Conference Sparks New Ideas for Polylactic Acid Use

PHILADELPHIA—Specialty materials company Rohm and Haas announced that the recent “Innovation Takes Root” conference hosted by NatureWorks LLC., provided an ideal forum to explore innovative future applications for sustainable, corn-derived polylactic acid (PLA) and its alloys.

“As the only large volume, commercially available bioplastic, polylactic acid is attracting keen attention—and not only for packaging applications,” says Rob Martin, marketing manager at Rohm and Haas, which leads the industry in supplying PLA processing additives. “It was an exciting conference where presenters discussed the material’s future. Attendees mentioned higher temperature packaging applications and possible future uses in alloys with petroleum-based polymers for office equipment and cell phone housings.”