Mitsui Chemicals, Nippon Shokubai to mass produce bioplastics

Mitsui Chemicals Inc. and Nippon Shokubai Co. have each established programs to mass-produce plastics from plant-derived resources. Mitsui Chemicals has begun test production of a plastic that is made from a resource derived from the bacterial degradation of wood scrap and a by-product obtained from the processing of sugar cane. The company plans to manufacture this plastic at a rate of several hundred metric tons a year starting in the autumn of 2010 for use in the fabrication of biodegradable food containers. Nippon Shokubai plans to manufacture acrylic acid for disposable diapers using glycerin obtained as a by-product of the synthesis of biodiesel from oil palm trees. The company will invest roughly ¥200 million (US$2.22 million) in fiscal 2010 to introduce equipment for test production at a factory in Japan. (November 2, 2009)