TotalEnergies-Corbion and Japanese Bioworks joined forces: PlaX™ developed a fabric that blends cotton with plant-based PolyLactic Acid (PLA), derived from sugarcane. Bioworks is a leading Japanese innovator in sustainable textiles, stating that PLA bioplastics enhance the antimicrobial properties of fabrics.
TotalEnergies Corbion presented Luminy® PLA bioplastics in Shanghai at Chinaplas 2024, April 23-26, Asia’s premier plastics and rubber trade fair. This was an opportunity to highlight the work in the region, with customers such as Changsu. It also showcased how easily companies can transition to PLA bioplastics solutions and lower their products’ carbon emissions by up to 75% versus conventional plastic solutions.
Thomas Philipon is the CEO of TotalEnergies Corbion, a global leader in the marketing, sales and production of PLA (Poly Lactic Acid). He is also the Most Innovative Bioeconomy CEO 2023 according to the readers of Il Bioeconomista. In this exclusive interview with us, Philipon talks about the meaning of innovation in the bioeconomy, the role played by TotalEnergies Corbion and above all the European legislative framework to support the ecological transition, in comparison with USA and China. “Europe – he states – is leading in the bioeconomy, but needs to support sectors like bioplastics, otherwise the risk is that we develop the know-how, but other areas of the world (USA and China), will scale up the production of these products”.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
The market for bioplastics used in packaging is anticipated to reach USD 16.6 billion by 2027, with a CAGR of 9.5 percent from 2013 to 2021, and is now valued at USD 10.5 billion in 2022. According to the FMI analysis, the market for bioplastics used in packaging would grow by 1.7 times its value from the base year during the course of the forecast year, creating lucrative investment prospects for the industry.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 