WASTE MANAGEMENT

Ethanol from sugarcane molasses for pharmaceutical industry

Ethanol from sugarcane molasses for pharmaceutical industry

Market

Final Products Ethanol
Required Inputs Sugarcane molasses
Competing Products Low competition
Ethanol produced by other technologies
Potential for Export High

Process

Complexity – Type of Process

Medium – chemical process

Technology Fermentation process
Equipment and Material Fermentation tank, distillation column and storage tanks
Human Resources Manual labor, chemical engineers and quality control engineers

Business Linkage

Forward Linkage Pharmaceutical industry
Local/Regional/Nationwide Export & local markets (nationwide)
Backward Linkage Sugar factories
Supporting Entities Equipment and additive suppliers, testing facilities
Competitive Edge
Lower cost, could open new markets as it uses bio-based inputs

Economic Features

Revenue Stream Sales of ethanol
CAPEX 2.4B EGP

Note: This CAPEX represents the indicative investment size, however, this investment opportunity can grow in implementation to a larger-sized investment.
Investment Size Mega (Above 500M)

Considerations

Key Challenge Seasonality of supply and mass production as well as maintaining high-quality, cost of transportation and absence of formal industrial waste collection services
Advantages High profit margins and high value-addition
Potential Pathways to Growth Production of alcohol-based chemicals (e.g., citric acid), increasing sales and outreach to various customer segments (packaged and branded or white label)

General Impact

Environmental Eco-friendly use of industrial waste
Social Increases returns on industrial waste and creates job opportunities.

Impact on Sub-market(s), Cluster(s) and Value Chain(s)

Relevant sub-market Intermediary to industries (food, pharmaceutical, wood and paper))
Lies within the following
value chain/cluster(s)
Sugarcane, municipal and industrial waste
Impact Promotes value-addition to sugarcane waste
* Source of the information: The above figures were updated by Chemonics Egypt for UNIDO in 2023

Studies

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