Bioplastics: Korean team claims PLA production breakthrough

A team from Korea’s KAIST University and plastics and chemicals supplier LG Chem claim to have developed a single-stage direct fermentation process to produce polylactic acid (PLA) and its copolymers. If it proves scalable to commercial size, the process could drastically cut production costs.

The full report of the research will be printed in two articles in the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering. Currently PLA is produced in a two-step fermentation and chemical process of polymerization, which is complex and expensive. According to independent consultant Jim Lunt, who presented in September for one of our webinars, PLA currently sells for about $0.85-$1.25/lb.

The team from Korea reports it has used a metabolically engineered strain of E.coli to develop a one-stage process that produces polylactic acid and its copolymers through direct fermentation. “By developing a strategy which combines metabolic engineering and enzyme engineering, we’ve developed an efficient bio-based one-step production process for PLA and its copolymers,” said Professor Sang Yup Lee of the school’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, who led the research. “This means that a developed E. coli strain is now capable of efficiently producing unnatural polymers, through a one-step fermentation process.” He continued, “This new strategy should be generally useful for developing other engineered organisms capable of producing various unnatural polymers by direct fermentation from renewable resources.” —mpweditorial@cancom.com