Summary: In this quarter, Wanhua Chemical has accelerated its planning in the area of bio-based and biodegradable materials; on March 22, the EIA details of the 75,000 t/a PLA integrated project of its subsidiary Wanhua Chemical Sichuan were released.

Wanhua Chemical Group Co., Ltd. (Wanhua Chemical) operates in four industrial areas of polyurethane (PU), petrochemicals, fine chemicals and emerging materials. In recent years, it has made frequent moves in the area of bio-based and biodegradable materials with businesses covering the mainstream products—polylactic acid (PLA), poly butylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT) and polybutylene succinate (PBS).

• In Nov. 2021, the 60,000 t/a PBAT project of wholly owned subsidiary Wanhua Chemical (Sichuan) Co., Ltd. (Wanhua Chemical Sichuan) was completed with the construction project handover procedure, and was scheduled to start operation in 2022.
• In Nov. 2021, the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report (consultation paper) of the 200,000 t/a maleic anhydride (MA) project of Wanhua Chemical was made public, indicating the company's intention to enter the PBS industry.
• On 22 March, 2022, investment proposals to set up projects of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) separation and 1,4-butanediol (BDO) produced based on route using propylene, at the base in Ningdong County of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, was carried forward by Wanhua Chemical.
• On 22 March, 2022, the EIA details of Wanhua Chemical Sichuan's 75,000 t/a PLA integrated project were disclosed. This project aims to introduce new capacity at the high-tech industrial park of Meishan City, Sichuan Province.

Wanhua Chemical's business development in PLA and PBAT, two mainstream degradable plastic products, may have synergistic effects and become new growth points for the company. Notably, Wanhua Chemical has developed a series of modified biodegradable materials applicable to film blowing, film spraying, straw making, foaming, etc., during its studies on modification technologies of degradable materials using its R&D platform.

• In 2018, Wanhua Chemical formed an R&D team with over 100 members who resolved key challenges in lactide synthesis two years later and put the PLA project into trial-scale production.
• In Aug. 2020, Wanhua Chemical and Tianjin University of Science & Technology established a joint institute of biology to develop a homemade technology for lactic acid (LA) monomer manufacturing and to open up links throughout the PLA industrial chain.
• In March 2021, Wanhua Chemical closed (phase I) construction and started operations at its global R&D centre and headquarters base. This location focuses on R&D projects related to PBAT and BDO.
• In Aug. 2021, the Daxie Development Zone Wanhua Ningbo High-performance Materials Research Institute passed the construction stage and entered into operation with R&D focus on programmes for PBAT and PLA fully biodegradable materials and the innovation of whole biodegradable materials designed for garbage bags and straws.
• In Dec. 2021, Wanhua Chemical inked a deal with Shandong Baifei Mark Biotechnology Co., Ltd. to develop a biodegradable agricultural film demonstration project in Shouguang City, Shandong Province. The two sides will, taking the growth needs of crops planted in vegetable plastic greenhouses into account, cooperate in a degradation and recycling industrial chain demonstration project that involves a wide range of products, namely, biodegradable resin, biodegradable modified materials, biodegradable agricultural film and agricultural products, and compost.