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hai chemicals supplier PTT is aiming to be listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), which comprises organisations with environmentally friendly processes throughout the business, once it starts up operations of its polybutylene succinate (PBS) and polylactic acid (PLA) plants.

Prajya Phinyawat, CEO of the company's downstream petrochemicals, said recently in an interview with a local Thai daily that the company expects to be a leader in bioplastics by 2014, when its PBS plant is scheduled to commence production.

PTT has also entered into a joint venture with Mitsubishi Chemical Corp (MCC), the world's fourth-largest chemical manufacturer by sales, to produce PBS in Thailand with a capacity of 20,000 tonnes/year. The plant will also produce bio-succinic acid and other by-products. The Japanese company is also expected to set up a R&D centre for bioplastics in Thailand.

PTT is also in talks with a leading PLA manufacturer to establish a plant in the country and if the deal is concluded, the operation should start up by 2015. After gaining more knowledge in the overall industry, PTT targets becoming a global bioplastics leader by 2018, which Prajya said would complete the company's long-term plan.