PLA is a key material in the manufacture of bioplastic products. It is derived from biomass such as corn, cassava or sugar cane by using enzymes to break starch in the plants down into glucose and then into lactic acid through a fermentation process. The lactic acid is then polymerised and converted into a plastic called polylactic acid or PLA.

Bioplastics manufacturers around the world including Japan face a problem of PLA resin supply as there is the only producer, and its production capacity is just 80,000 tonnes a year.

With the limited PLA supply, many Japanese bioplastics manufacturers have said they were unable to expand the use of bioplastics, while the monopoly on PLA supply made the price of the material too high. If there were more PLA suppliers, the problem would diminish.

As Thailand is an agricultural country, it is a potential base to produce biomass plastic material and this would be a new business opportunity for the country, said NIA's director Suphachai Lorlowhakarn.

The agency will work with the Japanese government to initiate a collaboration project between the two countries for bioplastics development. The project is hoped to transfer technology on bioplastics from Japan to build a production base in Thailand.

During a visit by Sony Corporation and the country's largest retailer Aeon to leading Japanese bioplastics manufacturer Unitika, the three companies' executives agreed that the lack of PLA supply limited their expansion in the use of bioplastics. They all said that if Thailand could produce PLA resin and other bioplastics products to a standard quality, they would be customers.

"This would be a new business opportunity for Thailand," Suphachai said.

He added that the two governments would focus the development on four areas. The first is the development of raw material, which in this case is likely to be cassava as a base for bioplastics production, while the second area involves research and development as well as technology transfer. The third area is related to the establishment of a PLA and bioplastics manufacturing plant in Thailand and the last is the development of basic infrastructure including bioplastics standards, a standard certification body and a testing laboratory.

"We also hope this project will be a means to encourage private sectors of the two countries to meet to create a joint investment and transfer technology for bioplastics development in Thailand," he said.

The model for business collaboration will involve three parties. The first, Suphachai said, was an investor from Japan, which could be the existing bioplastics manufacturer, while the second party was a Thai plastics company. The last is a company which has technology for the polymerisation process.

Thailand only has ability in the fermentation process to turn biomass starch into lactic acid. It still lacks expertise in the polymerisation process. The project is hoped to fill the gap and make Thailand part of a complete cycle of bioplastics production.

The director said with this collaboration, he hoped to see the establishment of a PLA and bioplastics plant within three years.

The investment to set up a PLA plant would be around ¤30 million (Bt1.3 billion) with initial production of 10,000 tonnes a year. To make the investment worthwhile, the production capacity has to eventually reach at least 50,000 tonnes a year.

NIA's project manager Atthawit Techawiboonwong said producing PLA in Thailand was a way to add more value to the country's agricultural products, especially cassava.

Normally the cost of cassava is only Bt1 per kilogram, but if it was separated into starch for PLA production, the cost would increase to Bt8 per kg. In addition, a production base in Thailand would also make the price of PLA come down.

"The price of PLA is now US$3 per kilo (Bt103). We hope if we have a production base here, we could bring the price down to $2 per kilo, very close to conventional plastic resin which costs $1.50 per kilo at the moment," Atthawit said.

He said that with this move, it's hoped to make bioplastics use more widespread while unlocking the problem of PLA supply.

Pongpen Sutharoj

The Nation

Tokyo