bioplastics MAGAZINE Issue 02/2013

The day before the 2012 European Bioplastics conference a workshop was hosted on what constitutes accurate environmental claims. A pdf-version of a special marketing communication guide is available for download.

Most of the food packaging materials used nowadays are derived from non-renewable resources. The growing number of smaller families and single person households, has encouraged product manufacturers to provide a greater range of product sizes, and ready-to-eat meals, with the associated packaging wastes.

The Technological Institute of Plastics (AIMPLAS), Valencia, Spain is developing a fully biodegradable plastic produced from wheat straw which properties allow its use in the manufacturing of white goods and electronic equipment.

What is a biorefinery? Almost every day we hear or read this term. This article tries to explain this rather complex topic.

Cathay Industrial Biotech has been a pioneering industrial biotechnology company with commercial-scale production since 2003. It is the world leader in the production of long chain dibasic acids used primarily for nylons, polyesters and adhesives and bio-solvents.

Cardia Bioplastics (Mulgrave, Victoria, Australia) is pleased to announce that Breville Group Limited (headquartered in Botany, New South Wales, Australia), a global designer and manufacturer of small kitchen appliances will purchase and market Cardia’s compostable juicer bags as part of its Juicer accessory offering to consumers.

In our Basics section we try to explain the term biorefinery. A problem is, when thinking and talking about biorefineries, one automatically ends up in an argument about the utilization of biomass for material use versus energy use (the food/fuel discussion is a separate one and is being dealt with separately).

The Tea Spot, a US-based company that specializes in producing handcrafted loose leaf teas, is launching Brewlux®, the first disposable tea infuser. Winner of the World Tea Expo Best New Product Award, the Brewlux brings the teahouse experience to a to-go cup. Its patent-pending filter design is the first premium alternative to the teabag and paper filters for whole leaf tea.

European Bioplastics, the association of the bioplastics industry in Europe, announces the 8th European Bioplastics Conference to take place on 10 and 11 December 2013 at the InterContinental Hotel in Berlin, Germany.

A potato-based and fully biodegradable Union Jack flag recently oversaw proceedings during the UK’s largest showcase of industrial biotechnology in Westminster.

FKuR (Willich/Germany), producer of high performance bioplastics, has launched two BIO-FLEX products that exclusively use GMO-free PLA.

Green Dot Holdings LLC (Cottonwood Falls, Kansas, USA) has acquired the bioplastics division of MGP Ingredients, Inc. (Atchison, Kansas). The acquisition includes a manufacturing facility in Onaga, Kansas and certain assets at the company’s research and development facility in Atchison.

As the leading PLA supplier in China, Hisun is improving the application performance of PLA all the time. After the successful launch of the modified heat resistant resin REVODE213S in 2012, Hisun will now launch a new heat resistance modified PLA resin named REVODE219C.

NatureInk® opens up new avenues for highlighting sustainability, environmental responsibility and health-conscious behaviour in product marking. This green ink can be used for virtually all printing devices and surfaces.

The Italian Senate recently approved the legislation that mandates the discontinuation of traditional single-use plastic bags in favor of biodegradable plastic bags or other alternatives, and penalizes those who continue to use traditional plastic bags.

KINGFA is the leading modified plastic supplier in China. As a publicly listed company, Kingfa keeps a rapid growth in the past years. Currently Kingfa owns 6 production sites with a capacity of 1.5 million t/a.

Biopolymer Platform offers extensive data pertaining to the bioplastics market

Mercedes-Benz has chosen a high performance polyamide largely made from renewable resources for the engine beauty cover of the brand-new Mercedes-Benz A-Class. Around 70% of the raw materials used to make the polyamide 410 in DSM’s EcoPaXX® Q-HGM24 reinforced compound are derived from the castor plant (Ricinus communis).

Myriant is developing a broad pipeline of bio-based chemicals, including succinic acid, that will perform as well as or better than traditional petroleum based products.

NatureWorks, a leader in the bio-plastics market with its Ingeo™ biopolymers derived from plants, will continue to exhibit in the Bioplastics Zone at Chinaplas 2013 further to the resounding success of its presence in the last two years.

Cereplast, Inc. has commercialized Cereplast Algae Bioplastics™ with the launch of Biopropylene® 109D, an injection molding grade manufactured with 20% post-industrial algae biomatter. The company expects to commercialize a new grade with 50% algae in the coming weeks.

Luxury accessories brand and celebrity favorite Dominique Duval (a division of The Berette Factory) is branching out from its line of chic hair accessories to introduce an eco-conscious handbag collection made from Cereplast bioplastics.

Production capacity will triple to nearly 12 million tonnes from 2011 to 2020

When Solegear began working with a major retailer looking to shift its rigid thermoformed packaging to a bio-based solution, the challenge was to create packaging design that not just maximized bio-based content, but provided equal clarity and impact resistance to existing PET options.

