On January 13, the official website of Sulzer Chemtech Ltd. (Sulzer Chemical Co., Ltd., Winterthur, Switzerland) announced that Sulzer is providing customized, most advanced PLA manufacturing plants for NatureWorks’ new PLA manufacturing plant in Nakhon Sawan Biocomplex, Thailand. Advanced production technology.
NatureWorks is currently the world's largest PLA producer with a production capacity of 150,000 tons of PLA. In order to meet the growing global demand for polylactic acid bioplastics, NatureWorks announced in the first half of this year that it will build a new 75,000 tons of PLA in Thailand, with a total investment of more than 150,000 tons. 100 million baht (contract RMB 3 billion), the fully integrated plant will utilize Sulzer Chemical’s advanced lactide purification and polymer production technologies to produce 75,000 tons of Ingeo polylactic acid (PLA) per year for use in compostable food packaging and other applications.
Selected to design and supply lactide purification, polymerization and devolatilization units at NatureWorks' newest facility, Sulzer Chemtech will provide the technology, engineering services and key equipment to design and deliver fully customized production solutions that meet NatureWorks' specific requirements.
Crystallization technology using Sulzer Chemical Technology will provide high-purity lactide for Ingeo PLA grades, while the polymerization and post-reaction series will convert lactide into a complete portfolio of Ingeo grades. Extensive support will also be provided during the project execution phase to help NatureWorks start operations quickly and smoothly.
As part of the company's global manufacturing expansion plans, the new facility will increase NatureWorks' overall production capacity for lactic acid, lactide and advanced Ingeo PLA biopolymers. Made from renewable resources, these biomaterials have a lower carbon footprint than ordinary petroleum-based plastics and support a wide range of applications, including compostable food packaging and serving supplies, fibers, filaments for 3D printing, sanitary masks, and household appliances .
