“Green” Demand Boosts Industrialization of Bio-Based Materials


By Zhou Yang, CNCIC Consulting Department


The industrial development of biotechnology in China has already shown a distinct pattern. Progress in production technologies for polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), polylactic acid (PLA), polybutylenes succinate (PBS), polypropylene carbonate (PPC) and starch-based materials and their monomers has been substantial in recent years. China’s capacity to make bio-based materials and their key monomers was around 6.0 million t/a in 2015, and three industrial clusters had been formed in the Bohai Rim, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta.

1. Monomers of bio-based materials

Notable achievements have been made in China in the synthesis of important monomers such as 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO) and 1,4-butanediol (1,4-BDO) in recent years.
A 1,3-PDO project using a biological process, with all intellectual property rights in house, was successfully started up by Zhangjiagang Huamei Biomaterials Co., Ltd. in 2013.
China’s 1,4-BDO capacity has grown step by step in recent years, reaching approximately 1.50 million t/a in 2014. Of that total, the year’s new capacity was around 450 kt/a. Capacity surplus has already appeared. The total capacity was around 2 million t/a in 2015. Of that total, the year’s new capacity was around 460 kt/a. The overall operating rate of 1,4-BDO units was below 50% on average in 2015, and output was around 700 kt.

2. Bio-based polymers

China’s capacity to make bio-based polymers was around 400 kt/a in 2015.
Starch-based plastic is a biodegradable plastic with very mature technology, the biggest industrial scale and the highest market share. It is a major type of bio-based polymers in China today. Products are exported to Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Australia, the United States and EU countries.
PLA is the degradable bio-based plastic with the most extensive applications around the world. Global demand for PLA is forecast to reach 10 million t/a before 2020. A sound development space will therefore be provided for the lactic acid sector. China’s PLA capacity has now reached 25-50 kt/a.
PHA is one of the most commercially promising bio-based plastics. It has excellent properties, but its production process is rather complicated. Its market is still at the initial stage. Varieties that have already achieved commercial production include PHB and PHBV. With the gradual expansion of applications, PHA has huge market potential.
PBS has already become one of the hot fully-biodegradable plastics in the industrial market. A 20 kt/a PBS unit constructed by Shandong Huiying New Material Technology Co., Ltd. using patented one-step polymerization technology from the Chinese Academy of Sciences started production in June 2013, and a PBS capacity of 25 kt/a was formed.
Furthermore, new bio-based polymers such as PCL and PPC have developed rapidly in recent years. The industry is moving away from the pattern of modified starch-based plastics as the lead.

Gradual increase of demand for high performance materials, brisk sales of bio-based materials

1. Bio-based rubbers

The development and utilization of bio-based rubbers can reduce the rubber industry’s reliance on petrochemical resources, reduce environmental impacts and achieve sustainable development of cyclic economy and ecology. Development of bio-based rubbers around the world has already made considerable advances.

2. Bio-based fibers

Due to limited oil resources and environmental problems, bio-based fibers that come from renewable biomass have become a new growth point in the chemical fiber industry and are changing consumption patterns. Owing to good performance, bio-based chemical fibers can displace conventional chemical fibers extensively in applications. They are already used in the textile, medical materials, health/protection, spaceflight and military sectors and have a huge market potential.
Bio-based chemical fibers and their raw materials have been developed vigorously in China in recent years. Fiber processing and fiber applications, in particular, are well developed. Some varieties such as chitosan fiber, PDT fiber, bio-protein fiber, bamboo pulp fiber and hemp pulp fiber are already produced at a world-class level. Application markets of PTT fiber, PBT fiber and PLA fiber are getting more and more mature. Lyocell fibers, PHBV/PLA blend fibers and alginate fibers have extensive commercial applications. Their production is at the essential stage of industrialization breakthroughs.
Li Zengjun, Secretary-General of the Bio-Based Chemical Fibers and Raw Materials Committee of China Chemical Fibers Association, says that the major task in the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) for the Chemical Fiber Industry is the development of bio-based fibers. By 2020 China is to create domestic technologies for quite a few bio-based fibers and their raw materials, the output of bio-based raw materials is to reach 770 kt and the output of bio-based fibers is to reach 1.06 million tons.

