Jul 25 2003
Toyota Motor Corp is intending to build a pilot plant for the production of polylactic acid or bio-plastics, which are plastics that are made from renewable sources such as sugarcane.
The proposed plant will be built within an existing plant in Japan, and will have a capacity of 1000 tons of bio-plastic per annum.
This project is part of Toyota’s efforts with the goal of “global regeneration” and creating a recycling based society. This includes reducing the impact on the environment at every stage of a vehicles lifecycle.
While the thrust of the pilot plant will be to develop a commercially viable material, they will be looking to use it for automotive applications, in particular interior components, as well a range of other every day uses.
Bio-plastics have a positive impact on the environment compared to petroleum derived polymers as they consume carbon dioxide while the raw material, sugarcane is growing. At the other end of their life, bio-plastics can be broken down by micro organisms into water and carbon dioxide when they are disposed of.
For more information on automotive interior components, click here.