Futerro France plans to build 75,000 tons of PLA
Following the construction of the first PLA factory in China in 2021 (Feng Yuan Fu Tai Lai), the Belgian company Futerro announced on December 8 that it plans to build a plant in the Caux Seine agglomeration area (Saint-Jean-de- Folleville Community)'s Port Jerome Industrial and Port District to build a new fully integrated biorefinery.
The Belgian company Futerro, a leader in the production of polylactic acid, has started negotiations with Caux-Seine Agglo and its economic development agency, Caux-Seine dédevelopment, to build a new generation of vertically integrated biorefinery with an annual capacity of 75,000 tons . The project could potentially create 250 jobs directly and 900 jobs in adjacent sectors.
PLA is a new biopolymer with all the advantages that industry is looking for today:
It is biologically based and does not rely on fossil resources
It has excellent mechanical properties and can replace many petroleum plastics
It is infinitely recyclable at the molecular level without changing its mass
The only polymer whose degradation product lactic acid is not harmful to human health
Frédéric Van Gansberghe, CEO of Futerro: "We describe the polymer as the first 'biorenewable' plastic. It is derived from plant carbon and can be easily recycled ecologically to obtain the same life cycle as the first. Quality virgin polymer: that's a unique property."
This fully integrated biorefinery is designed to include a lactic acid unit to convert raw materials of agricultural origin, a PLA conversion unit and a unit dedicated to the recovery of PLA molecules.
Frédéric Van Gansberghe explained: "We have considered many sites for the first European unit. We really appreciate the way the local authorities and elected representatives have helped us to study the site selection for the Port Jerome port area project.