Novomer Inc. (WALTHAM, Massachussetts, USA), a sustainable materials company pioneering a family of high-performance polymers and other chemicals from renewable feedstocks such as carbon dioxide (CO2), recently announced the world‘s first large-scale manufacturing run of polypropylene carbonate (PPC) polyol, producing over seven tons of finished product.

Different market forecasts predict the strongest growth for bio-based PET (cf. e.g. page 10 or 22) in the upcoming years. While biobased mono ethylene glycol (MEG), which makes up 30% by wt. of the PET, is already available made from sugar cane based bio-ethanol, the other monomer pTA (purified terephthalic acid) is still made from fossil resources.

Different market forecasts predict the strongest growth for bio-based PET (cf. e.g. page 10 or 22) in the upcoming years. While biobased mono ethylene glycol (MEG), which makes up 30% by wt. of the PET, is already available made from sugar cane based bio-ethanol, the other monomer pTA (purified terephthalic acid) is still made from fossil resources.

With the recent launch of a new range of GEODE paints under the TOLLENS brand, Materis Paints, one of the leading manufacturers of paints for the trade and for the general public in Europe, is innovating in two different ways. Even more environmentally friendly in their composition, these paints are also the first in the world to be marketed in biobased plastic packaging.

Moving forward to the 27th edition, Chinaplas (the 27th International Exhibition on Plastics and Rubber Industries) not only continues to hit the new record on the show scale, but also brings in many new elements.

Sportlifestyle company PUMA SE (headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany) will be launching a collection of shoes, apparel and accessories that are either biodegradable or recyclable when consumers return them to PUMA’s Bring Me Back Program at the end of their lifecycles.

Shenzhen Ecomann Biotechnology Co. LTD., is a supplier of fully biodegradable biomaterial: Under the brand name AmBio they supply PHA and PHA based bio-resins. with a current annual capacity of 5,000 tonnes and a planned new capacity of 75,000 tonnes.

As material providers advance forward on the biopolymer development learning curve, their efforts have been squarely focused on improving the durability of bio-based plastics. This is a switch from the past, when development centered around biodegradability.

The company 4e solutions GmbH (Filderstadt Germany) was recently awarded with the Best New Product Award 2013 for their stackable storage box systems ajaa! made from two different ARBOBLEND® formulations (made by TECNARO, Ilsfeld-Auenstein, Germany) at the leading trade fair for organic products BioFach in Nuremberg, Germany.

DSM presents Beyone™ 1, Styrene-free and Cobalt-free structural infusion resin with 40 % bio-content. DSM recently announced the introduction of Beyone 1, a new high performance resin system. The new resin combines excellent mechanical strength and fatigue resistance, ease of processing, and reduced impact on the environment.

With more than 200 delegates and speakers from 100 companies from more than 12 countries (North America, Europe and Asia) and about 20 exhibitors in the accompanying exhibition ‘Bioplastics – The Re-Invention of Plastics‘ is on its way of becoming one of the most significant events for the bioplastics industry in North America.

Fabri-Kal, is a family-owned eco and performance packaging leader for more than 60 years and one of the largest thermoformers in North America located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA. The company was one of the first thermoformers in the U.S. to launch lines of Ingeo™- based cups. Greenware® cold drink cups were launched in 2005 and have won market recognition over the past several years.

Clarifoil® (Spondon, Derby, UK) is the world’s leading manufacturer of cellulose diacetate films and has been producing film in the UK since the 1940’s. In fact, acetate film was one of the successful thermoplastics and during the 1950’ and 1960’s it was the material of choice for thermoforming. However, when new oil-based plastics became available, acetate film lost favor to these cheaper alternatives.

The engineering company Uhde Inventa-Fischer, based in Berlin, Germany and Domat/Ems, Switzerland as well as the ThyssenKrupp Uhde Group will present at their booth in the bioplastics zone, the latest innovations and developments in the fields of production plants for monomers, intermediates and polymers as well as high-pressure technology systems and components.

WinGram Industrial, a Hong Kong based company specialized in cellulose based material, started with traditional CA 15 years ago. WinGram is a major CA material supplier to most of the spectacle frame makers in China who produce European and US high quality branded frames.

Wuhan Huali Environmental Technology Co. LTD., will present ECO-KEEP products at Chinaplas 2013. Eco-keep is the Wuhan Huali brand of disposable housewares and these items are made from PSM® bioplastics, which use plant starch and other renewable sources as their main components, manufactured by polymer modification and plasticization.

Zhejiang Hangzhou Xinfu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is, among other things, a global leading manufacturer of vitamin B5. In addition XINFU specializes in the field of biochemicals, fine chemicals and Eco-Materials.