Bio-based solutions provider Corbion has signed letters of intent for one-third of the volume of a 75 kilotonne per annum polylactide (PLA) polymerisation plant, representing the company’s first move into the PLA market.
The Netherlands-based company has already begun to test, validate and sell pre-marketing volumes of PLA in order to further accelerate market acceptance of the material. “PLA is a unique bioplastic, being both biobased and biodegradable,” Corbion said.
Corbion CEO Tjerk de Ruiter said: “Over the past few months we have been in contact with a range of existing and new PLA users. These contacts have formally confirmed their strong interest to have access to a credible and reliable major second source for PLA resins. These commitments were obtained from a broad range of PLA customers, operating in a variety of industries including food, packaging and fibres, located across different geographies.
“Making these pre-marketing resins available will accelerate market acceptance of PLA and will allow Corbion to get deeper insight into the various product-market combinations. The pre-engineering is in full progress and is expected to run till end of the year.”
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024