bioplastics MAGAZINE Issue 03/2014

conference, fall 2015

conference may 2015 amsterdam

Most bottles of wine savored by consumers today reach them in a standard format that was first adopted in the 17th century: glass bottles and cork closures. However, in recent years debate has intensified on the ideal method for sealing bottles and the problems involving this type of cork.

Epichlorohydrin from glycerin enables biobased epoxy resins

Researchers at Harvard‘s Wyss Institute (Boston, Massachussetts, USA) have developed a bioplastic from chitosan, a form of chitin, which is a powerful player in the world of natural polymers and the second most abundant organic material on Earth.

After Chinaplas, interpack and quite a number of conferences even our 3rd PLA World Congress will be over when you read this.

Although biobased materials are increasingly used in composites, they only represent a small portion of the total market volume.

Wood-Plastic Composites (WPC) and Natural Fibre Composites (NFC)

Green biocomposites are composed of natural fibres and biobased matrices. Bio-based matrices and industrial natural fibres composition, including hemp, jute and flax, etc. leads mostly to product price increases, hence generating green thermoset biocomposite market limitations.

Injection moulding is a plastics processing technique for the fully automated production of plastic parts with complex geometries. Almost all sizes and shapes of plastic parts can be made by injection moulding.

Combining the benefits of renewability with processing and performance advantages

Scientific studies have shown that plastics make a huge contribution to the littering of the seas. In marine protection, plastic particles with a diameter of less than 5 mm are referred to as microplastics.

The development of novel biocomposites based on new biopolymers, reinforced with natural fibers, nanofillers and additives, for applications in automotive interior parts was the goal of the European Research Project ECOplast, which is now successfully nearly completed.

After BIOPLAST 500, their first resin for film applications reaching 51% of biobased carbon according to ASTM D6866, BIOTEC GmbH & Co. KG (Emmerich, Germany) is now achieving new performances with the launch of BIOPLAST 900. Biotec launched the new injection moulding and thermoforming grade at interpack, Düsseldorf in early May 2014.

Bioserie (Hong Kong) is first to market with a line of toys that will provide health-conscious parents the safety they demand for their babies by using only plant based, renewable resources in their production.

New route for bioplastics production in cyanobacteria via photosynthesis

Metabolix (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA) recently introduced newly developed polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) copolymer technology.

Biobased platform chemical presents opportunities for bioplastics sector

A New Paradigm for Process-friendly Fabrication of Bioplastics

Micronized talc: a functional filler for PLA nucleation

Selectively optimizing the material properties of bioplastics

Bio-polymers for high precision injection moulding