A century ago, plastic was one of man's greatest inventions, but today it stands a trifle disgraced as man has realised the menace of this non-degradable polymer. For plastic, it is a journey of no return due to its non-perishable nature. Indeed it is a daunting task for man to mitigate the environmental threat posed by plastic.

After its unchallenged applications in the industrial world for over half a century, will plastic be trashed with the eco-hazard ignominy merely because it can't be trashed? Some of the latest bio-technological inventions seek to answer this question.

A clue to one such question can be had by recent research reports from the Agriculture Research Services (ARS), USDA, the American Agricultural department, which clearly gives the thumbs-up sign for lactic acid. Lactic Acid is the building block of Polylactic acid [PLA], which would ultimately be the input for producing biodegradable plastic. The USDA survey indicates that lactic acid can be produced by utilising agricultural products like cornstarch and fibrous crops residues like the residue from sugarcane industry etc.

During the initial stage, traditional lactic acid manufacturing units eject large volumes of calcium sulfate and salt wastes that pose a serious disposal and management problem for the industry. Now, American scientists at the ARS have resolved the issue and applied for patent protection "on an invention that can team microbes with the machinery to produce more lactic acid at less cost that too without salt waste".

The present global demand for lactic acid is estimated at 70,000 MT and India is only a minuscule market recording a current demand of 560 MT. Considering the global market trends, agro-based chemicals hold a promising future and the demand for lactic acid is expected to shoot up to 200,000 MT by the end of year 2011. PURAC, the Netherlands-based company dominating the world in Lactic Acid production, had recently forecast that if the production of biodegradable plastic catches on, the world demand for PLA and Lactic Acid would shoot up.

The company’s forecast seems to be turning true. Cargill Dow LLC, a joint venture between two renowned world leaders - Cargill Incorporated and Dow Chemical – has invented a new technology to produce performance polymers entirely from renewable resources - such as natural sugars derived from plants corn, wheat, beets and rice - and use fermentation to create lactic acid (a food additive) and some simple refining steps to create polylactide polymers.

What makes the lactic acid and its derivatives so endearing is its varied uses other than for biodegradable plastics. According to USDA Scientists, "The chemical is commonly used in foods ranging from soda to sausages because it preserves, enhances flavour or imparts desired acidity. Derivatives of lactic acid such as the solvent ethyl lactate can also be used in manufacturing electronic products, cosmetics textiles, paints, adhesives, de-inkers and degreasers. Eco-friendly, chlorine-free ethyl lactate could also supplant most of the market for petroleum- derived solvents."

India is yet to explore the full potential of PLA and its multi-usage across various industries even though there are a few successful manufacturers of lactic acid. There are many reasons for the slow phase of growth in production of this chemical in India. First of all, most of the late entrants in the field failed in their attempt to produce lactic acid, synthetically or otherwise. For instance, Orchem Ltd. an associate company of Atul Drug House ran into technical problems after having ventured into setting up a 300-TPA Lactic Acid plant.

Secondly, the existing units seldom resort to invest in research and development of molasses–based chemicals and Lactic/Polylactic acid applications. Domestic demand for lactic acid is expected to touch 2000 tonnes in 2011 from the present demand of 560 tonnes. The slow growth in demand is yet another discouraging factor for any new investor entering this field. India is considered to be a major producer of molasses and according to the present trend, molasses-based chemicals – like Oxalic acid, Citric acid and Lactic acid - offer a huge export opportunity, though many industrialists are either unaware or uncertain about the business potential. Indian sugar mills produce about 8 million tonnes of molasses, of which 14 per cent is exported annually. At the same time, the country imports molasses-based chemicals for domestic markets! Why can’t India produce molasses-based chemicals itself than importing from other countries is the question.

Thirdly, the Lactic Acid market within the country is not well developed and the usage of this chemical is minimal. Even the existing manufacturers - Lactochem Ltd. a Mahadi group company and the Munirabad Chemical Company of Karnataka - are eyeing export markets where they can expect a better price. Prathista Industries of Andra Pradesh and Interspice Biotech of Chennai are the other two ventures coming up to explore the Lactic Acid markets.

Undoubtedly, the global plastic industry is caught in the stream of bio-technological developments right now. It is certain that research and development on Lactic and Polylactic Acid will open doors for a more promising future for the chemical industry. Will India be able to fall in line with the biotech revolution and develop the technology from a lab flask level to the commercial production plants?