Health & Environmental Research Online (HERO)


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8748374 
Meetings & Symposia 
NatureWorks® PLA - Commercial development of biopolymers on a world scale 
Glasbrenner, B 
2005 
289-293 
English 
Polylactic acid (PLA) is a highly versatile aliphatic, compostable polymer derived from 100% annually renewable resources. Because annually renewable resources replace oil as the feedstock, PLA requires 20-50% less fossil resources than comparable petroleum-based plastics. With PLA, carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere when growing the feedstock crop and is returned to the earth when PLA is degraded. Since the process recycles the earth's carbon, PLA has the potential to reduce atmospheric CO 2 levels. Disposal of PLA fits with existing systems including the additional option of composting. Long-term, with the proper infrastructure, PLA products could be recycled back to a monomer and into polymers. The landmass necessary for feedstock production is minimal. Producing one billion pounds of PLA requires less than 0.5% of the annual US corn crop. Since corn is an inexpensive dextrose source, the current feedstock supply is more than adequate to meet foreseeable demand. Compared to the escalating and volatile cost of petroleum-based feedstocks, long-term PLA will eventually reap the benefits of a more stable and lower priced feedstock. In spite of PLA's excellent balance of properties and environmental benefits, traditionally the commercial viability of PLA has been limited by high production costs (greater than $2/lb). Until the last decade, PLA has enjoyed little success in replacing petroleum-based plastics outside of biomedical applications like sutures. Though development of PLA is at the early stages of commercialization versus more traditional, petroleum-based plastic, expansion of commercial adoption for applications like PLA bottles has been rapidly increasing as of late.