Plant-derived plastic tarps

Headquartered in Osaka City, Japan, Kuraray has developed a tarpaulin made of corn-based, plant-derived plastics. This sheet helps reduce carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming, mainly for environmentally conscious municipalities and corporate legal persons.

The new plant-derived plastic tarpaulin was exhibited to the public at Eco-Products 2006 (Tokyo Big Sight) held in Tokyo Big Sight from December 14th to 16th, 2006 .

A traditional composite tarpaulin is composed of a multi-layered sheet that sandwiches a layer of polyester woven cloth substrate between plastic films. This material is stronger and more resistant to dirt than cloth and paper and can be used in a wide range of applications, such as advertising banners, advertising in shopping spots (POPs), and safety slogans and protective materials for construction sites.

The raw material of the new plant-derived plastic tarpaulin is a corn-based polylactic acid (PLA) resin. The base material used 100% of PLA resin instead of polyester, and the film contained 70% of PLA resin. PLA resin is a hard material that, when used with Kuraray Plastics's proprietary acrylic elastomer material, has a plasticity that is suitable for tarpaulins.

In order to reduce the emission of more and more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the use of carbon-neutral materials is more effective than the use of mineral resources. Therefore, the growth rate of the use of biomaterials is getting faster and faster in recent years.

Last month, Kuraray Plastics also launched a tarpaulin that generates significantly less carbon dioxide when incinerated. As a member of Kuraray Plastics' company that meets environmental protection requirements, it can effectively reduce the consumption of oil resources and global warming.

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