CJ Biomaterials, part of South Korea’s CJ Group, has put PHA plant-based straws into US retail including Whole Foods Market. They are made from the company’s amorphous PHA resin, branded PHACT, and certified home-compostable and marine-biodegradable. They also do not go soggy, which is what people actually complain about.
Why PHA is gaining ground
Banning plastic straws created a large market for substitutes, and the substitutes have been poor. Paper collapses in a drink within minutes. PLA needs industrial composting that most people cannot reach. Polyhydroxyalkanoates are a different class of bio-based polymers: made by bacterial fermentation of plant sugars, they biodegrade anywhere microorganisms live, including soil, freshwater and seawater.
Product specifications
The PHACT straws hold their structure for over four hours in hot and cold drinks. They carry TUV Austria OK compost HOME and OK biodegradable MARINE certification, and retail at $4 to $6 for 50, competitive with premium paper.
The range covers straight straws at 7.75 and 10.25 inches plus a bendy version. Every SKU is FDA-compliant and free of PFAS, BPA and the other compounds that have turned up in some paper straw products.
What the launch signals
Scale is the part that matters to the bioplastics market. CJ Group’s fermentation capacity is what PHA startups have consistently failed to build, and without it no PHA product reaches a national retailer. Paper straw manufacturers now face a competitor that performs better and, after PFAS was detected in several paper brands, has a cleaner story too.
What comes next
PHACT-based cutlery, stirrers and coffee pod capsules are in development for 2027, and CJ Biomaterials is expanding PHA resin production at its Indonesia plant to 65,000 tonnes a year by 2028. More in our Knowledge Zone on Applications.
