MATERIALS | BIO-BASED COMPOUNDS
Right: PHACT CB0400A from CJ Biomaterials is used in South Korea by the bakery chain Tous les Jours
tions in the recently adopted Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) in the EU, and they are noted as a beneficial option in some US state extended producer responsibility legislation. The potential to convert markets such as carry- out applications in food packaging, plates and utensils to compostable bioplastics is high, but conversion so far in the US has been low, said Mike Haubert, Managing Partner at Mosaic Color and Additives, which has developed custom com- pounds and colour and additive masterbatches for bioplastics. Progress has been made in closing the cost and performance gap between bioplastics and conventional plastics, Haubert said in a presentation at the Bioplastics conference, organised by Com- pounding World’s publisher AMI. While in the past, bioplastics might have been three times slower to process, the efforts of compounders and proces- sors have made bioplastics processable at only slightly slower rates, and the cost difference has also come down, he explained. Although com- postable bioplastics have value for both beginning of life and end of life, retailers have been difficult to convince, he suggested. Despite these challenges, industry efforts are ongoing to commercialise bioplastic compounds in more applications and to further optimise production processes. CJ Biomaterials PHACT CB0400A, a compound made from the company’s amorphous and semi-crystalline PHA biopolymers, has been launched for plant-based plastic straws. The material had been used commercially in South Korea by the bakery chain Tous les Jours since 2023, and it recently rolled out the straws to the bakery’s US stores. The component grades are certified as OK biodegradable Marine by TÜV Austria, commercially compostable by the Biode- gradable Products Institute, and bio-based by the USDA BioPreferred program, said CJ Biomaterials.
PLA progress PLA bio-based polymers are used in industrially compostable applications as well as in durable applications. TotalEnergies Corbion, which produces PLA at a facility in Thailand using sugar- cane as a feedstock, announced a partnership with compounder Benvic to expand the use of TotalEn- ergies Corbion Luminy PLA in Benvic’s Plantura compound portfolio, particularly for durable goods in automotive and electronics. TotalEnergies Corbion sees an increase in demand, mainly in Europe and the US, driven by the desire to reduce carbon footprint and move away from virgin resins. Mechanical recycling of PLA is occurring in automo- tive and electronics on a small scale in Europe, the
28 COMPOUNDING WORLD | November 2025
company said. In addition, the company has pioneered chemical recycling of PLA through hydrolysis depolymerisation; this rPLA is being used in Europe in medical and cosmetic packaging. TotalEnergies Corbion also announced a
partnership with Useon to advance expanded PLA (EPLA) moulded products for foam packaging applications using Useon’s direct bead foaming technology. EPLA can break down into water, carbon dioxide, and biomass under industrial composting conditions. “With EPLA, businesses now have access to a foam material that performs well and also aligns with growing regulatory and consumer demand for circular, climate-responsible alternatives” said Chen Zhiqiang, CEO of Useon. In the UAE, Emirates Biotech continues to move
forward with its new PLA production facility. Last December, it was announced that the plant will use Sulzer’s licensed PLA technology. The facility will be constructed in two phases, and each phase will create capacity of 80,000 tonnes/yr. With construc- tion starting this year, the plant is expected to be operational by early 2028. UAE-based start-up Safa BioWorks is currently
validating its pilot-scale biorefinery, with an initial focus on lactic acid production. The facility has a 50,000 tonnes/yr capacity to convert local date palm waste into high-purity lactic acid, the key monomer for PLA polymers. This agricultural by-product has predictable availability and a low ash content (less than 3%), said Nima Vakili, Founder of Safa BioWorks, in a presentation at AMI’s Bioplastics conference. The company is integrating blockchain into the process to provide batch tracking, quality verifications, and carbon accounting. Following the establishment of commercial-scale lactic acid production in the UAE,
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IMAGE: CJ BIOMATERIALS
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