MCC said Sept. 28 that the two companies signed an agreement to study developing a bio-based version of polybutylene succinate, and said they hope to complete a feasibility study for a joint venture by June.

A Mitsubishi spokesman said via e-mail that the companies have no details, such as the location of any potential plants or investment amounts. He said the material would target markets like plastic cutlery and agricultural films, where waste is sometimes burned.

Tokyo-based MCC already makes a petroleum-based version of BPS, which is biodegradable, and said it has developed a process to take it a step further and make succinic acid from bio-based resources. It said it might make its GS Pla polybutylene succinate from biosuccinic acid.

The Mitsubishi spokesman said Thailand has a good supply of low-cost biomass resources, and the two companies have a “good relationship” stemming from PTT’s previous license agreement with Mitsubishi to make bisphenol A.

PTT as well has been targeting bio-based polymers, in line with a five-year, 366 million-yuan Thai government research project announced last year to turn the country into a regional bioplastics leader, using its abundant supplies of rice, cassava and other agricultural products.