While plastic products come in all
shapes and sizes, most of them are currently made from oil and other fossil resources.
As reserves of fossil resources are limited, new types of plastic need to be
developed for the future.
Mitsubishi Plastics has been quick to focus on uses of plant-based resources
in the production of plastics. The company is now actively working to develop,
manufacture and market plastic products made from polylactic acid (PLA), a transparent
resin derived from renewable biomass resources, such as feed so-called “Dent
Corn.”
The use of biomass in plastics production is not simply a case of replacing
of one resource with another—PLA products and other “bioplastics” offer
a number of advantages over conventional plastics. For example, consider the
biomass resources used to make bioplastics. When these crops are grown, they
absorb water and CO2, produce sugars and release oxygen through the process of
photosynthesis. After use, PLA can be decomposed by micro-organisms, and even
if they are incinerated, the CO2 released is offset by the CO2 that was absorbed
when the biomass resources were originally grown.
Mitsubishi Plastics’ plant-derived products now includes “ECOLOJU™,” bio-based film and sheets, “PLABIO™,” heat-shrinkable
film, and “HISHIECOLO™ PIPE,” piping material. In the future,
Mitsubishi Plastics will continue to cultivate new uses for bioplastics, thereby
reducing consumption of the world’s remaining fossil resources and contributing
the realization of more sustainable societies. |
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| The main material of “ECOLOJU™” is |
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biopolymer. |
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| Mitsubishi Plastics launched
sales of this plastic wrap in April 2009. The cutter on this package is not made
from metal or paper, but from a plant-derived plastic. Other items being made
from renewable biomass resources include plastic windows for envelopes, clear
file folders and various kinds of plastic cards, such as those used for ID cards. |
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