Construction and chemical engineering group Thyssenkrupp Uhde (Dortmund, Germany; www.thyssenkrupp-uhde.com) has won the contract to build a biopolymer manufacturing plant on the Arabian Peninsula from the newly founded Gulf Biopolymers Industries (Dubai, UAE; www.gbi.ae). The Dubai-based company's CEO Harald Kroll, a long-time employee of BASF - most recently as director Performance Materials for the Middle East region, among others - plans to invest around AED 1 bn (EUR 250 mn) in this project over the next three years. It is not clear where the plant will be built. A location within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is likely, as the company headquarters are also located in Dubai. 

The group said polymer specialist Uhde Inventa-Fischer (Berlin; www.uhde-inventa-fischer.com) would perform the basic engineering package for the PLA production, based on its proprietary technology, while its sister company Thyssenkrupp Uhde India would carry out the front-end engineering design, an activity that covers the complete production complex, including associated offsite and utilities. 

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The line, which will produce grades for injection moulding, film extrusion and fibres, will use lactic acid from corn as a raw material. Thyssenkrupp Uhde added that an integral aspect of the project was the plant's ability to sustainably produce a range of PLA grades. However, according to Uhde, the PLAneo polycondensation technology to be used is designed for 100,000 t/y. Gulf Biopolymers is probably also aiming for this production volume.

PLA was a "genuine biopolymer", Thyssenkrupp Uhde said. "It is produced from renewable biomass sources, and it is also biodegradable. This positions PLA as a sustainable alternative to conventional fossil-based plastics, offering a pragmatic solution for reducing the environmental footprint associated with plastics production and consumption."