Total Corbion PLA puts its polylactic acid polymerization plant at full-scale into operation in Thailand

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Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.

Nine months ago, the Blog reported that Total Corbion PLA, the 50/50 joint venture between Total and Corbion, had successfully started-up a 1 kton/year poly(lactic acid) (PLA) pilot plant and produced the first samples of Luminy® resins. That pilot facility has paved the way for the new 75 ktons/year PLA polymerization plant that the company has just put into operation in Rayong (Thailand).  
Press release: “Total Corbion PLA starts-up its 75,000 tons per year bioplastics plant”, 3/12/2018.
Related post: “Total Corbion PLA starts up its PLA pilot plant in Thailand”, 16/3/2018.

Figure 1. Total Corbion PLA's new 75,000 tons/year PLA plant in Rayong (extracted from the press release)

The new commercial-scale facility will produce a broad range of Luminy® PLA resins from sugarcane sourced locally in Thailand: from standard PLA to innovative high heat PLA and PDLA with unique properties. The company will leverage on the integration with its lactide plant, the monomer required for the production of PLA, that has simultaneously been expanded to 100,000 tons per year of production capacity. The pilot plant, which has been operational since the end of 2017 on the same site, will be used for product development.

The start-up of the plant, the second-largest one in the world, marks a major milestone for both the joint venture and the bioplastics market. According to the press release, the global production of PLA will increase by almost 50% (to 240,000 tons per year) with this new facility. It is a fast-growing market with an estimated annual growth rate of 10% to 15%. This bioplastic provides a valuable contribution towards the circular economy. At the end of their useful life, PLA products can be mechanically or chemically recycled or, in some cases, composted and returned to the soil as fertilizer.

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