Production and circulation of PLA from forestry products stry

Important results from the project

The purpose of the project has been to investigate whether a residual stream can be used as starting material for the manufacture of PLA instead of corn or sugar, which constitute today´s raw material for PLA. The results are clear and show that it works. The PLA process is established, which means that if you can manufacture the intermediate, lactide, required to reach industrial quality, you can also produce PLA. What remains is to scale up the various steps to a relevant industrial scale so that both a techno-economic analysis and sustainability assessment can be carried out.

Expected long term effects

PLA is a bio-based polymer with desired properties. However, today´s raw material is in question and thus it is relevant to investigate the possibilities of manufacturing the material from other streams. This project has shown that it is possible to produce high-quality PLA based on residual streams from the Swedish forest industry, but that there are challenges still before major conclusions can be drawn regarding the techno-economic value and sustainability of this material. Circular systems for PLA also need further investigation.

Approach and implementation

The project has been a collaboration between Chalmers Industriteknik, RISE Processum and Chalmers. Parties have been Bervero AB, AddNorth AB, Kinds Produkter AB and Domsjö AdityaBirla. The implementation of the project has been divided into 5 packages, plus project management, where each has had its own milestones and deliverables. As the project encountered difficulties in producing larger quantities of PLA within the project boundaries, not all work packages have delivered according to plan. Proposals for continued work are developed based on lessons learned and challenges.