bioplastics MAGAZINE Issue 01/2014

More than 350 participants from 215 companies caught up on the latest discussions, developments and progress in the bioplastics industry during the 8th European Bioplastics Conference. Once more, the leading European event for the bioplastics industry provided excellent opportunities for networking, knowledge exchange and business contacts.

8th Global Bioplastics Award for Helmut Lingemann

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan) recently announced the development of a new grade of high-performance, high-transparency bio-based engineering plastic called DURABIOTM, using plant-derived isosorbide as its raw material.

Rilsan® HT, the first flexible thermoplastic from the polyphthalamide (PPA) family available on the market, combines high temperature resistance with flexibility.

Lessonia (Saint-Thonan – France) is a leading supplier of natural exfoliators for shower gels and peeling products. The company recently launched CELLULOSCRUB™, a major innovation to replace the polyethylene beads in cosmetic products. Celluloscrub is a 100% renewable and biodegradable exfoliating ingredient made of modified cellulose extracted from wood pulp. It is said to offer the same high performance of PE.

As it is well-known, Ford Motor Company’s efforts to implement recycled and renewable materials in their vehicles are about a century old. In the early twentieth century, it was Henry Ford himself who led those efforts.

Four companies are working together in the European Project DRIUS; the Spanish company Extruline Systems, the Israeli Metzerplas, the Spanish research organization AIMPLAS (Technological Institute of Plastics) and OWS N.V. (Belgium), as coordinator.

It is early February, and it is cold in Germany (and not only here)…

Just as a reminder: Bioplastics are A) biobased plastics made from renewable resources (which can be biodegradable or not) or B) biodegradable plastics (which can be made from renewable resources or not), thus some bioplastics are both (see also definition on page 38).

Current discussions on land use requirements for bioplastics, or of the amount of renewable resources needed, are often centered on rather irrational estimates and groundless reservations.

Jinhui ZhaoLong High Tech Co.Ltd is located at Shanxi Province, China with an annual PBAT (polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate) production capacity of 20,000 tonnes.

About a year and a half ago Sealed Air Corporation (Elmwood Park, New Jersey, USA) and Ecovative Design LLC (Green Island, New York) completed an agreement about the production, sales and distribution of Ecovative’s EcoCradle® Mushroom® Packaging, a unique technology for environmentally responsible packaging materials made from agricultural byproducts and mycelium, or mushroom roots.

More and more architects and clients are demanding new, ecologically viable products which have maximum potential for reducing CO2 and conserving natural resources. With its green generation of products, German window and façade expert Schüco from Bielefeld is addressing the issue of finding potential alternative materials for petroleum based plastics.

Polyamides based on renewable feedstocks are well suited for high-performance applications in the automotive industry, where OEMs are particularly keen to improve the sustainability of their operations and of their vehicles. DSM’s polyamide 410, trade named EcoPaXX®, is 70% bio-based derived from a renewable feedstock, castor oil.

Röchling Automotive (headquartered in Mannheim Germany) is now prepared to produce a wide range of automotive plastic parts made of Plantura™ PLA based biopolymers. According to the specialists in airflow, acoustic and thermal solutions for passenger cars and trucks, Plantura is a very interesting ecological and economical alternative to the usage of other (conventional) thermoplastic materials used for such applications today.

Sandro Zandonella, and his ancestors of the Zandonella family, have produced and sold gourmet ice cream for four generations - not in Italy, as the name would suggest, but in Landau, Germany. The ice cream specialties are not only sold in their local ice cream parlours but are also available in single-serve and multi packs, as well as in household size containers.

Aphios Corporation of Woburn, Massachussetts, USA recently today announced that it was granted a US patent for its cellulosic biomass pretreatment technology platform (Aosic).

In cooperation with two Belgian Institutes (Celabor of Herve, and Flanders’ PlasticVision Kortrijk) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability (LBF) in Darmstadt, Germany, the Institute of Plastic Processing (IKV), Aachen, analyses the recycling of PLA in flat film extrusion.

Bacteria and biopolymers key players in innovative hospital waste management system