TotalEnergies Corbion
Luminy® PLA bioplastics - for a brighter future!
About TotalEnergies Corbion
TotalEnergies Corbion is a global technology leader in Poly Lactic Acid (PLA) and lactide monomers. PLA is a biobased, recyclable, and biodegradable polymer made from annually renewable resources, offering a reduced carbon footprint versus traditional plastics. TotalEnergies Corbion, headquartered in the Netherlands, operates a 75,000 tons per year PLA production facility in Rayong, Thailand and has recently announced the intention to build a second plant in Grandpuits, France. The company is a 50/50 joint venture between TotalEnergies and Corbion.
From Purpose to Values
Our core belief is that Luminy® PLA bioplastics can have a real and meaningful impact toward creating a better planet for current and future generations. The biobased nature of PLA means that it reduces our carbon footprint while also contributing to the circular economy through mechanical and chemical recycling. The compostability of PLA enables the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions via diversion of organic wastes from the landfill through industrial composting. To make a significant impact, we will help our customers to grow their businesses and thereby grow the market.
We intend to grow rapidly and profitably without negatively impacting the environment, our neighbors, our employees, our suppliers, or our customers. Our external stakeholders engage with us primarily because our primary focus is sustainability and so it is incumbent to hold ourselves to the highest levels of integrity and to require our suppliers do similarly. Like any business that strives to be sustainable, but even more so because sustainability is at the core of our very purpose, we refrain from and actively reject inappropriate behavior, either individually or as an organization. Our core values are:
Safety
Safety encompasses everything we do. If there is not a safe way of doing it, we will not do it. This covers what we do as employees and as a company. As well as ensuring we ourselves do everything safely, on the job and in our daily life, we should look out for our colleagues and partners to ensure they also act in accordance with the most stringent safety principles.
Integrity
We expect the highest levels of integrity. This is not just obeying rules, laws and regulations, but also circles back to our purpose of having a real and meaningful impact in terms of sustainability through the products and solutions we provide. We believe that integrity is the cornerstone of credibility and a pre-requisite for success.
We enable others to do good
We cannot achieve our goals in isolation. Our products on their own do not in themselves make the world a better place. Only when we i) buy the right feedstocks, ii) supply customers who can replace less sustainable materials or develop new applications that are in themselves sustainable, or iii) help customers find or develop better and more secure end of life solutions, will we be making a real difference. By helping others we help ourselves and the environment.
Ambition
Creating a different world for future generations requires ambition and perseverance. Creating change is never easy, especially for a new entrant, but now is the time to address the sustainability challenges that our planet faces. We set ambitious and challenging targets knowing that making a difference requires quantum leaps rather than only small iterative improvements. While we are also aware of the pitfalls and the need to be humble, we have the ambition to capture the opportunities in order to successfully achieve our purpose and make a positive contribution to the world.
About TotalEnergies
TotalEnergies is a broad energy company that produces and markets energies on a global scale: oil and biofuels, natural gas and green gases, renewables and electricity. Our 105,000 employees are committed to energy that is ever more affordable, clean, reliable and accessible to as many people as possible. Active in more than 130 countries, TotalEnergies puts sustainable development in all its dimensions at the heart of its projects and operations to contribute to the well-being of people. www.totalenergies.com
About Corbion
Corbion is the global market leader in lactic acid, lactic acid derivatives, and a leading company in emulsifiers, functional enzyme blends, minerals, vitamins and algae ingredients. The company develops sustainable ingredient solutions to improve the quality of life for people today and for future generations. Corbion's solutions help differentiate products in markets such as food, home & personal care, animal nutrition, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and bioplastics. In 2019, Corbion generated annual sales of € 976.4 million and had a workforce of 2138 FTE. Corbion is listed on Euronext Amsterdam. www.corbion.com
Sustainable Development Goals
TotalEnergies Corbion sustainability strategy as a joint venture is intricately linked to that of TotalEnergies and Corbion and contributes mainly towards SDG9; SDG12; SDG13; and SDG17.
With an approximately 75% lower carbon footprint versus traditional plastics, adopting Luminy® PLA is taking urgent action on climate change. Raising awareness for the climate challenges that lay ahead is important. That is why we strive to collaborate with other companies that would like to make the transition and adopt solutions that boost their sustainability.
