Biodegradable Polymers     

     Biodegradable polymers, or biopolymers, are plastic materials produced from natural substances rather than petroleum-based feedstocks.  While many biopolymers are in development, one in particular has shown a very bright future.  Polylactic acid (PLA) resin can be used for many of the applications currently utilizing polyethylene resins.

     PLA is based on lactic acid which uses dextrose from corn or sugar beets as a feedstock. The flexibility of PLA has attracted big companies such as Chronopol which currently operates a 2 million lb/year PLA facility in Colorado and has plans for 100 million lb/year in the future. Other companies have also entered into the PLA hunt, but Chronopol has developed a new technology that should reduce the costs of PLA from $4.00-$6.00/lb to $1.50-$2.00/lb.  But, even with this serious reduction, how can PLA hope to compete with polyethylene which sells for $0.40-$0.50/lb?  It's difficult to predict the future, but PLA has shown promise and now we'll see why.

     Polyethylene is produced from petroleum-based material which are of course finite in supply.  As petroleum reserves decrease in abundance, polyethylene costs will increase accordingly.  Continued funding and research will surely force PLA costs even lower. Government regulations may also force disposal and recycling costs for polyethylene up from the current $0.30/lb.  Also, a larger PLA market derived from its "green" label may help reduce its costs.  So, it would appear that as long as PLA can adjust well to the current polyethylene applications, the future should be bright.  The costs of polyethylene will rise and the costs of PLA will decrease, it's just a matter of time right?  Don't assume that people aren't doing research somewhere trying to figure out how to produce polyethylene without the petroleum dependency.  That would really make things interesting!