CJ (CJ) Indonesia PHA Plant Officially Put Into Operation, Plans to Expand to 300,000 Tons

South Korea's CJ BIO announced that its plant in Pasuruan PHA, Indonesia, has been put into operation and the first batch of products has been shipped.

The new plant will have a capacity of 5,000 tonnes and will focus on "amorphous" PHA (a-PHA) production.

"Amorphous" PHAs are softer, more elastic (low glass transition temperature (Tg)) than conventional PHA materials, and have fundamentally different properties than crystalline PHA materials. "Amorphous" PHA, as a modifier, can improve the polymer properties while ensuring the bio-content and biodegradability of the masterbatch.

Taking PLA as an example, the "amorphous" PHA enables its mechanical properties (such as strength, hardness and ductility, etc.) to be greatly enhanced without reducing the biological content of PLA and possibly improving its biodegradability.

CJ BIO uses an advanced technology platform to extract PHA and manufacture specific products, which covers a variety of combinations to produce crystalline, semi-crystalline and "amorphous" PHA based on specific monomer ratios.

PHA is a linear polyester produced in nature by bacterial fermentation of sugars or lipids, and naturally exists in living cells in a proportion of 5-10%, which makes PHA excellent biodegradability. CJ BIO can increase the PHA content to 85% through strains and proprietary fermentation technology.

Max Senechal, chief commercial officer of CJ BIO Biomaterials, said the new PHA plant builds on decades of work at Metabolix, which CJ BIO has been refining since it acquired Metabolix in 2016.

According to Seungjin Lee, head of CJ BIO's biomaterials business, one of the goals of the company's new business is to build a world-class biomaterials platform based on PHA technology to tackle the global plastic pollution crisis. Plastic is one of the essential materials in human life, however, this material has an unsustainable impact on our environment. While improvements in the biobased content and biodegradability of plastics have been improved, the issue of complete biodegradation – especially in marine and domestic environments – has not been addressed. We believe that the large-scale production and application of PHA will allow us to solve this problem on a global scale. With world-class fermentation capabilities and a broad and flexible portfolio of PHA technologies, CJ BIO can help develop better solutions, from plastic manufacturers to consumer goods companies. CJ plans to expand PHA capacity to 65,000 tons in 2025 and 300,000 tons by 2030.

Senechal said, "CJ BIO has been working on bio-based chemicals and biopolymer technology expansion as part of its vision to create a more sustainable future. This new facility represents an important step for CJ BIO in the near future. More investment in this biotechnology will increase. Today, we are the only company with the potential to mass produce "amorphous" PHA with the unique properties needed to support the rapid growth of the bioplastics industry. What the market offers us The response to technology and new PHA products has been remarkable.