Corbion to help develop biodegradable container for rubber agriculture

Corbion, Global Bio-Polymers and Maxrich have embarked on a project to develop a biodegradable root growth container to improve the agricultural efficiency and environmental performance of rubber tree plantations. 

 

The container is intended to bring three benefits to the Thai rubber industry: encourage young rubber trees to root more effectively to increase tree longevity, improve survival yield rates during outplanting, and offer a more environmentally sustainable alternative to traditional, non-biodegradable plastic containers.

 

Natural rubber is a key agricultural product in Thailand. In 2012, natural rubber was the second economic contributor to the agricultural economy, second only to rice. In 2015, Thailand produced around 4.5 million tons of natural rubber. Every year 90 million new rubber trees are planted in Thailand alone.

 

Currently, rubber trees are planted in nurseries, above ground, in polyethylene (PE) film bags or polypropylene (PP) cones. These containers ensure that the roots grow in a contained vessel, enabling the farmer to transport and plant them easily. Once the mature trees are outplanted, the cutting off of the bag or cone can damage the root system and result in yield loss of the final tree crop, at a cost of THB 90 / EUR 2.30 per lost tree.

 

The PE bags (or parts) can end up left on the land or blown away – resulting in litter, polluting the local environment and endangering local wildlife. Currently, the bag container is favored over the cone due to the ease with which it can be cut off. However, the cone promotes better directional growth of the roots and can promote a longer tree life of around 5 years, resulting in economic value of USD 100 per extra year of successful growth5. The cone, however, is more difficult to remove at time of outplanting and results in yield loss due to root damage during this step.

 

The bioplastic container project is intended to provide an alternative to the existing options of PE bag / PP cone. A bioplastic cone would offer the benefits of directed root growth (promoting longer tree life and increasing economic value per tree) combined with biodegradability at end of life (no need to cut off the container, thus reducing the current root damage yield loss created during container removal when outplanting). The biodegradable containers would eliminate the current littering of non-biodegradable plastics currently caused by the existing PE bag solution.

 

The bioplastic cone will be based on Corbion Purac's Poly Lactic Acid (PLA) along with other biopolymers. The bioplastic compound will be specially developed to match the climatic conditions and needs of both the nursery and the plantation, in various geographical locations in Thailand. The PLA is made from sugarcane grown locally in Thailand, making this a truly circular and local-for-local application. 

 

Corbion, who is on track to build a 75 kTpa PLA plant in Thailand, and Global Bio-Polymers will be jointly developing the custom compounds for the project, whereas Maxrich will produce the containers. Corbion is supporting the project with technical expertise on the bioplastic material and cone production.