MATERIALS | BIOPLASTICS
The facility is designed to be a fully integrated
PLA complex, including production sites for lactic acid, lactide and polymer. It will produce the company’s full portfolio of Ingeo PLA grades, with an annual capacity of 75,000 tonnes. Biopolymers made at this site will be made from
sugarcane sourced from farms within a 50km radius of the Nakhon Sawan Biocomplex. It is scheduled to reach full production in 2025.
Bio-based polymer capacities, worldwide, 2023 Source: Nova Institute
said the report.” By contrast, supportive legislation in Asia, and particularly the US, drives demand.”
Plant investment A recent example of investment in Asia is from Indian sugar producer Balrampur Chini Mills – which will spend INR20bn (around US$225 million) to build an integrated plant to make PLA. It says the 75,000 tonnes/year plant will be the
country’s first industrial-scale bioplastics produc- tion capability when it starts production in 2027. The company has not confirmed a location for the new facility but says it will be built on a greenfield site alongside one of its existing 10 sugar plants — it has a sugar cane crushing capacity of 80,000 tonnes a day — where it can take advantage of existing local infrastructure. “We see the utilisation of sugar as a raw material
in PLA production as pivotal for a sustainable future,” said Avantika Saraogi, executive director at Chini. The company will draw on the expertise of
Konkan Speciality Polyproducts (Konspec), a producer of speciality polymers, biopolymers, intermediaries, and chemicals in which it has a minority financial stake. In addition, leading PLA producer
Right: Plant pots are one application of Gaia’s Biodolomer material
NatureWorks has secured funding of US$350 million from Krungthai Bank in Thailand, for a PLA manufacturing plant it plans to build in the country. The funding will support the construction of the plant and its ongoing operations. “The funding will enable
us to expand our internation- al customer access to fully biobased, low-carbon biomate- rials,” said Erik Ripple, president and CEO of NatureWorks.
14 FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION | July/August 2024
Market familiarity Consumer familiarity with bioplastics is also continuing to rise in the US, according to a recent report on the industry from the Plastics Industry Association.
“Bioplastics manufacturing is growing, and consumer familiarity has increased,” said Perc Pineda, chief economist at the organisation. “Overall, the outlook for this industry is positive.” According to the report, bioplastics manufactur-
ing revenue is projected to grow at almost 2% per year to reach US$1.2 billion by 2028. The size of the US bioplastics market will continue to vary depending on how it is quantified, said the report. Overall, production of bioplastics in North America – mainly concentrated in the US – is estimated to account for nearly 19% of global capacity. While consumer perceptions of bioplastics continue to evolve, familiarity with bioplastics has increased over a five-year period. In last year’s survey, 68% of consumers expressed a net familiar response, with 14% indicating unfamiliarity. In the 2018 survey, net familiarity was 63%, with 31% indicating unfamiliarity.
Funding boost
Swedish bioplastics manufacturer Gaia Biomaterials has attracted US$5m of funding in a rights issue. It is backed by the state-owned venture capital fund Almi Invest Greentech, as well as private interna- tional and domestic investors. The company says the funds will be used to expand into the US, India, and other markets. Gaia’s home-compostable
material, Biodolomer, is based on limestone. It can replace fossil plastic in applications from drinking cups to grocery bags. The company says it is fully compostable with a minimal carbon footprint and does not
create micro-plastics during composting.
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