China’s first 10,000-ton polyglycolic acid project begins pilot production in Baotou – a new breakthrough in biodegradable plastics
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The first phase of China’s first 10,000-ton per year polylactic acid production facility, built by Inner Mongolia Pujing Polymer Materials Technology Co., Ltd., has officially started trial production. This marks a new breakthrough for China in the field of biodegradable plastics, and it also represents another significant step forward in the development of the new materials industry in Jiuyuan District. In the exhibition hall of Inner Mongolia Pujing Polymer Materials Technology Co., Ltd. located in the Jiuyuan Industrial Park, Deputy General Manager Liu Menghui pointed to a small bottle and explained to the reporters, “What’s inside this bottle are the polyglycolic acid particles that we produce as our final product.” After further processing, it can be turned into biodegradable shopping bags, layers in beverage bottles, as well as tableware such as knives, forks, and straws that we use frequently. Unlike ordinary plastics, these products can be completely degraded under natural conditions. ” It is understood that polyglycolic acid (PGA) is a synthetic polymer material with good biodegradability and biocompatibility. Unlike traditional polymer materials with stable properties, such as plastics and rubbers, polyglycolic acid gradually degrades over time, eventually turning into water and carbon dioxide that are harmless to humans, animals, plants, and the natural environment. Therefore, it can be widely used in various fields such as oil and gas extraction, medical sutures, materials for fracture fixation, tissue engineering scaffolds, as well as in medicine, agriculture, forestry, food packaging, and more.
With increased efforts in global environmental protection, plastic restrictions have been implemented in many **places. Since 2008, our country has implemented a plastic restriction policy to reduce the use of single-use plastics and encourage the use of environmentally friendly alternatives. In January 2020, China issued the \"Opinions on Further Strengthening the Control of Plastic Pollution,\" which set out specific requirements for phased plastic bans and encouraged the use of biodegradable plastic alternatives. However, on a global scale, degradable materials such as polyglycolic acid have long been able to be produced in large quantities only in the United States and Japan, with domestic demand relying almost entirely on imports. In order to break foreign technological monopolies, Shanghai Pujing Chemical Technology Co., Ltd. has been independently developing the \"syngas-to-glycolic acid technology\" with full intellectual property rights since 2010, enabling the production of glycolic acid crystals with a purity of over 99.6%. In 2018, its wholly-owned subsidiary, Inner Mongolia Pujing Polymer Materials Technology Co., Ltd., invested 550 million yuan to build a factory in Jiuyuan District. Using coal-derived syngas produced by Shenhua Baotou Coal Chemical Co., Ltd. as raw material, the company manufactured polyglycolic acid through 8 processing steps including esterification, carbonization, distillation, and polymerization. “In the first phase, we will achieve a production capacity of 1,500 tons of polyglycolic acid; once all phases of the project are completed, the production capacity will reach 10,000 tons. At that point, we will be able to establish a complete industrial chain that spans from raw material syngas to high-quality biodegradable materials, with full control over this entire chain in our hands. ”Liu Menghui said. (Reporter: Zhang Yanqing ； Reporter: Xin Yue)
This project seems to have been in the spotlight for quite some time. . .
From planning to implementation, from construction to testing – there are probably too many steps involved
Judging from the name, it seems to be related to a design institute in Shanghai; it must be their own technology
I saw a news item yesterday saying that coastal areas are stepping up efforts regarding biodegradable plastics
I’m also familiar with a few related technologies; currently, many of these still remain constrained by how low oil prices are, preventing them from developing on a large scale
Build up technical reserves; it’s better to have them than not
In July 2018, China’s first \"10,000-ton capacity polylactic acid\" production project began construction in the Jiuyuan Industrial Park of Baotou, Inner Mongolia. This project is a key industrial initiative in Baotou and also constitutes an extension of the coal-to-olefins industry chain. It uses coal-derived syngas produced by Shenhua Baotou Coal Chemical Co., Ltd. as raw material to manufacture polylactic acid through eight distinct production processes. The total investment in the project is 550 million yuan, which is primarily used to build a 1,000 t/a polylactic acid production facility, a 500 t/a catalyst workshop, a product research and development center, warehouses, control rooms, as well as supporting facilities such as irrigation systems and heat transfer oil furnace rooms.