Polylactic acid(PLA) is a new bio-based and renewable biodegradable material, its raw material is starch extracted from renewable plant resources (like corn, cassava etc), The raw material-starch turns into glucose by saccharification, then we get high purity lactic acid by fermentation of glucose and certain strains, at last, we compound polylactic acid with certain molecular weight from chemical synthesis. PLA has good biodegradability, it can be completely degraded by microorganisms in nature under specific conditions, and eventually produce carbon dioxide and water without polluting the environment.
The greatest advantage of PLA materials is their "harmonious coexistence" with the environment. It is different from traditional plastic, which cause environmental pollution after become waste , Discarded PLA products, which can be "buried" and naturally degraded into water and carbon dioxide by natural microorganisms, this process only takes 6 to 12 months. So, PLA is recognized as environment friendly materials and widely be used in flexible packaging industry.
