bioplastics MAGAZINE Issue November/December 06/2008

The 3rd European Bioplastics Conference was held in Berlin, on the 5th / 6th November. The 22 exhibitors and approximately 300 delegates from 26 countries ensured that the conference replicated the success of previous years, a success that has confirmed the event‘s status as the leading congress of bioplastics professionals in Europe. The industry is preparing for a sustained period of growth with worldwide investment in new production facilities.

Performance coatings are now a new and significant application for Ingeo™ biopolymer – an application that today allows for the expansion of extrusion coated paper products in the food packaging and foodservice ware markets. It represents just another step in the right and responsible direction for NatureWorks LLC who manufacture Ingeo, and whose plan and vision is to sustainably manufacture eco-sensible materials.

Besides other Mater-Bi® grades for smaller biobags made for kitchen waste collections, Italian supplier Novamont has also developed a different material specifically designed for the production of sacks for the collection of garden waste.

Organised by European Plastics News, the tenth Bioplastics conference, to be held in Munich on December 3 and 4 this year is presenting the third Bioplastics Awards. Launched in 2006, the Bioplastics Awards are intended to raise the profile of bioplastics and underline the recognition of some of the best bioplastics developments and applications.

The Development of green PP of renewable origin is an unprecedented feat by Brazilian company Braskem, which was also the pioneer in launching the first green polyethylene.

When you have this, the sixth issue of bioplastics MAGAZINE for 2008, in your hand, you know we are approaching the end of the year - a year that has been filled with exciting developments and events. Be it the announcement of significant new production capacities to be built, or of the many new bioplastics applications that were introduced onto the market. The list of events in 2008 was headed, at least for me, by the huge ‘Bioplastics in Packaging’ special show within the framework of the world‘s leading packaging exhibition, ‘interpack 2008’ in Düsseldorf, Germany. The ‘3rd European Bioplastics Conference’ in November in Berlin again attracted about 300 experts from all over the world, and among many other events there was our own ‘1st PLA World Congress’ in Munich. But there were, of course, also events in places other than Germany. There was ‘Innovation takes Root’ in Las Vegas, and we also shipped boxes and boxes of the bioplastics MAGAZINE to other conferences in the USA, China, Thailand, The Netherlands, Spain, and many other places.

Under the brand name Sustainex Mondi offers versatile biodegradable and sustainable packaging materials suitable for applications in the food and non-food industry.

In film extrusion, new line concepts and specially adapted technology are required when processing bioplastics. Reifenhäuser of Troisdorf, Germany, one of the first members of the European Bioplastics industry association, considers this market an important part of its future strategy.

Haigh’s Chocolates, Australia’s oldest family-owned chocolate manufacturing retailer, has introduced new biodegradable packaging for their White Ballotins Chocolate Box, made possible through the advanced biopolymer technology of Plantic Technologies Limited.

In numerous publications, presentations, company brochures etc. one can read, or hear statements, about ‘home composting’. However, when taking a closer look into different areas of the world, it becomes obvious that different people have different definitions of the term ‘home composting’. Thus when describing a bioplastic material or packaging item as ‘home compostable’ this aspect should be taken into consideration.

Wei Mon Industry Co. Ltd. Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, lately developed their Pland Paper® hot coffee cups and soup cups based on a paper substrate coated with Ingeo™ PLA.

Increasing the range of applications that can be served by biopackaging requires constant innovation e.g. the development of moisture barrier properties. It also requires expansion beyond the organic fresh produce sector into more conventional product markets. Packaging constructions are becoming increasingly technical and are moving into the areas of greater print coverage. Laminations, bio-inks and bioadhesives are hitting the market now. These are all steps that help to take Bio from the ‘plain and simple’ to a technical level that starts to offer alternatives for conventional plastics more effectively.

Compostable bioplastics like Mater-Bi®, derived from or containing renewable resources, are a new generation of materials able to significantly reduce the environmental impact in terms of energy consumption and green-house effect in specific closed-loop applications (like food packaging, catering items, mulch etc), to perform as traditional plastics when in use, and to completely biodegrade within a composting cycle through the action of living organisms when engineered to be biodegradable.

Background: A carbon footprint is a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted during the life cycle of a product or service. The carbon footprint of any product can accurately be determined by a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). However it must be remembered that a carbon footprint is only part of an LCA and other aspects are also generally considered. The areas of highest impact and associated CO2 emissions will be identified during the LCA so that the production processes can be optimised to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and any other negative impacts. Once it comes to the point that remaining CO2 emissions cannot be eliminated by optimisation of energy efficiency, they can be compensated for by carbon offsetting. This involves investment in carbon reduction schemes such as reforestation, biofuels or energy efficient projects, which prevent an equivalent amount of GHG emissions elsewhere.

Advantages of multilayer systems: Approximately one third of worldwide plastics production is used for the production of film, making film extrusion one of the most important processing procedures for plastics. The requirements placed on plastic films, especially those used predominantly in food packaging, have been constantly rising over recent years and have now reached a level that can only be achieved by means of a variety of procedures.

Procos, the Munich-based maker of packaging and ribbons for luxury goods, has launched a new line of high quality promotional carry-home shopping bags with biodegradability credentials for the world‘s fashion conscious and environmentally aware shoppers.

Home composting is becoming a very popular activity in certain parts of Europe.

An evaluation of agricultural mulch film made from biobased PHA polymers (Mirel™ from Telles™, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA) was conducted by Professor Michael D. Orzolek, Department of Horticulture at Pennsylvania State University.

Sidaplax and its parent company Plastic Suppliers Inc. are leading manufacturers of OPS & PLA specialty films and distributors of a large variety of other plastic films.

In France, the companies involved in bioplastics are united in a national organization named ‘Club Bio-plastiques’. It is the Association Française Pour Le développement des Bio-plastiques.

Researchers team up to convert polystyrene and PET into a biodegradable plastic.

Innovia Films’ renewable and compostable packaging film, NatureFlex™ has been chosen by Nestlé UK to wrap one of its signature confectionery brands, QUALITY STREET®.