A new strategic partnership between Chinese company Xiamen Changsu Industrial Pte Ltd (Changsu Industrial) and Netherlands-based TotalEnergies Corbion, aimed at further advancing the polylactic acid industry has been announced. The focus of the partnership will be on biaxially oriented polylactic acid, or BOPLA.
BOPLA is made with biobased PLA using biaxial stretching technology. Changsu Industrial markets its low carbon BOPLA product, currently used in packaging materials, under the BiONLY name.
Asia, especially Thailand, China and South Korea have been pushing ahead in the bioplastics space, both as regards development and production. And in China, the bioplastic industry has seen tremendous growth with new technological breakthroughs in biobased materials after the country issued its Made in China 2025. manufacturing sector development plan, explained Mou Qingying, Changsu Industrial’s vice president.
As a producer of high-performance specialty plastic films, the company focuses on three major product segments: new energy, biodegradable, and functional film materials.
The present partnership with TotalEnergies Corbion will see the market promotion, product development, and research and development of new technologies and applications of BOPLA - all of which will contribute to the worldwide green transformation and help China reach its goal of being carbon-neutral by 2060, said Mou Qingying.
The two companies are already working closely together, efforts which have resulted in the development of BOPLA-based adhesive tapes made from Changsu’s BiONLY which are projected for use by the postal service in China.
New regulations have already been announced to encourage the adoption of biodegradable materials in the country's postal service by 2025 with some cities aiming to achieve this earlier by the end of 2023. With the further tightening of the regulation, BOPLA-based adhesive tapes are expected to experience a wider adoption in the future
“With increasing needs for sustainable solutions globally, the partnership of Changsu and TotalEnergies Corbion is paving the way for the introduction of more PLA-based innovation to the world. It's a win-win-win for people, industry, and the environment,” said Thomas Philipon, CEO TotalEnergies Corbion.