One of the things that high oil prices impacts besides the numbers at the pump is the production of plastics.

Some plastics manufacturers have been looking at various alternatives to reduce the amount of fossil fuels that are involved in the production of plastics for the reason of trying to achieve carbon neutrality.

But now there is even a greater incentive, with the rising costs.

Asahi Kasei, an engineering plastics producer (i.e., these plastics can be used in automotive applications) has announced it is working with Genomatica, a company that develops sustainable materials, on a biomass-derived raw material (bio-HMD) that can be potentially used as a feedstock for the production of polyamide 66 (a.k.a., nylon 66).

While this isn’t a certainty, Asahi Kasei is working toward carbon neutrality by 2050, so efforts in the right direction are good to see.