Wanhua PLA Integration Project Review

Biodegradation Project Review

March 2021

Wanhua says PLA (polylactic acid), a product for degradable plastics, has entered the pilot phase. 2018, Dr. Li Yuan, Vice President of Wanhua Central Research Institute, has formed a 100-strong R&D team, and after more than two years of painstaking research and development, has overcome the technical difficulties of PLA products and advanced the project to the pilot phase.

November 2021

Wanhua Chemical Meishan's 60,000 tonnes per annum PBAT project held a mid-turnover ceremony (already in production). The project, with an investment of RMB 360 million, adopts Shanghai Juyou Chemical's PBAT continuous production process with independent intellectual property rights.

The construction site is located in the Meishan High-Tech Industrial Park in Sichuan Province, where Wanhua has also planned a 100,000-tonne BDO capacity as a raw material supporting project for PBAT.

December 2021

Wanhua Chemical's official website published the Draft Environmental Impact Report for its 200,000 tonnes/year maleic anhydride project for public comment. The maleic anhydride project is located in Wanhua's Yantai Industrial Park and, when completed, will bring economic benefits from the maleic anhydride product while achieving energy coupling with other units and making the most effective use of by-product steam from the maleic anhydride unit.

February 2021

Wanhua Chemical has developed a modified PLA product "Waneco® AE2302" for hot beverage straws. It is based on the existing straw process and can be produced in both straight and bent straws, effectively solving the painful problem of paper straws.

July 2021

Wanhua Chemical's global R&D centre and headquarters base (Phase I) construction project was completed and put into operation in Yantai City. The R&D content mainly includes PBAT project, BDO project, etc., providing a full range of technical solutions and technical support services for internal and external customers of the company.

August 2021

Wanhua Ningbo High Performance Materials Research Institute was completed and put into operation in Ningbo Daxie Development Zone. The Institute has a planned investment of RMB 510 million and a total construction area of over 41,000 square metres.

With the completion and opening of the institute, Wanhua will independently develop a number of PBAT and PLA fully biodegradable material solutions, accelerating the iteration of a series of fully biodegradable materials such as rubbish bags and straws.

December 2021

Wanhua Group took the initiative to contact Yantai City Administration Sanitation Centre to prepare a fully biodegradable food waste bag to be given to households. This biodegradable rubbish bag can be completely degraded by microorganisms under proper composting conditions, and the degradation products are water and carbon dioxide, which are friendly to the environment.

In the same month, the Wanhua Chemical-Perfimac Biodegradable Mulch Demonstration Project was signed in Shouguang, Shandong Province.

The two parties have established a demonstration project covering the whole industrial chain of biodegradable resin, biodegradable modified materials, biodegradable mulch and agricultural products, and compost degradation cycle, taking into account the growing needs of crops in vegetable greenhouses.