Cargill Dow Polymer LLC

Cargill Dow Polymers LLC started up its first commercial-scale plant for polylactic acid (PLA) at Blair, Nebraska, in the US in 2002. The unit has planned capacity to produce 136,000 tonnes per annum. Until then, the pilot production capacity for PLA was only 4,000 tonnes per annum. 

Cargill Dow LLC, P LA Polymers—Injection Molding Process Guide, 1999. http // www.cdpoly.com. 

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],... 

Much has been written about Cargill Dow LLC s polylactide (PLA) polymer, also known as NatureWorks PLA. PLA is a thermoplastic produced from biomass sugars by fermentation. The fermentation product, lactic acid, is converted into a lactide that is purified and polymerized using a special ring-opening process (18). 

NatureWorks LLC is the new name of Cargill Dow LLC. The company was renamed after its product, the PLA-based biologically degradable polymer, following the Dow Chemical Company s sale of its 50% stake to agricultural company Cargill, its former joint venture partner, in 2005. 

Polylactic acid, a polymer for fibers and packaging that is derived from renewable resources (Cargill Dow LLC, 2002) ... 

Cargill Dow LLC has developed a patented, low-cost continuous process for the production of lactic acid-based polymers. The process combines the substantial environmental and economic benefits of synthesizing both lactide and PLA in the melt rather than in solution and, for the first time, provides a commercially viable biodegradable commodity polymer made from renewable... 

Poly(lactic acid), produced by Nature Works LLC, is another example for a hybrid process, in which the monomer, lactic acid is produced by fermentation of com using lactobacilli. The subsequent polymerization is accomplished either by anionic ring-opening polymerization of the lactide dimer, or more recently by an azeotropic dehydration condensation, a chemical process. Cargill Dow now has shown that the polylactic acid produced by it s subsidiary NatureWorks LLC, is fully competitive with its synthetic counterparts, and fibers can also be melt-spun from this polymer. These Ingeo fibers are world s first man made fiber made from 100% atmually renewable resources. [12]. 

---