SKC and CJ CheilJedang said on Friday that they have developed a biodegradable packing material that is transparent, flexible and durable.
SKC extracted poly lactic acid (PLA) from corns and combined it with CJ’s polyhydroxy alkanoate (PHA) for material, which has the benefits of both materials, the companies said.
CJ will use the new packing material for its tofu product. The company said this will reduce the its use of oil-based plastic by 50 metric tonnes per year.
PHA is biodegradable in both land and sea. CJ’s PHA is both transparent and soft. It received the biodegradable certificate for TUV in February. However, it being soft mean it couldn’t be used as packing material on its own.
SKC received the PHA from CJ and used biaxial stretching method to make the new packing material.
The pair plans to use the new material for other products as well.
CJ will build a PHA production facility with a capacity of 5,000 metric tonnes per year in Indonesia this year.
SKC will supply the new material to other customers going forward. It is planning to commercialize polybutylene adipate co teraphthalate (PBAT). In 2018, SKC has supplied its biodegradable PLA film packing material to Starbucks Korea.
