As bioplastics is part of a new wave of technology, Thailand hopes to catch up with this trend, said the ministry's permanent secretary General Saksit Tridej.

To set development guidelines in the area, the ministry has also worked out a national road map to assist the bioplastics industry over the next five years.

The road map, Saksit said, comprised four key strategies to push Thailand to eventually produce bioplastic products by 2012.

The plan requires Bt2 billion to implement. The Science Ministry will soon propose the road map to the Cabinet for approval.

Saksit said the first strategy was to produce raw material for bioplastics production. Cassava is a likely choice, so the plan is to research processes to produce a plastic material called polylactic acid (PLA) from cassava. PLA is produced from sugar fermentation to get lactic acid, which then goes through a polymerlisation process. The material is suitable to produce shopping bags and food packaging.

There are only a few research groups in Thailand working on developing PLA from cassava, so it will take time to produce PLA materials locally. Saksit said the road map suggested initially importing PLA to combine with local materials.

"As we realised that we can not yet produce PLA, we should start with importing technology to build up the industry. Meanwhile we have to conduct research in parallel so that once we have our own technology, we will complete the full cycle of bioplastic production using only local materials," he said.

The ministry also hopes that in the next five years, Thailand will have its own technology to produce raw material from cassava and this will build the upstream industry for bioplastics.

The second strategy, Saksit said, was to accelerate industry-oriented research programmes and technology transfer for bioplastics manufacturing. The third strategy is to support the establishment of a bioplastics industry and facilitate investment in the area.

He said that since the development of infrastructure is essential, the last strategy involved the establishment of a testing centre for bioplastic degradability in compliance with international standards, as well as tax-incentive measures.

Supachai Lorlowhakarn, the director of the National Innovation Agency (NIA), said that the agency had set bioplastics as a strategic innovation project to contribute towards a new wave of industry.

He said after five years, Thailand would have a complete cycle of bioplastics production on a small scale.

"We expect that during the road-map period, we can start a pilot project for bioplastics manufacturing by producing around 2,000 tonnes of bioplastic resins like PLA from cassava," he said.

The amount is not high, but Supachai said this would be a springboard for a strong bioplastics industry.

Bioplastics will open new markets for plastics manufacturers, as products exported to other countries will require plastics that are degradable.

Thailand uses six million tonnes of chemical plastic products per year, of which half is used locally with the remainder for exported products. With the driving forces of international trade regulations and environmental concerns,  bioplastics will increase as a substitute for chemical plastics. 

Pongpen Sutharoj

The Nation