Daily News

On November 14th, the French Agency for the Environment and Energy Management (ADEME) published a report on the environmental impact of fruit and vegetable bags. Among other things, it described the environmental performance of biobased compostable plastic bags in a lifecycle assessment and noted their ability to be home composted when good practices are observed.

The results of the European Bioplastics’ annual market data update, presented today at the 14th European Bioplastics Conference in Berlin, confirm a dynamic growth of the global bioplastics industry.

The prestigious Global Bioplastics Award, presented annually at the end of the first day of the European Bioplastics conference, was won this year by Bio4Self, a consortium of research institutes and companies collaborating on a project to develop self-reinforced composites based on PLA fibres.

This former bright star on the bioplastics firmament announced today it is looking into various possibilities for debt restructuring.

Total Corbion PLA, a global technology leader in Poly Lactic Acid (PLA), has appointed Kumru Kimya, a polymer trading company, as a non-exclusive agent in Turkey for its Luminy® PLA portfolio. This collaboration allows the Turkish market to have an even better access to the benefits of PLA bioplastics.

The Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU), an EU body, reconfirmed to award the PEFerence consortium, coordinated by Avantium Renewable Polymers, with a €25 million “PEFerence” Horizon 2020 grant.

Green Dot Bioplastics, NovoNutrients, and Advanced Animal Diagnostics were selected as the top three finalists out of 188 start-up companies in the Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC®) in the San Francisco region.

At the recent Raw Materials Summit 2019 in Berlin, the discussion centred on how waste, plants, CO2 - the resources of the future – can propel the transition away from a throwaway society. ‘Products must be recycled in an ecologically efficient manner’.

Three years ago, in October 2016 at the previous edition of K, Novamont announced it was working on the development of a proprietary technology for the production of hydroxymethylfurfural acid, furandicarboxylic acid and a series of polymers for captive use.

A Dutch consortium led by Vertoro has been granted €1.2 million to investigate the potential of crude lignin oil as a platform for sustainable chemicals and materials. Biorizon co-initiator VITO is one of the consortium partners.

The first straws - at least the first in Europe - to be based on polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) bioplastic have been developed and may soon be sold commercially.

Companies will now be able to benefit from the extensive experience of two leading European research institutes on innovation and technology.

Tetra Pak, together with its supplier Braskem, has become the first company in the food and beverage industry to responsibly source plant-based polymers using the Bonsucro standards for sustainable sugar cane.

Danimer Scientific and Genpak are partnering to create a new line of biodegradable food containers. The eco-friendly foodservice items created by the two companies will help reduce the environmental impacts of non-biodegradable packaging produced annually worldwide.

At the the 8th Biocomposites Conference in Cologne, as usual, the delegates voted for the Innovation Award 'Biocomposite of the Year 2019'

The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, based in California, USA, has awarded the Material Health Certificate GOLD level certification to Licocare RBW 102 Vita, Licocare RBW 106 Vita and Licocare RBW 300 Vita, bio-based lubricating and dispersing aids developed and produced by Clariant - a further confirmation of their excellent environmental profile and contribution to a circular economy for plastics.

It would behove a well-respected and globally operating organisation like Greenpeace to do its homework when publishing reports on important issues. The false assertions and half-baked facts presented here harm Greenpeace's credibility and cast doubt on the organisation's 'green' credentials.

Moving ahead with its strategy to advance the use of PEF in high-value applications, Avantium Renewable Polymers has announced plans to open an Avantium branch office in Japan.

Global specialty plastics provider Eastman and NB Coatings, a leader in paint on plastics for both domestic and transplant original equipment manufacturers, have developed a new solution for interior Class A painted surfaces with Trēva™ engineering bioplastic.

PolyOne has announced the launch of reSound™ OM thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs), the latest addition to its sustainable solutions portfolio. These new formulations utilize between 40 and 50 percent bio-renewable content derived from sugarcane and offer hardness levels and performance comparable to standard TPEs.

We are very excited to announce that new bioplastics MAGAZINE website is now officially live - and ready for you to explore and enjoy.

Avantium today inaugurates its plant-based MEG demonstration factory in Chemie Park Delfzijl, the Netherlands, bringing industry yet another solution to reduce the reliance on fossil resources. Hosting the opening are Nienke Homan, regional minister of the province of Groningen, the Netherlands and Avantium CEO Tom van Aken.

The international trade publication bioplastics MAGAZINE is proud to announce the finalists for the 2019 Global Bioplastics Award. Known as the "Bioplastics Oskar", the award will be presented this year for the 14th time in succession.

As sustainability in packaging moves from being a trend to an essential feature, Kuraray’s MonoSol division has seen demand for its water-soluble and biodegradable films skyrocket. In response, the company has announced plans to further expand its operations with the construction of a new manufacturing facility in Poland.

Italy-based chemical producer So.G.I.S. has commissioned NextChem to construct a plant that will be used to transform residual fats into oleic acid, an intermediate product for the production of non-fossil biodegradable, biocompatible and safe lubricants.

Bioplastics operate at the forefront of modern green business, but the security systems put in place to protect businesses in the industry are often at odds with the inherent environmental advocacy of degradable plastics.