1. It begins with air, not petroleum. Traditional carbon comes from petroleum extracted from below the earth's surface. But there is a great untapped carbon ocean—atmospheric CO2—just waiting for us. Trees and plants capture CO2 through photosynthesis and package it up as cellulose. It's the original carbon-capture technology.

2. Any cellulose will do. Woody biomass is Origin's feedstock. Our focus is sustainably harvested wood, but agricultural waste, wood waste, and even old cardboard may be used. Since non-food (“gen-2”) plant-based feedstocks don't compete with food production, it's a triple-win for companies, people, and the environment.

3. Sustainable intermediates. The Origin platform converts C-6 cellulose into sustainable intermediates using chemocatalysis. The majority of our output is the versatile furan CMF (chloromethyl furfural), plus HTC (hydrothermal carbon), an equally versatile resin, and our oils and extractives.

4. Markets and applications. These include recyclable, 100% plant-based PET, made possible by converting Origin CMF into para-xylene, as well performance-advantaged chemicals and materials such as FDCA and PEF. HTC is being developed for applications in several markets including carbon black for tires, agriculture, and activated carbon.