Thailand gains an edge
in the world bioplastics industry
By Jon Fernquest |
The technologies that humans have developed over the last century have the potential to destroy the earth. That much is clear.
What new environmentally-friendly technologies will arise to replace them is not entirely clear yet.
Bioplastics looks like one such promising technology.
Thailand is well-endowed to take advantage of new bioplastics opportunities as they arise.
Thailand has relatively liberal foreign investment laws and incentives to draw foreign firms with the necessary technologies into joint ventures.
Thailand is also well-endowed with the raw materials, such as cassava, necessary to manufacture bioplastics.
The development of new industries like bioplastics creates new jobs that require a natural science or engineering education. This in turn could lead to more Thai chemists, scientists, and engineers over the long-run.
The image on the right represents the chemical formula of Polylactic Acid (PLA), one of the important components of bioplastics.
A Bangkok Post article this week has looked at recent developments in Thailand's emerging bioplastics industry. Here is the article in full:
Regional bioplastics role pursued
Raw material supply is Thailand's strength
NAREERAT WIRIYAPONG
Monday August 18, 2008
Its natural resources could enable Thailand to attract overseas investment to become a regional bioplastics hub, says the Thai Bioplastic Industry Association.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Thailand's bioplastics industry is currently behind only Japan and China - ranked first and second respectively - said association president Somsak Borrisuttanakul.
"Thailand has plenty of raw material supplies, especially cassava," said Mr Somsak. "With an annual production of 20 million tonnes, Thailand is the world's top exporter of cassava."
In addition, Thailand has a large lactic acid (LA) manufacturing base. Made from cassava and sugarcane, LA can be processed to become an ingredient in bioplastics production.
In April Netherlands-based Purac started operations in Thailand at its largest LA manufacturing facility in the world. The plant can currently produce 50,000 tonnes of LA a year and plans to double its output, said Mr Somsak.
He added that Purac has also been working with potential strategic partners to develop small-scale production plants for polylactic acid (PLA), which Thai compounders must currently import.
"The only missing piece in the jigsaw for Thailand's bioplastics industry is local manufacturing of PLA, which requires a substantial investment of billions of baht for an economy-of-scale production of at least 30,000 tonnes a year," he said.
But Mr Somsak said that to develop an integrated industry, the government should stimulate demand by raising awareness of bioplastics' ability to compete on price with conventional plastic.
Biodegradable plastics now account for only 30% of annual packaging consumption of 500,000 tonnes. However, while two to four times more expensive than conventional plastics, bioplastics become competitive when waste management costs are taken into account.
With the goal of making Thailand a regional bioplastics hub, the government has initiated a 1.8-billion-baht five-year action plan. It aims to increase cassava yield from three to 10 kilogrammes per rai - in part, to ensure production meets demand for human consumption as well as for industrial use.
At the same time, bioplastics exports have begun to markets such as the European Union, the United States and Japan. The EU has an especially promising outlook as it plans for 100% bioplastics use from 2010 onward, said Mr Somsak.
(Source: Bangkok Post, business, 18-08-08, NAREERAT WIRIYAPONG, temp-link)
Vocabulary:
Plastics Vocabulary
bioplastics - a non-petroleum replacement for traditional plastics, "a form of plastics derived from renewable biomass sources, such as vegetable oil, corn starch, pea starch, rather than traditional plastics which are derived from petroleum" (See Wikipedia)
Purac Biomaterials (the Netherlands) - a company that manufactures biodegradable plastics, "used commercially for over thirty-five years in applications as diverse as resorbable surgical sutures, orthopedic implant devices, cosmetic surgery products and drug delivery systems" (See website and Wikipedia)
a chemical compound - a chemical substance consisting of two or more different elements chemically bonded together in a fixed proportion by mass (See Wikipedia)
compounders, chemical compounders - companies that manufacture more complicated chemicals from simpler chemicals
lactic acid (LA) - an important chemical compound that plays a role in several biochemical processes (See Wikipedia)
polylactic acid (PLA) - an important component of biodegradable plastic, "a biodegradable, thermoplastic, aliphatic polyester derived from renewable resources, such as corn starch (in the U.S.) or sugarcanes (rest of world). Although PLA has been known for more than a century, it has only been of commercial interest in recent years, in light of its biodegradability" (See Wikipedia)
cassava - a crop grown in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy root, a major source of carbohydrates, gives the highest yield of food energy per cultivated area per day among crop plants, except possibly for sugarcane (See Wikipedia)
Other Vocabulary
an edge - an advantage
have an edge over Y - already have an advantage compared to Y
gain an edge over Y - gain an advantage over Y
well-endowed with Y - has a lot of Y to begin with
take advantage of Y - use and gain from Y
relatively liberal foreign investment laws and incentives -
a hub - a center for some activity
regional bioplastics hub - a center in the Southeast Asian region for bioplastics
X and Y ranked first and second respectively - x is ranked first and Y is ranked second
raw material - a material that is used to manufacture more complex products, for example steel is a raw material used in the manufacturing of automobiles
a manufacturing base for Y - a central place to manufacture large amounts of Y and send them to nearby regions and countries
potential X - can possibly become X in the future
strategy - a plan for winning a competition
business strategy - a plan for running a profitable and successful business
potential strategic partners - other companies that a company might work with on a project
a jigsaw puzzle - a picture cut and broken into small pieces which must be fit back together again (See Wikipedia)
the missing piece in the jigsaw - just one missing to make it complete (the picture of the puzzle has been put together except for one missing piece)
economy-of-scale production - producing large amounts reduces the costs of production greatly
an integrated industry - an industry in which the different stages of production are included together (from raw material to finished product sold in stores)
conventional plastic - the normal plastic we now use in everyday life
biodegradable plastics - plastics which break up and disappear quickly and naturally like paper or old food does (See Wikipedia)
waste management costs - the cost of disposing and recycling (quite high if there are laws that require this, as there in the European Union)
X taken into account - use X too in the solution of the problem
initiated - started
especially promising outlook - people expect it to do well in the future
