Bioplastics solutions
Lactic acid based
monomers for bioplastics are 100% biobased and offer the
opportunity to improve the carbon footprint of industrial and
consumer products to consequently obtain more sustainable products.
For more information, please visit the Bioplastics webpages
click
here.
Feedstocks
Today Purac uses agricultural
feedstocks to produce lactic acid and lactides. Common examples are
cane sugar, corn starch, beet sugar, tapioca starch. For the
production of lactides, the monomers for bioplastics we strictly
use GMO-free feedstocks. As part of our sustainable sourcing
program, Purac is a member of Bonsucro and SEDEX. Through Bonsucro,
a multi-stakeholder non-profit initiative, we work on reducing the
environmental and social impact of cane sugar production. Through
SEDEX, a multi-stakeholder, non-profit initiative, we engage with
our suppliers concerning social, ethical and environmental aspects
of their activities.
For more information
click here.
Production process
Fermentation of carbohydrates is
the core of our fermentation process. Micro-organisms derived from
nature, convert agricultural feedstocks into lactic acid and other
organic acids. After the fermentation, the organic acids are
purified and concentrated and for a large part, used to produce
derivatives. Overall, nature is a very important contributor to our
final natural products. In our production plants, we continuously
look for opportunities to reduce our environmental footprint by
decreasing energy consumption and water use, and the production of
co-products and waste materials. Purac is also actively working on
the the development of processes to replace agricultural feedstocks
with cellulosic feedstocks, so called 2nd generation,
biomass in order to not interfere with the food value chain.