Formed a year ago through the merger of US biopolymer companies Meredian (Bainbridge, Georgia) and DaniMer Scientific (Bainbridge, Georgia) – see Plasteurope.com of 30.07.2014 – Meredian Holdings Group (MHG, Bainbridge, Georgia / USA; www.mhgbio.com) in early August successfully started up its first commercial-scale fermenter, making it the “world’s largest producer of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA)” biopolymer.

The facility in Bainbridge first opened in 2012 (see Plasteurope.com of 30.10.2012) and has been producing pilot quantities since May last year (see Plasteurope.com of 05.05.2014). MHG’s customised formulations are based on a combination of PHA and PLA using a proprietary reactive extrusion process. Under the so-called “Agrofacturing” system, canola oil is cold-pressed and manufactured into PHA.

The company said its PHA can be custom formulated to create different kinds of polymers based on customer needs, adding that its “Nodax” brand biodegrades in three months to a year in soil. The material has been certified by Vinçotte International to degrade in soil, fresh and marine water as well as both industrial and home compost and was approved for food contact by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last year (see Plasteurope.com of 11.04.2014).