What is PLA? PLA is an aliphatic polyester produced by converting starch extracted from renewable plant resources such as corn and horse bells into glucose, which is then fermented into lactic acid and further polymerized. PLA is biodegradable, and various PLA products are buried in the soil after use, and after a certain period of time, they will naturally decompose into water and carbon dioxide without causing environmental pollution.

Unlike general synthetic polymer materials, PLA has two major characteristics: biodegradability and plant origin.

1. Biodegradability

PLA is firstly hydrolyzed into oligomers with a degree of polymerization of about 25, and then degraded by microorganisms. It has good compostability. PLA can be processed into specific requirements for disposable meals, fresh food packaging trays and other products that are recycled and reused after use.

2. Plant origin

PLA is a bio-based polymer that uses renewable biological resources instead of petroleum resources as raw materials. It gets rid of the dependence on petroleum resources, and its energy consumption in the production process is lower than that of petroleum-based polymers such as PPPSPET and PA6. Polymer materials that load resources and environment. For example, the petroleum fuel energy consumed in the PLA production process is 56MJ/kg, while PS is 69MJ/kg. If PLA is used instead of PS, it can save about 20% of petroleum fuel consumption. A treatment method of used PLA products, such as burning, composting, and burying, is to return carbon dioxide to nature. This carbon dioxide will be reused at noon during the subsequent photosynthesis process of plants and become an eternal carbon cycle system. , Will not cause a net increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, thereby reducing the earth’s greenhouse effect.