Daily News

Maybe now more than ever, bioplastics will play an important role at the K’2022 with Circular Economy and Climate Protection being front and centre of the world's biggest trade show on plastics and rubber.

Bioplastics can be a broad and at times confusing term as it describes both what they are (biobased) and what they do (biodegrade), while not necessarily doing/being both.

The K’2019 was a massive undertaking with about a quarter million visitors, over 3,000 exhibitors spread across 19 halls and 177,000 m².

The Helsingborg-based greentech company GAIA BioMaterials AB (GAIA) has a world first ready just in time for the opening of Scanpack (October 4th), the largest packaging exhibition in northern Europe. After a long and challenging development process GAIA has finally cracked the code for a thermoformable version of their biomaterial Biodolomer®, that not only can withstand microwave heat, but also has the potential for passing the home composting requirements. The solution is to be found in a combination of the proprietary recipe, as well as the new, unique production equipment, which the company installed in its factory in Helsingborg during last year.

Neste, Idemitsu Kosan, CHIMEI and Mitsubishi Corporation have agreed to build a renewable plastics supply chain utilizing bio-based hydrocarbons (Neste RE™) for the production of styrene monomer (i.e. bio-SM), and its mass balanced renewable plastics derivatives including acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (i.e. bio-ABS*). The bio-SM production in Japan and the renewable plastics production in Taiwan will mark the first of such production in each country, and they are planned to take place in the first half of 2023.

Palsgaard (Juelsminde, Denmark), a leader in plant-based additives for the plastics industry, has announced that its Einar® 611 biobased anti-fog surfactant has been successfully specified by a major Korean supplier of food-grade polyethylene (PE) film solutions.

Swiss sports brand On (Zurich)presents the first shoe made from carbon emissions, called Cloudprime.

This technology synergizes with recently developed proprietary bio-polymer technologies and provides a commercially referenced production of biobased succinic acid (bio-SAc) that serves as feedstock for the production of polybutylene succinate (PBS).

As a result of new research involving a cutting-edge facility at Montana State University (Bozeman, USA), agricultural biomass that would otherwise sit in farmers’ fields could instead be turned into plastic beverage bottles and food containers.

Our oceans have become the world's largest landfill, accumulating more than 13 million tonnes of plastic annually, according to Bioplastics International1 (Scottsdale, USA), an Arizona-based producer of the world's first sugar cane alcohol water soluble PVA (Polyvinyl Alcohol) as well as many bio resins from plant starches.

Traceless (Hamburg, Germany) won the German Entrepreneur Award (Deutscher Gründerpreis) 2022 in the Startup category! Yesterday evening, the 13th of September 2022, the two founders Anne Lamp and Johanna Baare were live on stage in the ZDF Hauptstadtstudio, receiving this amazing recognition on behalf of their whole team.

Orthex (Espoo, Finland), a leading Nordic producer of household products, has selected a range of INEOS Styrolution’s sustainable Luran® ECO raw materials for its range of SmartStoreTM Compact storage products.

Anker (Changsha, China), the world's #1 mobile charging brand, recently announced its series of USB-C charging cables which incorporate a proprietary mixture of plant-based materials into the production process. Bearing a new "Anker Eco Product" logo, these biobased cables are part of Anker's eco-innovation effort aimed at reducing petroleum-based plastic in product development.

CropEnergies AG (Mannheim, Germany) has acquired a stake in the Dutch start-up for biobased chemicals Syclus BV (Maastricht). CropEnergies purchases 50 % of the company's share capital. The investment volume amounts to EUR 1.8 million.

Covestro (Leverkusen, Germany) will now be supplied with the two mass-balanced raw materials phenol and acetone from INEOS’ (London, UK) INVIRIDIS™ product range. Covestro uses these CO2-reduced products to manufacture its high-performance polycarbonate plastic.

Mondi (Weybridge, UK), Essity (Stockholm, Sweden), and Dow (Midland, MI, USA) collaborated to create new, recyclable secondary packaging for Essity’s feminine care products, using renewable materials and post-consumer recycled content that reduces use of fossil-based materials.

The Kunststoff-Institut Lüdenscheid (Germany) is planning a new joint project for autumn 2022 that will examine application possibilities of biopolymers.

Toray Industries, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan), announced last week that it has developed the world’s first 100% bio-based adipic acid, a raw material for nylon 66 (polyamide 66), from sugars derived from inedible biomass.

BASF and footwear design house Maddy Plant have collaborated to explore the possibilities of BASF’s innovative material solutions and use industry-leading technologies that enable energy-efficient production, for its concept athleisure shoe ‘MADGAMMA – Intertekk Saturn’.

Continental (Hanover, Germany) is going to use BIOVYN™, bio-attributed PVC, from INOVYN (London, UK) in the production of its technical and decorative surface materials for its automotive customers.

Unilever’s (London, UK) biggest laundry brand, Dirt Is Good (also known as Persil, Skip, and OMO), has introduced the newly designed capsule to help decarbonise the laundry process whilst delivering top cleaning performance.

3D printing has been in use in architecture for a while, and now it is to become ecologically sustainable as well: Together with partners, the LZH (Laser Zentrum Hannover, Germany) is researching how to produce individual building elements from natural fibres using additive manufacturing.

Advanced Biochemical Thailand (ABT) has recently launched its new product brand, EPINITY with a new website. EPINITY is the new brand name for ABT’s Epichlorohydrin (ECH), a biobased, drop-in, and competitive ECH for use in a wide range of downstream industries.

A new addition hits the VerdessenceTM product family: BASF’s (Ludwigshafen, Germany) Care Creations® is launching the new biopolymer Verdessence RiceTouch on the global market.

The German NDR (Norddeutscher Rundfunk), a public radio and television broadcaster based in Hamburg, recently reported about the German startup "napur" trying to tackle the plastic waste problem with local resources.

Sustainability leader Genomatica (Geno – San Diego, CA, USA) alongside long-time collaborator Aquafil (Arco, Italy) successfully completed the first demonstration scale production runs for plant-based nylon-6.

Carbios (Saint-Beauzire, France), a pioneer in the development of enzymatic solutions dedicated to the end-of-life of plastic and textile polymers, has signed an agreement with On (Zurich, Switzerland), Patagonia (Ventura, CA, USA), PUMA (Herzogenaurach, Germany), and Salomon (Annecy, France), to develop solutions that will enhance the recyclability and circularity of their products.

Green Dot Bioplastics (Emporia, KS, USA), a leading developer and supplier of bioplastic materials for innovative, sustainable end-uses, has expanded its Terratek® BD line with nine new compostable grades that are targeted for single-use and packaging applications.

Brita (Taunusstein, Germany), INEOS Styrolution (Frankfurt, Germany) and BASF (Ludwigshafen, Germany) have announced today that BRITA has selected a range of INEOS’ sustainable Terluran® ECO, Styrolution® PS ECO and NAS® ECO materials as materials of choice for its portfolio of water filter jugs.

Plastic has properties that makes it challenging to fully substitute, especially when looking at the food and drinks packaging industry. It is a lightweight and transparent material, and it comes with excellent barrier properties – protecting foods, extending shelf life, and reducing waste.