Biodegradable polymers NatureWorks

There are around thirty suppliers actively involved in the world biodegradable polymers market in 2005. The synthetic biopolymers market is dominated by large, global and vertically integrated chemical companies such as BASF, DuPont, and Mitsubishi Gas Chemicals. The starch and PLA sectors contain mainly specialist biopolymer companies such as Novamont, NatureWorks LLC, Rodenburg Biopolymers and Biotec, which were specifically established purely to develop biodegradable polymers. 

In 2005, there were very few biodegradable polymer production plants operating on a fully commercial scale. NatureWorks LLC, Novamont, Rodenburg Biopolymers and BASF are currently the only major operators with significant production capacity. Nevertheless, the world biopolymers market has shown significant growth during the last five years or so, albeit from a very small base. 

Similarly, PLA biodegradable polymer prices have fallen sharply over the last five years since the polymers were first commercialised. NatureWorks PLA is now available at prices between 1.37-2.75 per kg compared to a price range of 3.0-3.5 per kg three years ago. NatureWorks PLA has been price competitive with PET for example over the last twelve months as PLA manufacturing scale has increased and process improvements were made alongside the recent sustained higher levels of PET pricing. 

The leading biodegradable polymer suppliers are Novamont, NatureWorks, BASF and Rodenburg Biopolymers, which together represent over 90% of the European market for biodegradable plastics. 

Wilkinson Industries Inc. became the first US company to manufacture thermoformed food containers and trays made from biodegradable polymers. The NaturesPLAstic product range is based on NatureWorks PLA polymers. 

NatureWorks currently offers two biodegradable polymer brands for packaging and fibre applications. NatureWorks PLA is used for manufacture of food packaging and serviceware. Ingeo PLA is used for manufacture of nonwoven textile fibres. 

There are also opportunities for serviceware made from biodegradable polymers through retail outlets. Coop Italia for example, became the first retailer in Europe to offer consumers serviceware from NatureWorks PLA in April 2005. The company reported that sales had since exceeded their expectations. 

Second-generation biodegradable polymers were commercially introduced around 1990 and are represented by the starch-based products offered by Novamont (Mater-Bi ) and by several families of polyesters. One of these polyesters, poly(e-caprolactone), has been commercially available for more than twenty years other biodegradable polyesters, which have been commercialized very recently, include poly(lactic acid) and other aliphatic polyesters. As a result of plant investments made by Cargill-Dow EEC (now NatureWorks EEC) and others, biodegradable polyesters should become more affordable very soon. 

Carboxylic Acids Obtained by Fermentation of Carbohydrates Lactic (2-hydroxy-propionic) acid obtained by fermentation of glucose and polysaccharides is used by NatureWorks (Cargill/Dow LLC) to prepare polylactide (PLA), a biodegradable or recyclable polymer with a potential production of 140000 t a-1 (Scheme 3.4) [23], This and other potential useful reactions from lactic acid have been reviewed by Datta and Henry [24],... 

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