BIOCOVERS® 100 & 130

HOW TO INSTALL? Take a look at our installation procedure

What is PLA?

PLA or Poly Lactic Acid is made from plant material. Starch and plant sugars are used as renewable resource. Today, mainly side and waste streams of the corn industry are used as feedstock.

How is PLA produced? Some chemistry

It all starts with the sun! During the process of the photosynthesis, the leafs of green plants will absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere. A molecule CO₂ is combined with a molecule water to form sugar and oxygen. The molecule oxygen is released back in the atmosphere. The sugar is used as fuel for the plants. Any unused sugar is stored as starch and can be harvested.

Industrially, dextrose (sugar) is created from the harvested plant starch through a process called hydrolysis. Next, microorganism will convert the sugar into lactic acid through fermentation. The PLA polymer is formed either by (1) direct condensation of lactic acid or (2) via the cyclic intermediate lactide through a ring opening process. PLA is formed!