TotalEnergies Corbion production processes and facilities are designed and developed to last. They promote community development, jobs, and good working conditions. We look at water and wastewater management, as well as reducing energy consumption. All the water used in our plant is treated, before being returned to the environment. And we are currently implementing a program for reducing, reusing, and recycling our wastewater. Moreover, in our Thai plant, we continuously strive for energy efficiency. We have an “energy reduction” committee to initiate, implement, maintain, and track energy management efficiency and sustainability.
Innovation is at the core of TotalEnergies Corbion’s products. Per year, 8% of our net profit is invested on innovation. PLA bioplastics are an innovative product that can replace fossil-based plastics. Produced from sugar cane, PLA is an ideal material for the great transition and can be 100% recycled into new products with the same quality grade, including for food contact. PLA is therefore a circular material, with low CO2 emissions, when compared to fossil-based plastics.
Corporate Social Responsibility Ambitions
Sponsor activities
The dramatic spread of the Corona virus has disrupted lives, communities and businesses worldwide. TotalEnergies Corbion is joining the fight against the Corona virus by donating Luminy® PLA resins for the production of 3D printed medical devices and protective equipment.
Smart Materials 3D in Spain launched the initiative and they will receive the PLA resin to produce PLA filaments. In co-creation with companies like Fixit, 3D Printers, IMBIC and Clone Wars VLL the PLA filaments will be used to make medical masks and protective equipment using 3D printing technology. All these companies contribute to this initiative on voluntary basis. The 5 Ton of Luminy® PLA resins that TotalEnergies Corbion has donated will allow the production of over 125,000 masks. With the help of a distributed network of agents for 3D printing the masks will be available within weeks to health centres and hospitals all across Spain.
Sustainable agricultural practices
TotalEnergies Corbion’s approach to a sustainable supply chain and responsible sourcing is founded on principles of ethical business practices, human and labor rights and environmental protection. Our key agricultural material is raw sugar from cane that is grown in Thailand. A code of conduct for sustainable sourcing of sugarcane describes our expectations of our cane sugar suppliers to fulfill our responsible sourcing commitment. The cane sugar code of conduct is applicable to all of our cane sugar suppliers and is embedded in our supplier qualification process. The code is publicly available. At TotalEnergies Corbion, we offer our customers PLA produced from GMO-free feedstocks.
Exemplary of this responsible sourcing is our certifiaction from Bonsucro. Bonsucro is a global, non-profit, multi-stakeholder organization founded by WWF in 2005 to advance a more economically, environmentally, and socially responsible sugarcane sector. The Bonsucro Production Standard covers the following 5 key principles: obey the law, respect human rights and labor standards, manage input, production and processing efficiencies to enhance sustainability, actively manage biodiversity and ecosystem services and lastly, continuously improve key areas of the social, environmental and economic sustainability. Luminy® PLA made from Bonsucro certified cane sugar is available for those customers that require it.
Corporate social responsibility
TotalEnergies Corbion is highly involved in various community activities in Thailand.
- Children’s Day is one of the activities in which the Thai team is happy to participate. This festival is one of the events which the community children are eagerly anticipating the whole year.
- TotalEnergies Corbion participate in many activities to help the world environment and to decrease the effect from the oil-based plastic. On the 5th of June, it was the annual World Environment Day and we were joining staff from other companies, local students and government officers to clean up the beach near our factory. Also we support the local community to keep the beach clean by donating the ‘Big Bin’ for three local beaches.
Careers
Our company is a dynamic, multinational organization. With its informal atmosphere, self-management is promoted. You get the unique possibility to be trained by our own professionals in the world of PLA bioplastics. Headquartered in the Netherlands, currently, 135 FTE from 15 different countries, are working in Gorinchem, Rayong (Thailand), and at sales offices around the world. The average workforce age is 37 and 22% are woman. All our employees are covered by social benefits, and safety training is mandatory.
At TotalEnergies Corbion there are many career possibilities. There are several opportunities in Research Development, Sales, Marketing and Finance. We offer possibilities for graduates, professionals,and students (traineeship) with or without experience. Are you up for the challenge?
