The chemical division of Milliken & Co. (Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA) has joined the Global Organization for PHA (GO!PHA) to help address technical and market development challenges related to polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biodegradable biopolymers. According to the company, Milliken will provide its expertise in polymer chemistry to help improve the processing, performance, aesthetics, and other important attributes of PHA. The goal is to expand the application range of this family of materials into more packaging applications.
GO!PHA is a coalition of industry and academic stakeholders dedicated to advancing the development, commercialization, and adoption of PHA polymers through advocacy and knowledge sharing. Milliken plans to collaborate with other members to prioritize technical issues and explore ways to solve them by adapting existing high-performance Milliken additives or developing new technologies.
“Milliken’s participation in GO!PHA supports our corporate sustainability goals by giving us a collaborative platform to tackle the challenges of ocean plastics and natural resource conservation,” says Allen Jacoby, senior vice president of plastics additives for Milliken’s chemical division. “Replacing traditional materials with bio-based, biodegradable PHA polymers can provide lower impact options for food service and flexible packaging. We look forward to working with other GO!PHA members on enhancements that can make PHA polymers more appealing to product designers, converters and consumers.”
“We are delighted to welcome Milliken to GO!PHA,” adds Rick Passenier, executive board member for GO!PHA. “Milliken’s polymer additives expertise and extensive development capabilities add tremendous value to our efforts in optimizing PHA properties and processability, and expanding the use of the material in single-use packaging applications."
Source: Milliken & Co., www.milliken.com.