TotalEnergies Corbion announced it signed a distribution agreement for Luminy PLA in Japan. Nagase, a Kyoto-based chemical trading firm, will sell the bioplastics in Japan.
The companies will also collaborate on material properties research and development to develop new applications that meet customer needs.
The partnership contributes towards their goal of reducing environmental impact by mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and promoting a world based on a sustainable, circular and regenerative economy, TotalEnergies Corbion said in a statement.
TotalEnergies Corbion is headquartered in the Netherlands and operates a 75,000 tons per year PLA production facility in Rayong, Thailand. Its Luminy PLA portfolio, which includes both high heat and standard PLA grades, is used in a wide range of markets from packaging to consumer goods, fibres and automotive. The biodegradable and compostable functionalities of PLA make it the material of choice for a wide range of markets and applications including fresh fruit packaging, food service ware, durable consumer goods, toys and 3D printing. The company also chemically recycles its internal waste from virgin Luminity PLA production through a hydrolysis depolymerisation process at its Rayong plant.
PLA is the most popular bioplastic by global market share, accounting for 27% in 2022. European Bioplastics expects it to account for 43.6% of production capacity in 2028.
In 2021, Japan introduced a “Roadmap for Bioplastics Introduction” which sets a goal of raising the amount of bio-based plastic products introduced into Japan from the current 50,000 tonnes to 2 million tonnes by 2030.