bioplastics MAGAZINE Issue 05/2021

Almost 80 on-site and over 45 digital participants came together at the 2nd PHA platform World Congress in Cologne (Germany) to talk about PHA. Jan Ravenstijn supported the team from bioplastics MAGAZINE from planning to execution of the event. And when it comes to PHA(s) you couldn’t wish for a better partner in crime – there is nary a question about PHA he has no answer to (or at least know who to ask for more specific information). The topics presented were broad ranging from the huge variety of applications PHAs can be used for to specific in-depth reports about certain types of PHAs and the opportunities and challenges involved to broad topics such as ocean plastic waste or what biodegradability really means. With such a wide range of topics, it would be an impossibility to boil it all down to a two-page review. So we had to pick some highlights from on and off the podium to briefly showcase here.

Published in bioplastics MAGAZINE

Deifel, the masterbatch specialist based in Schweinfurt, Germany, is celebrating a double anniversary in 2021, not only does the company turn 100 it has also been involved in masterbatches for bio-polymers for 10 years. And to properly celebrate these two milestones Deifel gave itself a present by reaching 100 % climate neutrality. One central part of this achievement was reached through the Deifel4Climate project that aims to reduce CO2 emissions. For many years, the focus has been on making business processes and technologies more sustainable. Through many individual measures, the CO2 balance has already been significantly improved.

Application News

Sudents Deepak Sundar Saravana Kumar, Maryam Sodagar and Balaji Subramanian, among others, of RWTH Aachen University, joined forces in 2020 to create a novel product from banana fibres. They founded team BioInterio, a student initiative with the aim of producing fully biobased and biodegradable composites for various applications.

The ecological footprint of plastics and their energy-intensive production has long been subject of public criticism. An increasing amount of research has been ongoing, focussed on the development of environmentally-friendly alternatives - organic plastics – to improve their CO2 balance.

Mattel, based out of El Segundo, California, United States, is one of the largest toy companies in the world, and recently presented during the bio!TOY conference in Nuremburg, Germany. Jason Kroskrity, Director of Sustainable Development, Chemistry and Materials at Mattel, lay out the company’s vision but also the challenges that lie ahead. “Sustainable design and development is about developing innovative products and experiences that are better for our world by integrating sustainable materials and principles of product stewardship and circular economy. This is the central pillar of why we are all here [at the bio!TOY] today.” Kroskrity then specified two major goals of Mattel for the next decade. To achieve 100 % recycled, recyclable, or biobased plastic materials in all products and packages by 2030, and to achieve and maintain 95 % recycled or Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified content in the paper and wood fibre used in their packaging and products. Kroskrity explained that the real changes will come in form of so called Platform Approaches. AT

One of the biggest challenges of our time is climate change and how to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. One of the most talked about GHGs is CO2 (carbon dioxide) giving it a bad reputation as something that we should avoid. However, in the right hands, CO2 is more than just an evil gas that might kill us all (or, you know, the stuff that leaves your mouth when you exhale, or that helps beer and soda pops quench your thirst). In the right hands CO2 is a valuable resource that can be turned into anything from a lunch box or a mattress, to the hockey rink you train and play on, or even the aspirin you use when curling practice escalated a little again.

This September was a month of extremes – we hosted two international hybrid conferences, the bio!TOY in the first half (7th and 8th) and the PHA platform World Congress just a couple of days before we were going into print. Both conferences were in their second edition and came with a totally new set of challenges. Going hybrid – a completely different beast than “normal” or digital conferences. It was a lot of work that involved new online platforms and many new considerations: how do we get digital speakers into the room, how do we get local ones online, how will discussions in this hybrid format work? At the end of it I can say, it was all worth it. Both conferences were well visited and well received – many participants told us that it was their first “real life event” in months or even years, and how much they missed really connecting with other people. One participant even nominated the bio!TOY for the 15th Global Bioplastics Award. The discussions were enthusiastic and sometimes enlightening, which is why we have multi-page reviews of both conferences that focus more on the these aspects than the presentation themselves. And I am more than ever impressed with Michael, who never seems to tire to try out new technologies and innovations – sometimes during coffee breaks at the conferences. We are learning and improving constantly, but so far going hybrid has been a big success.

