrochemicals in the biomaterials value chain. For more information about how S2G can supply petroleum-free ingredients for your products, visit www.s2gbiochem.com.

ABOUT PENNAKEM

From its modern manufacturing facility in Memphis, Tennessee, Pennakem creates value-added chemical intermediates and solvents based on renewable resources. With 75 years of experience Pennakem develops and manufactures its line of fine and specialty chemicals to a wide range of industries including pharmaceutical, agricultural, and petrochemical (www.pennakem.com). Pennakem is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Minafin Group.