Total Corbion PLA intends to build the first commercial scale PLA plant in Europe

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Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF. 

Total Corbion PLA, a 50/50 joint venture between Total and Corbion, has announced its intention to build a second PLA plant with a capacity ramping up to 100 ktons/year, less than two years after starting up the commercial scale production at its first plant in Thailand. 

Figure 1. PLA and the circular economy (taken from the brochure “PLA bioplastics for a brighter future”) 

The new plant is planned to be located on a Total site in Grandpuits (France) and to be operational in 2024. The total investment in this project is expected to be approximately 200 M€ and Corbion will continue to be the supplier of lactic acid. The project implementation would make Total Corbion PLA the global market leader in PLA, firmly positioned to cater for the rapidly growing demand for Luminy® PLA resins. 

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