3. Bio-based plastics

Bio-based plastics are plastics generated from biological substances such as starch as the basis through the action of microorganisms. They are renewable and highly environment-friendly. The global market for bio-based plastics has grown 8%-10% annually on average in recent years. The market is expected to grow to US$10.0 billion by 2020. Packaging materials have long been the dominant application of bio-based plastics. New applications in the automotive and electronic sectors are however developing rapidly. As bio-based plastics are highly adaptable to organisms, it is hoped that they can also be used to produce medical products such as post-operation suture thread that can be absorbed by the patient’s body.

4. Bio-based coatings

Bio-based substitutes for familiar roofing materials such as resins, solvents, surfactants, bio-insecticides, fillers and bitumen are being developed rapidly.
In addition to challenges in improving properties such as waterproof behavior, the development of bio-based coatings is hampered by various factors such as the measurability of large-scale production, the complex composition of some bio-materials and the complexity of production metabolic processes.

5. Bio-based adhesives

Bio-based aldehyde-free adhesives are produced with biomass resources as major raw materials and industrial water as the dispersion medium. They are mainly used in timber processing in the production of engineered boards. They are new “green”, environmentally benign adhesives.
The development of bio-based materials in China is still at the initial stage, and the competitiveness of the products is quite poor. Promoting the industrils Co., Ltd.    5 000

Table 1  Capacity of partially bio-based polymers in China, 2015        
Item    Producer    Capacity (t/a)
Starch-based plastics    Wuhan Huali Environmental Protection Science & Technology Co., Ltd.    70 000
    Shenzhen Hongcai New Material Technology Co., Ltd.    20 000
    Suzhou Hanfeng New Materials Co., Ltd.    35 000
    Jiangsu Longjun Environmental Protection Industrial Development Co., Ltd.    20 000
    Biograde (Nanjing) Environmental Protection Materials Co., Ltd.    50 000
    Guangdong Shangjiu Biodegradable Plastics Co., Ltd.    10 000
    Zhejiang Huafa Ecological Technology Co., Ltd.    10 000
PHA    Ningbo Tian’an Biomaterials Co., Ltd.    10 000
    Tianjin Guoyun Biomaterials Co., Ltd.    10 000
    Ecomann (Shenzhen) Biotechnology Co., Ltd.    5 000
PBS    Shandong Huiying New Material Technology Co., Ltd.    25 000
    Guangzhou Kingfa Science & Technology Co., Ltd.    30 000
    Shanxi Jinhui Zhaolong High-Tech Co., Ltd.    25 000
    Zhejiang Hangzhou Yifan Xinfu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.    10 000
    Xinjiang Blue Ridge Tunhe Chemical Industry Joint Stock Co., Ltd.    5 000
    Anhui Anqing Hexing Chemical Co., Ltd.    10 000
    Shenzhen Guanghua Weiye Industrial Co., Ltd.    1 000
PCL    Shenzhen Guanghua Weiye Industrial Co., Ltd.    over 100
    Shenzhen Yisheng New Materials Co., Ltd.    over 100
PPC    Inner Mongolia Mongxi High-Tech Group Co., Ltd.    3 000
    Jiangsu Zhongke Jinglong-CAS Chemical Co., Ltd.    over 10 000
    Henan Tianguan Group Co., Ltd.    over 10 000
PLA    Zhejiang Hisun Biomaterials Co., Ltd.    15 000
    Jiangsu Suqian Yunyoucheng New Composites Co., Ltd.    10 000
    Shenzhen Guanghua Weiye (Xiaogan) Industrial Co., Ltd.    1 000
    Jiangsu Jiuding New Materials Co., Ltd.    5 000
    Shanghai Tongjieliang Biomaterials Co., Ltd.    1 000
    Changshu Changjiang Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd.    1 000