bioplastics MAGAZINE Issue 05/2014

What are the barriers to developing bioplastics markets in Europe and how can we overcome them?

Luke’s Toy Factory makes safe, sustainable toys from local sources

Valerie Lecoeur, a mother of three young children who was born and raised in France and now lives in North Carolina, founded Zoë b in 2011 because: “I believe parents deserve options that are both safer for their children and healthier for our planet”, as she says.

Most plastics that are called bioplastics today are biobased, that means derived from plants or other renewable feedstock.

Specialising in innovative, application-orientated plastic compounds for over 25 years, AKRO-PLASTIC (Niederzissen, Germany) has partnered ZIEHL-ABEGG (Künzelsau, Germany) to develop a polyamide 6.10-based AKROMID® S compound for the bionic bio-fan.

BASF, Cargill and Novozymes have reached another milestone in their joint development of technologies to produce acrylic acid from renewable raw materials.

Safe for babies and better for the environment.

Biodegradable packaging for the bakery industry – made from bakery waste

About a year ago, bioplastics MAGAZINE reported about Qmilk®, who have developed an innovative and unique technology for the production of textile fibres made from the milk protein, casein.

USA-based biochemical and biofuels company Virent recently announced that The Coca-Cola Company is making an additional investment in the company’s development and commercialization of its bio-based paraxylene, BioFormP.

The manufacture and dyeing of staple fibers made from PLA

Two topics have caught my attention recently, and both have been the subject of some controversial discussion. The first one is the question about the mass balance approach that I brought up in issue 03/2014, or perhaps, better, about Sustainability Certification as suggested by Michael Carus.

The bioplastics specialist FKuR Kunststoff (Willich, Germany) and Helian Polymers (Venlo, The Netherlands), a leading provider of 3D printing filaments, are cooperating on the development of novel PLA blends for 3D printing.

Since 1994 the Loick group has been involved in the field of development and production of new types of products using sustainable resources as a replacement for the present application of plastics for these items.

With its long-standing experience of more than 60 years, Arkema is the world leader in castor oil chemistry.

Miko Pac (Turnhout, Belgium) is a packaging expert in injection molding of plastics for food packaging.

Applications of biopolymers for technical fibres are a niche in the world of biopolymers. Nevertheless, we see an increasing request for the development of special yarns based on biopolymers.

Consumers are becoming more mindful of how and where products are made. A recent study by Euromonitor International’s Consumers Editor, Daphne Kasriel, noted, “consumers are increasingly looking to connect with brands, business models and products that do not associate with negative environmental and social impacts.”

The plastics processing industry has been faced with an ever growing number of demands from end consumers calling for responsible action to protect our environment.

Technical textile market is very traditional and very high demanding, in terms of performances, quality level, prices and compliances.

Researchers at the University of North Texas have created a new carbon fibre from plants that can replace common fossil products in wide range of goods including parts for cars, aircraft, electronics and sports equipment.

In the automotive industry the increasing pressure to use sustainable or renewable thermoplastic materials has led to the use of polyolefins filled with short natural fibers for parts that are not mechanically demanding.

Terryl, an innovative, cost-competitive, biobased polyamide for textiles

EU projects SYNPOL & BioConSepT – Two approaches, one goal!

A wide range of marketable biobased engineering materials such as PLA, Bio-PE, PA, PHB, etc., has become available by now and there is growing demand from the industry.

The first chemical fibres manufactured on an industrial scale were in fact biobased and date back to 1905 when Courtaulds Fibres in the UK started the production of viscose fibres.

With reference to Mass Balance, Book and Claim etc.

Nominees for the 9th Global Bioplastics Award

That’s precisely what OWS (Organic Waste Systems nv, Ghent, Belgium) and IKT (Institute of Polymer Technology, University Stuttgart, Germany) intend to find out.

Since almost exactly 20 years the Institute for Natural Materials Technology (IFA Tulln in Austria) has been working on wood composites (FASAL®) to help establish a place for them in the injection moulding and profile extrusion markets.