bioplastics MAGAZINE Issue 04/2016

Cortec® Corporation (St. Paul, Minnesota, USA) recently informed that one of the most advanced bioplastics manufacturers in Europe – EcoCortec® is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The project started in 2006 with greenfield investment by Croatian-American entrepreneur Boris Miksic. Today the plant has evolved in one of the most modern European manufacturers of environmentally safe films for corrosion protection. Continuous business growth is the result of innovative technology combined with high efficiency products and environmentally safe properties.

Since the US Department of Energy named 2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) as one of the top 12 platform chemicals, it has been considered a holy grail for bioplastics, alongside its downstream polymer polyethylenefuranoate (PEF). However, the road has been bumpy and the main challenge is to find a process which allows price competitiveness with petro-based alternatives. Brand owners also need to get on board – Coca-Cola’s PlantBottle may replace all its petro-based bottles by 2020 as promised, but more brands need to make similar commitments.

BASF is expanding its range of high performance foam products with ecovio EA, an expandable, closed-cell foam material which is biobased and certified compostable.

Vinyl chloride polymer (PVC) has grown to be one of the major plastics of the world and is the third most important polymer with regard to its production volume. For soft PVC (PVC-p) plasticizers from renewable resources have been developed and are increasingly used. Nevertheless, the petrochemical based PVC matrix mostly remains the same.

Ford Motor Company (Dearborn, Michigen, USA) is teaming up with Jose Cuervo® (Tlaquepaque, Mexico) to explore the use of the tequila producer’s agave plant byproduct to develop more sustainable bioplastics to employ in Ford vehicles.

The aim of the BIOBOTTLE project is to develop new biodegradable materials suitable to obtain plastic bottles and pouches for dairy products; probiotics, fresh milk and shakes. These packages do not need to be separated of the rest of the organic waste at the end of their short shelf-life.

Royal DSM (Heerlen, The Netherlands), is taking its EcoPaXX® polyamide into an important new market – drinking water contact applications. Use of this material offers a high-performance, lead-free option for applications such as faucet mixing valves.

Biobased self-functionalised self-reinforced composite materials based on high performance nanofibrillar PLA fibres.

S2G BioChemicals Inc., a Vancouver, (Canada) based developer of sustainable chemical conversion technologies, has announced in mid June that the Company has successfully initiated commercial production of fossil-free, bio-based glycols at the Memphis (Tennessee, USA) site of the Company’s operating partner, Pennakem LLC.

At the United Soybean Board’s Biobased Stakeholders’ Dialogue held at the USDA headquarters Samsill Corporation presented its new Earth’s Choice Biobased ring binders.

About two years ago, Wonjae (Jason) Lee, International Business Department Manager of Doill ECOTEC Co., Ltd. in Hwaseong (close to Seoul, Korea) washed his hair and saw his shampoo bottle. He wondered why shampoo bottles are only available from pure plastic? The company, Jason works for is known for WPC compounds and products (next to some other products). So Jason just tried to make bottles from wood plastic compounds, as wood is just as familiar to people as is plastic.

The company Seufert Transparente Verpackungen (Rodgau, Germany) can now offer a new material: Bio-PET. It allows producing resource-saving transparent packaging at nearly the same costs as traditional clear packaging. Seufert is working with Bio-PET film, which is partly manufactured from renewable resources. I.e. the 30 % by wt MEG (monoethylene glycol) is produced from sugar cane, while the 70 % by wt. terephthalic acid (PTA) are still made from petroleum. However, worldwide research into finding a plant based alternative for the PTA content is still ongoing. Bio-PET may be transformed into clear folding boxes, transparent sleeves and die cuts in the same way as standard PET.

Additives for compostable products with certificate and international certification mark now with revised certification scheme.

Over the past 50 years, thermoplastics have largely replaced metal and wood as the preferred materials used for toy manufacturing. Amongst all commodity thermoplastics, ABS is one of the most commonly selected resins for high-end toy applications that demand long-term durability. Although ABS has been developed, refined and optimized over several decades to meet the performance requirements of the toy market, it has remained a fully fossil fuel-based material and includes a number of additives that have been identified as potentially harmful to human health and the environment (as defined by California’s Proposition 65 [1]). And then, enter Solegear Bioplastic Technologies who has focused its attention on developing bioplastics with maximum bio-based content for high performance markets like toys and other ABS applications. The company’s most recent research and development has led to the successful development of a new generation of durable biopolymers with over 95% bio-based content and performance characteristics that make it a real contender as a bio-based replacement for ABS.

A joint development programme on bio-based PBS (polybutylene succinate) compounds for injection moulding has been launched by Reverdia and Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research. The new bio-PBS compounds will be durable and based on Biosuccinium™.

