Milliken & Company’s Chemical Division has joined GO!PHA, the Global Organization for PHA to help address the technical and market development challenges related to polyhydroxyalkanoate biodegradable biopolymers. The goal is to expand the application range of this family of materials into more packaging applications.
“Replacing traditional materials with bio-based, biodegradable PHA polymers can provide lower impact options for food service and flexible packaging,” said Allen Jacoby, senior vice president, plastics additives, for Milliken’s Chemical Division.
As a materials science expert, Milliken brings to GO!PHA its expertise in polymer chemistry to help improve the processing, performance, aesthetics and other important attributes of PHA.
“We look forward to working with other GO!PHA members on enhancements that can make PHA polymers more appealing to product designers, converters and consumers,” Jacoby said.
The company will collaborate with other GO!PHA members to prioritise technical issues and explore ways to solve them by adapting existing Milliken additives or developing new technologies.
“We are delighted to welcome Milliken to GO!PHA,” said Rick Passenier, executive board member, GO!PHA. “Milliken’s polymer additives expertise and extensive development capabilities add tremendous value to our efforts in optimizing PHA properties and processability, and expanding the use of the material in single-use packaging applications.”
Officially established in June 2019, GO!PHA is a member-driven, non-profit initiative that was founded to promote the global PHA-platform industry. Today, it is a coalition of industry and academic stakeholders dedicated to advancing the development, commercialization and adoption of PHA polymers through advocacy and knowledge sharing.