Japan’s Toray Industries has launched a major drive into PLA-based film and sheet products with the announcement of a new 5,000tpa plant in Korea. The new unit is to be housed at the Gumi 3 plant of Toray Sachan, in which it owns a 90% stake.
The new plant will cost Y1bn (E7m) and will start up in January of next year, said Toray, a significant player in conventional polymers, notably ABS.
The company said that takeout food containers in Korea are being rapidly replaced by biomass materials, while in its domestic market, “the move towards adoption of biomass plastic is gaining momentum”.
Toray plans to develop the market by pioneering highly functional products using its nano alloy technology. It claims that not only is heat and impact resistance similar to petroleum-based films but that technology for achieving high flexibility and transparency has also been introduced.
Toray already sells its Ecodear material for both fibre and resin products, and believes that its new film investment will enable it to tap into “huge demand expected in the future”.
