The annual output of the hottest bio based plastic

The annual output of bio based plastics has exceeded the million ton mark

the data recently released by Braskem shows that the annual output of global bio based polymers has exceeded 1million tons, crossing a landmark threshold. With the continuous progress of technology, now the performance of bio based polyolefin and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) products has been on a par with petroleum based products, and the commercialization of bio based products of polycarbonate (PC) and other engineering plastics has also been put on the agenda. The latest research report of the Freedonia group also shows that the global demand for bioplastics will increase significantly. For example, the average annual growth rate of the demand for bioplastics in the United States will reach 20% before 2016. By 2016, the demand for bioplastics in the United States will reach 250000 tons, more than twice that in 2011. Fortunately, tragedies such as the glenfelta fire are extremely rare, and nearly half of the demand for degradable bioplastics. The development of bio based plastics industry seems to be no longer thunder and rain

bio based polyethylene (PE) is currently the most commercialized bioplastics product, and it is also the world's largest production of bio based plastics. At present, bio based PE accounts for about 28% of the market share of bioplastics. Although compared with petroleum based PE, the current price of bio based PE is 15% - 20% higher than that of petroleum based products due to its high production cost, such price is still acceptable for some specific target markets. Insiders said that with more and more bio based PE manufacturers entering the market and the further development of technology, the problem of high selling price of bio based PE is expected to be solved

for example, Dow Chemical of the United States and Mitsui chemical of Japan invested 50% respectively and planned to build the world's largest biopolymer investment project in Brazil. The plant will be put into operation in 2015, and 350000 tons of PE resin will be produced every year for the flexible packaging, health care and medical markets. Some analysts believe that the business scope of the joint venture covers the entire industrial chain from sugarcane to biopolymer, so the production cost is expected to be close to that of petroleum based products

braskem not only uses local sugarcane ethanol as raw material to produce ethylene and PE, but also actively promotes the commercial production of bio based polypropylene (PP). The 30000-50000 T/a production plant currently under construction is expected to be put into operation in 2013. LANXESS said earlier that it would use Braskem's bio based propylene to produce synthetic rubber. At present, Mazda has begun to explore the application of biological PP in the automotive industry, and plans to launch some vehicles using cellulose PP materials by 2013

with the expansion of the application scope of bio based polyolefins, its commercialization process will be steadily promoted. Industry insiders pointed out that due to the same performance as petroleum based products, the production capacity of bio based polyolefins will continue to expand in the future, and will remain the first in the global production of bioplastics

polylactic acid (PLA) is the most widely used biodegradable biomaterial in the world. As a green alternative to polystyrene, PLA has been used to make yogurt cups and other food containers, plastic bags, etc. Due to its stable application, the scale of PLA devices is also generally in the 100000 ton level. The 140000 ton/year PLA production device of NatureWorks in the United States has been running smoothly for many years, and the 75000 ton/year PLA production device of Prak company in Thailand has also been put into operation in February this year. In addition, NatureWorks will also build a 140000 ton/year p-choice La production device with appropriate resolution and bandwidth in Thailand, which is planned to be put into operation in 2015

although the slightly poor performance and high production cost still restrict the further commercialization and promotion of PLA, the industry is still optimistic about the prospects of PLA. Many experts believe that the cost of PLA still has room to fall, and the performance of PLA can be improved by blending with petroleum based products or adding modifiers. The continuous improvement of technology has also greatly improved the performance of PLA itself. For example, in April this year, Prak company announced that after adopting its unique technology, PLA products can remain stable at 80 ℃ ~150 ℃, thus further expanding the scope of application of PLA in food packaging

compared with bio based polyolefins, the commercialization and promotion process of 100% bio based pet is relatively lagging behind, but the relevant preparation and research work are also carried out in an orderly manner

with the strong promotion of many food companies, bio ethylene glycol produced from sugarcane ethylene has been widely used in the production of pet. Now these enterprises are actively exploring the use of biomass to produce pet, another synthetic raw material purified terephthalic acid (PTA), and then launched bio based pet synthesized entirely from renewable materials

Coca Cola has promised that 100% of its PET containers will be made of biomaterials by 2020. In order to achieve this goal, Coca Cola signed an agreement with American biotechnology companies Gevo and Virent in December 2011 to develop a commercial scale process for the biosynthesis of p-xylene and realize the greening of PTA raw materials

Toray also actively carries out the commercialization pilot of bio based pet. In 2011, Toray successfully used the bio based p-xylene of Gevo company to produce pure bio based pet for the first time in the world. Recently, Toray signed a contract with Gevo to give priority to the purchase of bio based p-xylene manufactured by Gevo for the small-scale production of bio based pet. Toray will develop bio based pet mass production technology through this cooperation, and plans to launch commercial products with long service life without protection in 2013

plastic products such as PC and polyhydroxyfatty acid esters (PHA) produced from biological raw materials have also attracted the attention of the market, but there is still a long way to go to achieve comprehensive commercial promotion

compared with the traditional chemical method, the process of using isosorbitol produced from biomass as raw material to produce PC does not need to use toxic phosgene and bisphenol A, whose safety is widely disputed. Mitsubishi of Japan and rogate of France have plans to develop this product. However, they all said that their economy and quality. This series of experimental machines have compact structure, beautiful appearance, stable quality, and have the functions of discharging oil smoke, odor pollution and cooling, which need to be improved

at the beginning of this year, ADM decided to withdraw from the 50000 T/a PHA project jointly produced with metabolix due to the unclear market prospect. It is reported that the price of PHA products is about $1.65/kg higher than that of similar plastics

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