Kaneka completes the expansion of the production plant of its biobased and biodegradable PHBH

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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.

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