1. Poly Lactic Acid

2. What is PLA?
PLA – Poly Lactic Acid
Made from Plants, not Petroleum
Starch in the plant is converted by fermentation to Lactic Acid, which is polymerized to make PLA
Can be made from plants containing starches/sugars like corn, sugar beets, sugar cane, wheat etc.

3. Who Makes It?
NatureWorks – biggest PLA producer in the world
Owned by Cargill
Factory in Blair, NE – 300 million lbs/year
Uses Corn Starch to make PLA
Other PLA manufacturers in Europe and China.

4. Corn use in USA 45% used for livestock, poultry and fish production
27.5% for ethanol production
17.5% for exports
10% for human consumption like corn chips, high fructose corn syrup, starch, sweeteners etc.

5. How Much Corn goes to make PLA?
2.2 lbs of corn needed for 1 lb of PLA
Byproducts can be used for producing germ oil, corn gluten meal, etc
US Corn Production – 700 billion lbs
US PLA Production – 300 million lbs
0.09% of total US corn production

6. GMO vs non-GMO
86% of Corn Grown in USA is GMO
Corn used to make PLA in USA is corn available 30 miles around Blair, NE

7. Environmental Benefits – Green House Gases
Manufacturing PLA uses 60% less Green House Gases than PET or PS

8. Environmental Benefits – Fossil Fuel Use
Manufacturing PLA uses 50% less Non-Renewable Energy (fossil fuels) than PET or PS

9. End of Life Options - Compostability
Is fully Compostable in a Commercial Composting Facility within 90 days
Din Certco (Europe), BPI (USA), GreenPLA (Japan) certifications
Reduces Environmental Pollution
Is not Home Compostable
Is not Soil Degradable
Is not Marine Degradable
Does not degrade in a landfill

10. End of Life Options - Feedstock Recycling
PLA can be recycled back to Lactic Acid, via a chemical process called hydrolysis
Once converted to Lactic Acid, it can be remade into PLA
Allows infinite recycling of feedstock vs. normal down cycling of oil-based plastics

11. End of Life Options - Incineration
Several cities use Municipal Waste Incinerators to burn wastes.
No Toxicity when burning PLA, unlike fossil based polymers
Heat Content (8368 Btu/lb) higher than cellulosic materials like Newspaper ( Btu/lb), Wood (7300 Btu/lb), Average MSW (5900 Btu/lb)

12. Thank You!