In response to rapid growth in the market for sustainable biomaterials, NatureWorks is going to open a new headquarters and advanced biopolymer research facility in Plymouth, Minnesota. Expanded laboratory capabilities will support research into the full circular lifecyle of Ingeo biopolymers from next generation fermentation technology to new applications, to increased functionality.
Total Corbion PLA’s plant in Rayong Thailand has, since its grand opening in 2019, earlier this summer reached a cumulative production volume of 100kT of Luminy® PLA. The plant is now running at name plate capacity of 75kT annually in order to meet the evergrowing demand for PLA bioplastics.
Austria-headquartered ALPLA Group acquired the Slovak company Panara, a global packaging specialist, to step up its activities in the research field of alternative, sustainable raw materials for packaging. Panara is focusing on the development of fully bio-based and biodegradable plastics.
Total Corbion PLA, a 50/50 joint venture between Total and Corbion, kicked off the front-end engineering design stage for its new 100,000 tons per annum Poly Lactic Acid (PLA) plant in Grandpuits, France. The plant, due to be operational in 2024, will be the first of its kind in Europe. It would make Total Corbion PLA the global market leader in PLA, firmly positioned to cater for the rapidly growing demand for Luminy® PLA resins.
“100% Bioplastic”. It’s the name of the research project launched by Bicocca University of Crowdfunding to develop a new material of natural and biodegradable origin. The fundraising is starting today on Produzioni dal Basso with the support of Corepla, the Italian Consortiun of Recycled Plastics.
“Today we can produce PLA directly from glucose, but in the future, we will obtain it starting from organic wastes and, looking more forward, from carbon dioxide”. To say it – in this interview with Il Bioeconomista – is Danilo Porro, professor at University of Milano Bicocca and President of Galatea Biotech, one of the most innovative Italian industrial biotech start-up company. Headquartered in Milan, Galatea has developed a new process to produce PLA from glucose.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
Borealis, a leading provider of innovative polyolefin solutions headquartered in Vienna, and Teste, the world’s leading provider of renewable diesel, renewable jet fuel and an expert in delivering drop-in renewable chemical solutions, entered into strategic co-operation for the production of renewable polypropylene (PP). The co-operation will enable Borealis to start using Neste’s 100% renewable propane produced with Neste’s proprietary NEXBTL™ technology as renewable feedstock at its facilities in Kallo and Beringen, Belgium, starting end of 2019.
LyondellBasell, one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world, and Neste, the world’s largest producer of renewable diesel from waste and residues, jointly started the first parallel production of bio-based polypropylene and bio-based low-density polyethylene at a commercial scale.
The first-ever commercial flight to produce no landfill waste took to the skies last Wednesday, marking the start of Qantas’ plan to cut 100 million single-use plastics by end-2020 and eliminate 75 per cent of the airline’s waste by end-2021. All inflight products on board QF739, flying from Sydney to Adelaide and staffed by cabin crew from the Qantas ‘Green Team’, will be disposed of via compost, reuse or recycling.
“No, less, better plastic”. This is the mission of Unilever, one of the leading companies in the Food & Refreshment, Home, Beauty & Personal Care markets, in the fight against plastic. A complex challenge in which everyone must do their part given that, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s report on the “New Plastics Economy”, only 14% of the plastic packaging used worldwide reaches up to recycling plants and only 8% is actually recycled. Meanwhile, a third ends up in fragile ecosystems and 40% in landfills.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 