„Plastics without additives are not viable“. This pithy phrase opens the “Plastics Additives Handbook” which is a reference book in this field. Therefore, there should be reasons for this valuation.

The industry association European Bioplastics welcomes the draft reports on the revised EU waste legislation by MEP Simona Bonafè, Rapporteur of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, which was published in early June. The reports lay out the legal measures needed for a paradigm shift from a linear to a circular economy where waste is considered a valuable resource, and the transformation to a low-carbon bioeconomy, which uses resources more efficiently.

Formcard is a project that was successfully funded on Kickstarter on the 6th December with over 2,000 backers and 816 % funding.

Bioblo a young startup – company fromTulln, Lower Austria, recently received the International Green Product Award. The product: Bioblo, a novel play and construction brick made from 100 % renewable resources that is meant to capture the imagination of young and old.

In 1958, in Billund Denmark, Godtfred Kirk Kristiansen invented a simple system for clicking together small bricks, enabling decades of imaginative play for young and old in more than 140 countries. LEGO® bricks make a positive impact through creative play, but, the Lego Group wants to do more; They also want to leave a positive impact on the planet our children will inherit. [1]

Bonga Red Mountain: Wild coffee from Ethiopian rainforest project is now available in compostable coffee capsules / aluminum-free and biobased.

From 1 January 2017 onwards, via its Energy Transition and Green Growth Law, France will enforce the use of bio-sourced and biodegradable plastics for fruit & vegetable bags (35,000 tons per year) and other films. The joint venture Carbiolice shall address this challenge in the long term by continuing to develop biolice by Limagrain Céréales Ingrédients (Riom, France) and industrialising technological innovation licenced by Carbios (Saint-Beauzire, France).

Plastic raw material supplier Gehr (Mannheim, Germany) is proud to offer professional 3D printing filaments made of renewable raw materials under the brand name FIL-A-GEHR PLA®.

New Hampshire (USA) - based eatSafe, LLC, a global leader in tamper-evident seals for the packaging industry, has developed and launched ecoSafe, a shrink film designed to save money on packaging costs while being environmentally friendly.

Italian bioplastics firm Novamont and French leading producer of plastic films Barbier Group announced today they have signed a partnership aimed at the development of a new kind of bioplastic lightweight bag for fruits and vegetables.

Royal DSM, a global science-based company active in health, nutrition and materials, is extending its portfolio of high performance materials that answer the need in demanding automotive applications for hydrolysis resistance across a wide range of temperatures. The portfolio is targeted at numerous water-cooling related applications under the hood and includes a hydrolysis-resistant grade of its high performance bio-based polyamide, EcoPaXX.

Within just a few years it will be possible to give all children eco-sustainable, biodegradable safe toys free from toxic substances. In the future this will be normal but in order to make this future arrive as soon as possible researchers are developing new solutions based on biopolymers that are capable of replicating and improving the thermo-mechanical, functional and aesthetic properties of the plastics in use today.

Embedded in the framework of a joint project of four partners, process data of bioplastics, which are available in the market, are clearly arranged as a new, freely accessible internet database. The database provides users an opportunity to address the two approaches concerning the processing of bioplastics, which arise either out of material properties or process techniques. In the first case, the user has the knowledge of conventional materials but is looking for a bioplastic alternative, which can be a suitable substitute. Concerning the second case, the user can simulate the process technique by searching for the appropriate bioplastic that is suited for this process technique from the database.

Biopolymers are derived from a living source. The first of two different types of biopolymer types is synthesized directly by an organism (examples are DNA, RNA, proteins, and polysaccharides). The second type is produced in a synthetic chemical reaction from biological reactants. The second type includes most of the biopolymers used to make biobased plastics.

There may be no other product market with more consumer choices than toys, hundreds of model trains, trucks and cars, are bidding for consumer attention. So, perhaps it’s not surprising that toymakers are continually striving to differentiate their toys from similar products on the shelf. One strategy for distinguishing toys from those of competitors is through material selection. This has led toymakers to become early adopters of alternatives to petroleum-based plastics.

And there is no better way to experience this first hand than with visiting a toy fair and being overwhelmed by the abundance of ideas, innovations and markets presented there.

From its early beginnings at the end of 2009, Bioserie was created with a vision: to bring customers high quality, well designed durable consumer goods allowing them to enjoy the benefits of advanced green materials technology. Cutting-edge, beautiful products with a clean conscience.

The outdoor brand Bergans (Hokksund, Norway) recently marked a milestone in the outdoor clothing industry with the development of the first plant-based, technical weatherproof jacket – the Eidfjord.