bioplasticsMAGAZINE_1406

News
Corbion Purac to build
PLA production plant
Corbion Purac, the Netherlands-based global market
leader in lactic acid, lactic acid derivatives and lactides,
has decided to act on what its CEO Tjerk de Ruijter recently
described as an “attractive demand outlook for PLA, albeit
at a lower growth pace than previously assumed”.
With worldwide PLA capacity almost sold out and with
the PLA market expected to grow to 600 kTpa by 2025, the
market is seeking additional PLA suppliers – a role that
Corbion Purac feels more than competent to fulfill.
As De Ruijter pointed out: “Given our strong position in
lactic acid, our unique high heat technology and the market
need for a second PLA producer, we plan to forward integrate
in the bioplastics value chain, from being a lactide
provider to a PLA producer.”
The company has announced plans to invest in a 75 kTpa
PLA plant (estimated EUR 60 million capex) in Thailand, but
“only if we can secure at least one-third of plant capacity
in committed PLA volumes from customers”, according to
De Ruijter.
The announcement came at the company’s strategy update
conference a few weeks ago, and underscored the
revised strategic direction presented there: a focus on
strengthening the core business in ingredients for food and
biochemicals (Biobased Ingredients), while leveraging the
technology to build new business platforms in the biotechnology
arena (Biobased Innovations).
Corbion is already active in this area, and: “In Biobased
Innovations, we have a portfolio with large growth opportunities,
which requires significant investments,” noted De
Ruijter. Next to its PLA/lactide business, the company is a
partner in a succinic acid joint venture with BASF, has developed
gypsum-free fermentation technology, is exploring
fermentations based on 2 nd generation biomass, and other
longer-term development projects.
In addition, the company will continue to explore strategic
alliances, as a means to enhance the business opportunities
while mitigating the associated risks. “We will debottleneck
our existing lactic acid asset base, and therefore
we do not foresee the need for a major new lactic acid plant
in the near term,” said De Ruijter
Corbion’s existing polymerization customers, many of
whom have already successfully built up a strong local presence,
good distribution channels and extensive market
coverage, will continue to be supplied with lactides; new
PLA polymerization customers are welcome. Lactide sales
for the coatings and adhesives markets will also continue.
KL
Methane as feedstock
for lactic acid
The U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency
and Renewable Energy, Bioenergy Technologies Office
has announced a grant of up to $2.5 million to Nature-
Works, one of the world’s leading suppliers of bioplastics,
in support of the company’s ongoing reseach collaboration
with Calysta (Menlo Park, California, USA).
The project is aimed at achieving the successful sequestering
and, via a fermentation process, use of renewable
biomethane, a potent greenhouse gas, as a feedstock for
the NatureWorks’s Ingeo biopolymers and intermediates.
The research and development collaboration with Calysta
addresses NatureWorks’ strategic interests in feedstock
diversification and a structurally simplified, lower
cost Ingeo production platform and leverages Calysta’s
Biological Gas-to-Chemicals platform for biological conversion
of methane to high value chemicals. For Nature-
Works, methane could be an additional feedstock several
generations removed from the simple plant sugars used
today in a lactic acid fermentation process at the Nature-
Works Blair, Nebraska, Ingeo production facility.
This June, a year after the joint development program
was announced, Calysta demonstrated lab-scale production
of lactic acid from methane, a major milestone in the
project. Fundamental R&D should be completed in the
next two to three years, enabling pilot production in three
to five years.
A greenhouse gas 20 times more harmful than carbon dioxide,
methane is generated by the natural decomposition
of plant materials and is a component of natural gas. Biomethane
refers specifically to renewably sourced methane
produced from such activities as waste-water treatment,
decomposition within landfills, farm wastes, and anaerobic
digestion. If successful, the technology could directly produce
lactic acid from any of these methane sources.
“If proven through this collaboration, methane to lactic
acid conversion technology could be revolutionary, providing
sustainable alternative feedstocks for Ingeo,” said
NatureWorks Ken Williams, Program Leader for the Calysta-NatureWorks
collaboration. “When coupled with NatureWorks’
proven commercial process for lactic acid to
Ingeo, the methane to lactic acid process would transform
a harmful greenhouse gas into useful and in-demand
consumer and industrial products. This disruptive platform
could support high-value chemicals and liquid fuels.
Our team thanks the Bioenergy Technologies Office and
is proud to have been recognized by the Department of
Energy grant for this NatureWorks and Calysta research
collaboration.” KL
www.corbion.com
www.natureworksllc.com
bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/14] Vol. 9 5