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 What
is PLA?
PLA stands for polylactic
acid, or Polylactide, a versatile polymer produced by NatureWorks LLC.
PLA is made from lactic acid. Lactic acid is made from dextrose by
fermentation. Dextrose is made from starch and starch is made from
carbon dioxide and water. Ingeo™ biopolymer is the world's first and
only performance plastic made from 100% annually renewable resources. It
offers the cost and performance necessary to compete with traditional
petroleum-based materials in the packaging and serviceware markets.
Clear and strong like petroleum-based plastic, but with the crucial
benefit of being commercially compostable.
The basic raw
materials for the biopolymer�are carbon dioxide and water. Growing
plants, like corn, take these building blocks from the atmosphere and
the soil. They are combined in the plant to make carbohydrates (sucrose
and starch) through a process driven by sunlight called photosynthesis.
Today, NatureWorks LLC uses dextrose, a natural sugar derived from
the starch in kernels of corn (maize) as the primary raw material for
Ingeo™ biopolymer. (Other agricultural raw materials, such as rice,
sugar beets, sugar cane, wheat and sweet potatoes, can also serve as
sources for the starch or sugars used to make Ingeo™ biopolymer, so in
the future, the polymer could be made from other dominant, locally
available crops.)
Looking ahead, NatureWorks LLC is working to
develop technologies to facilitate the use of lignocellulosic biomass
feedstocks, such as corn stover, wheat and rice straw and bagasse. So,
today we are using agricultural products, ‘tomorrow’ we intend to use
agricultural waste streams.
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