Kaneka completes the expansion of the production plant of its biobased and biodegradable PHBH
Type of post: NEWS.
Kaneka
Corporation has completed the expansion project of the manufacturing
facility (Takasago Manufacturing Site) of its biobased and biodegradable copolymer
polyhydroxybutyrate–hexanoate (PHBH) as scheduled. The completion ceremony was
held on December 17th.
Press release: “カネカ生分解性ポリマーPHBH® 年産5,000トンのプラントが竣工”,
19/12/2019.
Figure 1. PHBH production plant (extracted from
the press release)
Location
|
Takasago
(Hyogo Prefecture).
|
Capacity
expansion
|
From 1,000
tons/year to 5,000 tons/year (5 times).
|
Product
|
Polyhydroxybutyrate–hexanoate
(PHBH).
Branch
name: Kaneka Biodegradable Polymer PHBH®.
|
Investment
|
2.5
billion yen (about 20 M€).
|
Kaneka Biodegradable Polymer PHBH®:
- is 100% biobased;
- certified as biodegradable in seawater (it obtained
the “OK Biodegradable MARINE” certificate in September 2017 from Vincotte);
- registered as “Food Contact Substance” from
FDA.
In addition to this capacity expansion, Kaneka is
planning to build a full-scale production plant (20,000 tons/year) to respond
to the expanding demand on a global scale in a timely manner. In Japan,
Seven-Eleven Japan has adopted PHBH® straws for Seven Cafés at about 10,000
stores nationwide in November and Kaneka is jointly developing cosmetic
containers with Shiseido. Many brand holders operating globally are considering
the use of this material for a wide range of applications such as straws,
shopping bags, cutlery and food packaging materials.
