bioplastics MAGAZINE Issue 01/2013

Piedmont Chemical, headquartered in High Point, North Carolina, USA recently announced a new offering of renewable, sustainable polyester polyols – building-block chemical intermediates used in the production of urethane foams, coatings, adhesives and sealants.

Brown algae (seaweed), which are rapidly self-regenerative and which exist in unlimited quantities are conceivable as a raw material for many different products.

Altuglas International, a subsidiary of Arkema group, with its Plexiglas® and Altuglas® acrylic resins (Americas and Rest of World, respectively) and NatureWorks, a leader in the bio-plastics market with its Ingeo™ PLA biopolymers, have signed a global co-marketing agreement.

Teijin Limited, Tokyo, Japan recently announced that its ECO CIRCLE Plantfiber bio-polyester has been selected for use in the seats and interior trim surface of the 100% electric Nissan LEAF, updated on November 20, 2012.

Even tiles can be organic – if they are made of renewable raw materials. They are more resource efficient than their ceramic counterparts and unlock new creative options for design.

BioAmber, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA will be the supplier of biobased succinic acid to a Faurecia-Mitsubishi Chemical partnership for the production of automotive plastics.

For a lot of people biobased polymers are sufficient for packaging or plastic parts with low technical requirements.

To meet the growing demand for environmentally friendly and high-performing materials, Rhe Tech, Inc. (Whitmore Lake, Michigan, USA) has expanded its RheVision® line of biocomposites. RheTech is using Braskem’s (São Paulo, Brazil) new generation of polyethylene which utilizes sugar cane instead of oil or natural gas that typically is used as the base feedstock.

Expanded PLA enables the production of sustainable substrates for agricultural produce, plants, trees and shrubs

Requirements, Processing and Characteristics

An Italian consortium, of organic producers and farmers, has chosen compostable NatureFlex™ from Innovia Films to wrap its range of Fair Trade chocolate.

Arnitel© Eco thermoplastic copolyester from DSM has been used successfully in soft touch surfaces by a world leading manufacturer of consumer electronics.

The automotive industry and foam, usually the highlights of our first issue each year, are again the main topics in this issue, rounded off by industry news, applications news, and a ’basics’ article on PTT polytrimethylene terephthalate, an interesting polyester material...

The use of bioplastics for the production of flexible and semi-rigid foams is still today very limited. However these foams have extremely diverse applications when they are produced from oil-based plastics.

The New York based designer Victor Vetterlein recently introduced an edible and biodegradable plastic LED desk lamp called BITE ME. When the lamp is no longer useful or desired, the lighting strip is removed and the lamp may be eaten or thrown onto the garden compost heap.

In a novel approach for the treatment of common diseases of the urinary bladder (e.g. overactive bladder) a system for the controlled release of drugs (drug delivery system, DDS) is currently being developed using a special polylactide based foam material.

Ford Motor Company, headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, USA has been working to replace components in their vehicles with recycled or renewable plastics parts for several years now.

About a year ago, we reported that ADM terminated Telles, its joint venture with Metabolix. Now, one year later, Metabolix seems to be on a promising track to success again. bioplastics MAGAZINE recently spoke with Rick Eno, Metabolix’s president and CEO.

Scientists based at Crown Research Institute Scion in New Zealand have developed PLA foams with high dimensional stability at elevated temperatures. The research was led by Jean-Phillippe Garancher and Alan Fernyhough for the Biopolymer Network (BPN) Ltd, a research company with a keen interest in development and commercialisation of biofoams.

The National Innovation Agency (NIA), Thai Ministry of Science and Technology in collaboration with Thai Bioplastics Industry Association (TBIA) and the PTT Group held their fourth international conference and exhibition

The Generation by Knoll® work chair revolutionized the world of office seating with significant support from material science, processing and expert application development at DuPont. The chair embraces the idea of elastic design – where a product rearranges itself in response to its user. Knoll Inc. is headquarted in East Greenville, Pennsylvania, USA.

The future of mobility goes green – the IfBB (Institute for Bioplastics and Biocomposites, University of Hanover, Germany) as well as the race driver Smudo (our front cover hero, who is a well-known celebrity in Germany as a singer of the German hip-hop group Die Fantastischen Vier) and the Four Motors Racing Team are convinced of this trend.

Environmental awareness as a key driver for lightweight solutions

Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, based in Ghent and nova-Institute from Hürth, Germany announced in mid-January their strategic partnership in the biobased economy.

PTT (Polytrimethylene terephthalate) is a semicrystalline polyester, closely related to the more common thermoplastic polyesters, PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) and PBT (polybutylene terephthalate) but typically less expensive [1].

Innovative packaging solution

In response to growing demands from consumers, cosmetic products are increasingly based on natural products, even sometimes on organic ingredients and additives.

Plastiroll, from Ylöjärvi, Finland, one of the leading European producers of biodegradable films and bio waste bags has developed biodegradable, transparent packaging film, which extends the shelf life of fresh produce such as fruits and vegetables.