I have just been updating my share of polylactic acid (PLA) information in Nova Institute’s upcoming biopolymers study and it reminded me how the PLA industry has come a long way from being a novel, niche polymer. Of course, it also helps that there’s another major global player in the block aside from NatureWorks that could further push PLA’s growth potential.
Total Corbion PLA, a 50/50 joint venture between French oil company Total and Dutch specialty ingredients producer Corbion, has inaugurated its 75,000 tpa PLA bioplastics plant in Rayong, Thailand, on September 9, 2019. The opening celebrates the start-up of the world’s second-largest PLA plant, which reportedly enabled an increase in available production capacity for PLA by almost 50%. The new facility produces a broad range of Luminy PLA resins from non-GMO sugarcane sourced locally in Thailand. The plant has been operational since the end of 2018.
Total Corbion PLA also operates a 100,000 tpa lactide plant at the site, which produces the monomer required for the production of PLA, and a 1,000 tpa PLA pilot plant, used for product development. Combined with Corbion’s lactic acid plant, located on the same site, this enables a fully integrated production chain from sugar to PLA.
