Total and Corbion have created a 50/50 joint venture to produce and market polylactic (PLA) polymers.
They plan to build a world-class PLA polymerization plant with a capacity of 75,000 tons per year at Corbion’s site in Thailand that already has a lactide (PLA monomer) production unit that will become part of the joint venture.
Corbion will supply the lactic acid necessary for the production of the PLA and the lactide.
The new company will be based in the Netherlands and will launch operations in Q1 of 2017, subject to regulatory approvals.
PLA is a biobased, biodegradable polymer obtained by fermenting renewable resources (sugar or starch) to produce lactic acid.
The polymer is mainly used for food packaging, disposable tableware and textiles, as well as in numerous other industries such as oil and gas, electronics, automotive and three-dimensional printing.
