Chemical Recycling

Chemical recycling is a process for returning Ingeo-based products back into its original monomer, lactic acid.

NatureWorks has recycled more than 17 million pounds of Ingeo biopolymer at its Blair, Nebraska, manufacturing facility by applying a chemical process commonly used in the plastics industry called hydrolysis. During the hydrolysis process, Ingeo is broken down into its monomer, lactic acid. Following the hydrolysis process, the lactic acid is then converted back into Ingeo resin.