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Lactic Acid
This Factsheet gives an overview of the current and potential market
NNFCC
Introduction
Lactic acid is a bulk chemical demonstrating
strong market growth. Global production capacity
is over 500,000 tonnes with current production
between 300,000-400,000 tonnes per year.
Current applications
Lactic acid has a long history of applications in
the food and beverage sector as a preservative
and pH adjusting agent. It is used in the
pharmaceutical and chemical industries, as a
solvent and a starting material in the production
of lactate ester, among others. Lactic acid is
also used as a standard or active ingredient in
personal care products, due to its moisturising,
pH regulating and skin lightening properties.
Polymerisation of lactic acid produces a
biodegradable polymer polylactic acid (PLA)
which is used in food packaging including rigid
containers, shrink wrap and short shelf-life trays,
as well as mulch films and rubbish bags.
Renewable Chemicals
Factsheet
Markets
Potential Market Growth
Lactic acid is included in the US Department
of Energys top 30 chemical building block
candidates from sugars, with potential for
significant market growth in the manufacture
of PLA and solvents 2. The industrial
applications segment as a whole is growing
at a rate of 19% per year 3.
Polymers
PLA is a biodegradable lactic acid based
polymer, which is suited to a broad range
of packaging applications including films
and rigid containers.
Solvents
Lactate esters (ethyl lactate and butyl lactate) are
biodegradable and non-toxic solvents with industrial
and consumer applications.
Head of Biorefining
enquiries@nnfcc.co.uk
www.nnfcc.co.uk
Technology
Production Route from Biomass
Current Status
Almost all lactic acid produced globally is manufactured by fermentation routes, due to lower production
cost and market drivers for biorenewable products. The production of L(+)-lactic acid is commercially
mature, with many producers globally, including Purac, Galactic, Archer Daniels Midland, and Cargill.
Purac have licensed technology developed by Myriant Technologies for the commercial production of
D(-)-lactic acid, they opened a commercial plant in Thailand in 2008 with capacity to produce 100,000
tonnes per year.
Environmental Performance
It is difficult to quantify the greenhouse gas (GHG) savings realised by biorenewable lactic acid due to the
variety of different processing routes in operation and the difficulty in selecting an appropriate petroleum
based product for displacement. However, it is appropriate to compare PLA with polypropylene (PP) and
polyethylene terephthalate (PET), two products which PLA directly replaces within the market. Todays
technology for the manufacture of PLA realises GHG emissions savings in the range of 30 to 60%, whilst
advances in processing technology could potentially increase the GHG emissions saving to around 80% 5.
The substitution of petroleum derived PET with starch derived PLA leads to non-renewable energy savings
of 16 to 25 GJ/t (21-32%) based on todays technology. Future technologies and the use of lignocellulosic
feedstocks could increase this saving to 67%. The land requirement for lactic acid production through
fermentation ranges from 0.05 to 0.22 ha/t depending on the technology and feedstock employed 5.
Young-Jung Wee, Jin-Nam Kim, Hwa-Won Ryu. Food Technology and Biotechnology: Biotechnological Production of
Lactic Acid and Its Recent Applications; Vol. 44, March 2006
U.S. Department of Energy. Top Value Added Chemicals from Biomass; Volume 1: Results of Screening for
Potential Candidates from Sugars and Synthesis Gas, 2004
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Manufacturers
Galactic: www.lactic.com
NNFCC 08-008, Nexant ChemSystems. Biochemical Opportunities in the United Kingdom, September 2008
www.nnfcc.co.uk/metadot/index.pl?id=7934;isa=DBRow;op=show;dbview_id=2539
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ADM: www.adm.com
NatureWorks LLC:
www.natureworksllc.com
The BREW Project. Medium and Long-term Opportunities and Risks of the Biotechnological Production of Bulk
Chemicals from Renewable Resources The Potential of White Biotechnology, 2006
Purac: www.purac.com