issue 02/2021

The PHA-platform advancing
The 2 nd PHA-platform World Congress has turned into
a multi-activity event, due to the pandemic. It began with
a one-day webinar on September 2 nd 2020, followed by a
3-hour evening program at the Nanjing Biodegradable
Polymers conference on November 5th 2020, and is
planned to end with the 2-day congress on July 6 th &
7 th 2021 in Cologne, Germany. At this point in time, it is
envisioned as a physical event, where people can meet
and talk with each other, however, it is very likely that there
will be a digital webinar option available for people who
cannot attend in person or wish to attend from a distance
due to Covid-19 regulations. As there is still a lot in flux,
and predictions are difficult to make, more details will
become available as we move closer to the date of the
event. It might even turn out that we have to postpone
again to September 22 nd + 23 rd . Europe is currently seeing
a third wave with more contagious coronavirus mutations
and problems, or at least uncertainties with one of the
vaccines.
Summary of recent and not so recent
developments:
Quite a few good things happened for the PHA-platform
since the 1 st Congress in September 2018:
• GO!PHA, the global organization for proliferation of the
PHA-platform has been established in June 2019 and
membership numbers have been growing ever since.
• Since late 2019 several companies have startedup
new manufacturing facilities, have made further
investment announcements of more than half a billion
dollars, and new companies have been scaling-up,
while demand continues to exceed the available supply.
• A number of the technological challenges
related to PHA-material manufacturing and processing
have been largely taken care of, although not everything
is common knowledge yet.
• The mcl-PHAs (like PHBH) are moving from
embryonic to early growth on the S-curve in 2021, with
some of the scl-PHAs (like PHBV and P3HB4HB) right
behind them.
• Many new and potential applications for the
PHA-platform materials have emerged, both in singleuse
applications as well as in durable products.
• Although the relevant PHA-materials are
natural products made by biological processes (i.e.,
not made by polymerization) we still face different and
opposite views from legislators and NGOs around the
world, so there is still work to be done.
• Many OEMs and smaller customers are
complaining about the limited availability of PHAmaterials,
so apparently Market Pull has been
established.
All in all, a promising and challenging environment with
opportunities to significantly advance the industrialisation
of the PHA-platform.
About the 2 nd Congress
By Jan Ravenstijn
There will be four main themes at the upcoming congress where
we try to avoid show & tell-presentations and focus on quality
content:
1. PHA-platform industrialization:
There will be an update on the state-of-the-art of the global
PHA-platform, capacities in place, expansion plans, and product
offerings of producers (including newer initiatives), and the position
and plans of GO!PHA.
Speakers will be from the main PHA-material producing
companies and GO!PHA.
2. Technological developments:
New technologies in the areas of fermentation process
hardware and metabolic engineering, downstream processing,
the use of renewable feedstock (from biosphere, atmosphere, and
technosphere), and an initiative for 10–12 industrial PhD projects
to address several material science aspects of the PHA-platform
products will be presented. But also different manufacturing
technology is reviewed.
Speakers will be from industrial technology development
companies and academic institutes with a focus on the advancement
of material science knowledge (processing, nucleation, structure/
property-relations) for PHA materials and on the possibilities
for product innovation through fermentation or chemo-catalytic
processes.
3. Application developments:
Too many people seem to think that packaging applications and
biodegradability in every environment are what PHA-materials are
all about. Well – there is a lot more about PHA than just that. Food
packaging is just one of the 26 PMCs (Product Market Combinations)
that have been demonstrated, most of which are commercial by
now.
Speakers will be from compounders and OEMs on a large variety
of different and new applications for PHA materials and on the
technologies behind it.
4. Environmental, legislative, and regulatory matters:
Natural materials like polysaccharides, starch, cellulose, and
several PHA-materials are excellent fits for a circular economy
approach, either alone or in combination with each other. After all,
that’s the function they have in nature. Legislators around the world
(Canada, China, Europe, USA) are very active in an effort to curb
the plastics waste issue but take different approaches regarding the
abovementioned natural materials. Here we will discuss items like
legislation status & activities, circularity & End-of-Life options, and
details of biodegradation.
Speakers will be from NGOs, the nova-Institute, GO!PHA, and
perhaps legislators.
All in all, we’ll have a full and diverse plate for the congress. Due
to new developments of the last 1–1.5 years, there will be several
adjustments to the final program compared to what we published in
bioplastics MAGAZINE more than a year ago. There will be a more detailed
outline of the congress program in about 1–2 months from now.
www.gopha.org | www.pha-world-congress.com
Events
bioplastics MAGAZINE [02/21] Vol. 16 13