Key Research Highlights

• Realization of a plastic that is both flexible and durable, yet returns to nature.

• Mass production with high efficiency in a short period using microbial power (achieving world-record levels).

• High expectations for contribution to solving the global marine plastic waste problem.

Summary

A research group led by Specially Appointed Professor Seiichi Taguchi and Specially Appointed Assistant Professor Sang-Ho Koh at the Aqua Regeneration (ARG) Research Center of Shinshu University--in collaboration with Kaneka Corporation and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)--has developed a production technology to synthesize LAHB, a next-generation polylactic acid with significantly improved physical properties, in large quantities and over a short timeframe by utilizing microbial functions.

This technology demonstrates the potential to simultaneously achieve properties that were previously difficult to reconcile: the "flexibility and toughness" comparable to polyethylene (a widely used general-purpose plastic), and the "environmental friendliness" of being biodegradable even in marine environments.

This achievement further advances--from the perspectives of both material performance and production technology--the research findings announced by the same group in July 2025, which demonstrated the biodegradability of LAHB in actual deep-sea environments.

This research achievement was published in the online edition of Polymer Degradation and Stability on December 31, 2025.

For more details, please refer to the プレスリリース.