bioplastics MAGAZINE Issue 01/2019

In January 2019, Jan Noordegraaf, Managing Director of Synbra Technology bv, said:

Record attendance and innovative solutions presented in Berlin

eKoala (Cavenago di Brianza, Italy) is an Italian company producing kid products entirely made of bioplastics.

Francesco Degli Innocenti, Ecology of Products Director, Novamont, Italy

BASF has notified Avantium of its exit from their Synvina joint venture, effective 15 January 2019. Avantium continues to disagree with BASF’s interpretation of the joint venture agreement. Avantium and BASF are still discussing the terms and conditions of an exit.

AMT Coffee has announced the launch of a new 100 % bio-compostable AMT coffee cup an lid across its bars across the UK, becoming the first coffee company to launch this environmentally friendly product.

This new section highlights recently granted patents that are relevant to the specific highlight topics of each issue of bioplastics MAGAZINE. The information offered is intended to acquaint the reader with a sampling of know-how being developed to enable growth of the bioplastics markets.

In the next few years the development of new electronic products will be based more and more on eco-sustainable organic materials such as bioplastic, which will allow to realize extremely innovative solutions. For this reason, Bio-on (Bologna, Italy) recently announced the establishment of ELOXEL SpA (Bologna, Italy), of which Bio-on and Kartell (Noviglio, Italy) each hold the 50 % of capital shares. Kartell is a subsidiary of Felofin (also from Noviglio, Italy)

“Climate protection requires a decarbonization of our economy. This path also includes (at least in the long-term point of view) the need for non-fossil-based plastics. To be credible alternatives, bioplastics should fulfill following preconditions:

Corona (Mexico City, Mexico) recently announced that it will pilot plastic-free six pack rings in select markets as part of the brand’s commitment with Parley for the Oceans to lead the industry with eco-friendly packaging.

With the new year now getting into its stride, we are once again back in the familiar rhythm that shapes our work and this magazine. Our first issue of bioplastics MAGAZINE this year is no exception and we are sticking with what our readers accustomed to: like every year, our highlight topics are once again Bioplastic Foams and Bioplastics in Automotive Applications . However, we also want to introduce a new feature this year – a series in which we present and discuss recent patents in the bioplastics space, preferably, but not necessarily, on topics relating to the highlights of the relevant issue. Readers, too, are more than welcome to submit their news about patents they have been granted. We look forward to hearing about your accomplishments in this area, so let us know!

C arbiolice took the stage last December at the European Bioplastics Conference in Berlin to launch its innovative and unique enzymated Evanesto® masterbatch – an additive that enables PLA to biodegrade under typical home composting conditions.

Green public procurement refers to the practice by public authorities of sourcing, where possible, goods, services or works with a reduced environmental impact. From central governments to municipalities, from universities to kindergartens, public purchasers across the board may opt (or in some countries, are required) to use their purchasing power to select biobased products, if these are available. In the past, bioplastics MAGAZINE has reported on the differences in approach in various countries. Here is a brief update on the green public procurement process in the USA compared to Germany.

In 2016 the International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced a partnership with SportGroup Holding and its leading brand, Polytan (both from Burgheim Germany), as World Cup and Olympic Partner and supplier of hockey fields for the 2018 and 2022 hockey World Cups as well as the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo.

BioMat_LCA - Integration of environmental indicators of biobased materials in the industrial planning and design process

Bcomp enables 40 % lighter automotive interiors and upcycling of ocean plastic for automotive interior parts

In the shift towards a sustainable biobased economy, the production of bioplastics requires a low-cost, high-quality source of sugars. With growing interest in non-food sugars for biobased manufacturing, more and more companies are considering alternative feedstocks such as agricultural and forestry residues. Currently, the technologies used to break down plant biomass are costly and require large amounts of energy and chemicals. This makes it difficult for cellulosic sugars to compete against agro-based feedstocks like industrial cane sugar, beet sugar, corn or cassava, for example.

Nestlé (Vevey, Switzerland) and Danimer Scientific (Bainbridge, Georgia, USA) recently announced a global partnership to develop biodegradable bottles. Nestlé and Danimer Scientific will collaborate to design and manufacture biobased resins for Nestlé’s water business using Danimer Scientific’s PHA polymer Nodax™. In 2018, the University of Georgia confirmed in a study that Nodax is an effective biodegradable alternative to petrochemical plastics. PepsiCo, an existing partner of Danimer, will also gain access to the resins developed under this collaboration.

Increased demands for high-quality playing fields for sport and soccer, and more intense competition for playing space, have resulted in a new generation of synthetic grass fields: with the same impression and feel of lush vegetation as natural grass.

The positive trend for the bioplastics industry remains stable

The demand for new eco-sustainable materials for packaging is constantly increasing and consumers reward the choices of producers and distributors that respect the planet. Bio-on (Bologna, Italy), and Rivoira (Verzuolo, Italy), one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high quality fruit and always careful on innovation, announced in late December 2018 a strategic agreement to develop new materials for food packaging of fresh fruits and vegetables, even single use, with Zeropack S.p.A., a new company founded by Bio-on and of which Rivoira acquires 50 % of the shares.

Most frequently clicked news

A famous Chinese entrepreneur once said: Even a pig can fly if it stands at the center of a storm. But the storm that bioplastics needed to take flight did not arrive in China, or, for that matter, elsewhere across the world until 2018. Although the engineers at Bioplus (Guangzhou, China) were keen to commercialise their application, they spent most of the past ten years in labs to further improve their bioplastic products. In 2018, the winds finally blew strongly enough to give these products lift-off.

Prefabricated Vertical Drains, commonly known as PVDs, are installed at construction sites as a ground treatment solution to consolidate the ground, hardening the soil to support civil construction.

Bio-on (Bologna (Italy) and Sociedad Cooperativa General Agropecuaria, a Castilian-Leon cooperative which produces and markets sugar, food oils, biodiesel, various products for food animal and renewable electric energy, have signed an agreement to begin a technical collaboration, the first in Spain, to study and evaluate the opportunity to exploit at industrial scale the Bio-on technologies for the production of PHA bioplastics from sugar beets processing co- and by-products.

A new Tel Aviv University study describes a process to make bioplastic polymers that require neither land or fresh water — resources that are scarce in much of the world. The polymer is derived from microorganisms that feed on seaweed.

Finland-based Sulapac, announced that it has successfully attracted its first investor from the cosmetics industry. Sulapac products use a biodegradable and microplastic-free material made of FSC-certified wood chips and natural binders. They have all the benefits of plastic, yet they biodegrade completely and leave no microplastics behind.

Total Corbion PLA, a 50/50 joint venture between Total and Corbion, announced the start-up of its 75,000 tonnes per year PLA bioplastics plant in Rayong, Thailand. The plant has successfully produced Luminy® PLA resins. This bioplastic provides a valuable contribution towards the circular economy being biobased and biodegradable and offering multiple environmentally-friendly waste solutions.