Utilizing a proprietary Bio-Resin blend, the company Refork (Prague, Czech Republic), injection moulds sustainable single use utensils. The bio-resin material consists of wood flour (primary material sourced as waste from the wood industry), PHA (binder) and various renewable minerals (to enhance mechanical properties). This special blend is fully biodegradable in home compost, soil, or marine environments. Refork utensils include a selection of forks, knives, and spoons.

Tidal Vision (Bellingham, Washington, USA) recently announced a new partnership with Leigh Fibers and the opening of a new production facility in Wellford, South Carolina, USA. These developments transform the textile industry’s access to sustainable biobased textile treatments that are now displacing millions of pounds of synthetic, often toxic chemical treatments used in the textile industry.

The fibre production has more than doubled in the last two decades and manmade fibres contributed to 67.5 % of the total fibre market production in 2014 [1]. Among the manmade fibres, polyester, mainly polyethylene terephthalate (PET), is one of the most commonly used fibre materials and is expected to reach a market share of EUR 185.4 billion by 2026. PET is a petroleum-based polymer and with depleting oil resources and growing concern for global warming through carbon dioxide emission, the focus is shifting towards more sustainable and biobased polyesters such as polylactic acid (PLA) [2]. It is an eco-friendly biopolymer synthesised from renewable resources such as corn, sugar beets, and wheat. The production of PLA uses less than 0.03 % of world corn production, making it non-competitive with the food market [3]. PLA is the first melt-processable synthetic fibre produced 100 % from renewable resources. In 2000, it was not even close to replacing petroleum-based polymers in commodity applications [4]. Much has changed over the last two decades, demand for PLA rose leading to increased production capacities and thus lower production costs. In addition to being biobased and compostable, PLA fibres have inherently better moisture management, higher limiting oxygen index and wicking properties than PET fibres, which make them suitable for sustainable apparel applications [3].

fibre-reinforced composites for structural lightweight design in ships

Biotechnology company LanzaTech (Skokie, IL, USA) today announced it has partnered with lululemon athletica inc. (Vancouver, Canada), an athletic apparel company, to create the world’s first yarn and fabric using recycled carbon emissions that would otherwise be emitted to the atmosphere as pollution. LanzaTech uses nature-based solutions to produce ethanol from waste carbon sources and is working with partners India Glycols Limited (IGL) (Noida, India) and Far Eastern New Century (FENC) (Taipei, Taiwan) to convert ethanol to polyester.

developing biobased acrylonitrile

According to the Ellen Macarthur foundation, washing clothes releases half a million tonnes of microplastics into the ocean each year. That’s equivalent to over 50 billion plastic bottles. Currently, over 60 % of global textile fibres are synthetic materials [1]. The microfibers they shed are toxic to wildlife and the environment. They also take hundreds of years to decompose and contribute to the 80 % of marine pollution which comes from land-based activities [2]. Today, recycled plastic bottles (rPET) are the current industry standard for polyester fibres, however these still contribute to microplastic pollution.

News

A variety single-use plastic items are used in the green industries in agriculture or horticulture. An interesting application are plastic plant pot or nursery bag for seedling raising.

from microalgae to sporting goods

For some time now, much has been told about the potential the biobased building block 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) holds for the production of aromatic polyesters [1]. This is particularly true for the new thermoplastic polyethylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate (PEF): When processed as thin film, PEF exhibits superior gas barrier properties than the competing polyethylene terephthalate (PET) [2], which provides a unique selling point and eases invest decisions devoted to enter the huge film and bottle market. However, bringing PEF to the market appears to be a formidable challenge, as decisions of some market participants suggest us [3].

Toy industry seeks information and sustainable plastics

The steadily growing demand from the industry for sustainable solutions underscores the importance of developing biobased high-performance materials Polylactic acid (PLA) is one of the particularly promising biobased candidates already established in the packaging segment. The global market for this polymer is growing by around 10 % annually. PLA is also used as a matrix in fibre-reinforced composites. Here, reinforcing fibres are embedded in a matrix in order to improve the mechanical performance of the materials.

Today, the various biocomposites can be easily used in a wide range of applications and have reached the mass market as an alternative to conventional plastics. The annual growth of biocomposite granulates has been estimated be 5 % by nova-Institut for 2020 to 2028 (CAGR).

New test methods and development of multi filament and nonwoven production processes

Presenting the five finalists