Developing a process to manufacture lactic acid from waste derived sugars

This ongoing project aims to develop a process for manufacturing high-grade lactic acid, which is a chemical used in many industrial sectors.

Currently lactic acid is very costly to produce, primarily due to the cost of the food grade sugar and energy used, resulting in low sales margins. There is an opportunity to replace this source of sugar with a waste-derived sugar, with a range of commercial, environmental and social benefits. The project will undertake research to identify the most sustainable and techno-economically advantageous process for the manufacture of lactic acid from waste-derived sugars, which can, in turn, be used to make polylactic acid; this can be used in the manufacture of bio-plastic products. 

Contacts: Dr Namdar Bhaghaei Yazdi and Dr Muhammad Javed