TOKYO -- Kaneka, a Tokyo-based chemical company, plans to ramp up production of a biodegradable polymer that can be used for a broad array of plastic applications to 20,000 tons per year, four times the current output.
Kaneka's polymer, dubbed PHBH, is biosynthesized by microorganisms using plant oils as the primary raw material, according to the company. The 100% plant-derived polymer is certified to biodegrade in seawater. If PHBH products are dumped into the sea, microorganisms will eventually digest more than 90% of them into carbon dioxide and water, the company says.
