Poly%20Lactic%20Acid

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Poly Lactic Acid
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What is PLA?

• PLA Poly Lactic Acid
• Made from Plants, not Petroleum
• Starch in the plant is converted by fermentation
  to Lactic Acid, which is polymerized to make PLA
• Can be made from plants containing
  starches/sugars like corn, sugar beets, sugar
  cane, wheat etc.

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Who Makes It?

• NatureWorks biggest PLA producer in the world
• Owned by Cargill
• Factory in Blair, NE 300 million lbs/year
• Uses Corn Starch to make PLA
• Other PLA manufacturers in Europe and China.

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Corn use in USA

• 45 used for livestock, poultry and fish
  production
• 27.5 for ethanol production
• 17.5 for exports
• 10 for human consumption like corn chips, high
  fructose corn syrup, starch, sweeteners etc.

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How Much Corn goes to make PLA?

• 2.2 lbs of corn needed for 1 lb of PLA
• Byproducts can be used for producing germ oil,
  corn gluten meal, etc
• US Corn Production 700 billion lbs
• US PLA Production 300 million lbs
• 0.09 of total US corn production

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GMO vs non-GMO

• 86 of Corn Grown in USA is GMO
• Corn used to make PLA in USA is corn available 30
  miles around Blair, NE

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Environmental Benefits Green House Gases

• Manufacturing PLA uses 60 less Green House Gases
  than PET or PS

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Environmental Benefits Fossil Fuel Use

• Manufacturing PLA uses 50 less Non-Renewable
  Energy (fossil fuels) than PET or PS

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End of Life Options - Compostability

• Is fully Compostable in a Commercial Composting
  Facility within 90 days
• Din Certco (Europe), BPI (USA), GreenPLA (Japan)
  certifications
• Reduces Environmental Pollution
• Is not Home Compostable
• Is not Soil Degradable
• Is not Marine Degradable
• Does not degrade in a landfill

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End of Life Options - Feedstock Recycling

• PLA can be recycled back to Lactic Acid, via a
  chemical process called hydrolysis
• Once converted to Lactic Acid, it can be remade
  into PLA
• Allows infinite recycling of feedstock vs. normal
  down cycling of oil-based plastics

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End of Life Options - Incineration

• Several cities use Municipal Waste Incinerators
  to burn wastes.
• No Toxicity when burning PLA, unlike fossil based
  polymers
• Heat Content (8368 Btu/lb) higher than cellulosic
  materials like Newspaper (8000 Btu/lb), Wood
  (7300 Btu/lb), Average MSW (5900 Btu/lb)

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• Thank You!