bioplasticsmagazine 06-2015

06 | 2015

ISSN 1862-5258

Nov / Dec

Highlights Films / Flexibles / Bags | 12 Consumer Electronics | 24 Basics

bioplastics

MAGAZINE

Vol. 10

Plastics from CO2 | 50

Cover Story Shopping bags in Italy | 18 2 countries

... is read in 9

Editorial

dear readers Films, Flexibles, Bags is the first highlight topic of this latest issue, which has come out only a few days before the Italian bag law celebrates what will be its 5th anniversary. And with that in mind, I decided that it was high time to visit Italy myself, to get some first-hand impressions of the current situation after five years. See my comprehensive report on page 18.

Nov / Dec

06 | 2015

Highlights Films / Flexibles / Bags | 12 Consumer Electronics | 24 Basics Plastics from CO | 50 2

Vol. 10

The second special topic is about Consumer Electronics.

Interestingly, the winner of this year’s 10th Global Bioplastics Award is a product in this area that was jointly developed

by Mitsubishi Chemical and Sharp. It’s a front panel for a smartphone made from MCC’s Durabio material, which offers better properties and performance than conventional polycarbonate or PMMA. Oh, and by the way: it’s biobased.

See page 10 and page 25 for more details.

ISSN 1862-5258

This trip to Italy once again served to demonstrate that shopping bags are still very much a hot topic. And this led us to the decision to launch another conference. On March 8 and 9, 2016 bioplastics MAGAZINE will host the first Green Bag Conference in Cologne/Germany. Please have a look at pages 12-13 for more detailed information.

bioplastics

MAGAZINE

Even if plastics made from CO2 as a chemical building block is not exactly a bio-plastics topic, in my opinion it is Cover Story nevertheless an interesting subject that is well worth atShopping bags in Italy | 18 tention. Not only do these plastics pursue the same goals as biobased plastics, namely a reduction of our dependency on fossil carbon resources and a positive effect on global warming, some of the CO2 based plastics are also biodegradable…. That’s why our Basics section in this issue presents an update on this interesting and important field of research and development, including first pilot and commercial production plants.

Lastly, I’d like to remind you of the 4 PLA World Congress in Munich next May – the call for papers is still open. So if you have some interesting topics to report about – just let us know. th

... is read in 92 countries

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As always, we’ve rounded up some of the most recent news items on materials and applications to keep you abreast of the latest innovations and ongoing advances in the world of bioplastics.

We hope you enjoy reading bioplastics MAGAZINE.

Like us on Facebook!

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Sincerely yours

Michael Thielen

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

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Content

Imprint

06|2015

Publisher / Editorial Dr. Michael Thielen (MT) Karen Laird (KL) Samuel Brangenberg (SB)

Nov / Dec

Head Office Polymedia Publisher GmbH Dammer Str. 112 41066 Mönchengladbach, Germany phone: +49 (0)2161 6884469 fax: +49 (0)2161 6884468 info@bioplasticsmagazine.com www.bioplasticsmagazine.com

Materials 28 New biaxially oriented sheet product 30 Sunflower Power 32 The World’s first bioplastic from sewage

Award 10 The winner of the 10th Bioplastics Award

Basics 46 Plastics made from CO2

From Science & Research

40 From Corn to T-shirt 42 Stereoblock-PLA:

Lab gimmick or competitive addition to the market?

Media Adviser Caroline Motyka phone: +49(0)2161-6884467 fax: +49(0)2161 6884468 cm@bioplasticsmagazine.com Chris Shaw Chris Shaw Media Ltd Media Sales Representative phone: +44 (0) 1270 522130 mobile: +44 (0) 7983 967471

Layout/Production Ulrich Gewehr (Dr. Gupta Verlag) Max Godenrath (Dr. Gupta Verlag)

Print Poligrāfijas grupa Mūkusala Ltd. 1004 Riga, Latvia bioplastics MAGAZINE is printed on chlorine-free FSC certified paper.

Total print run: 3,500 copies

bioplastics magazine ISSN 1862-5258 bM is published 6 times a year.

This publication is sent to qualified subscribers (149 Euro for 6 issues). bioplastics MAGAZINE is read in 92 countries.

Films/Flexibles/Bags

Consumer Electronics

14 New PLA films for packaging applications

24 Housings made of bioplastic

15 Biobased PE film for label applications

25 Biobased plastic smartphone screen

16 A big step forward in PBAT polymerization

26 The Fair Mouse

18 Plastic bags in Italy (Cover-Story)

27 Biodegradable displays for electronics

Every effort is made to verify all Information published, but Polymedia Publisher cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions or for any losses that may arise as a result. No items may be reproduced, copied or stored in any form, including electronic format, without the prior consent of the publisher. Opinions expressed in articies do not necessarily reflect those of Polymedia Publisher.

All articies appearing in bioplastics MAGAZINE, or on the website www. bioplasticsmagazine.com are strictly covered by copyright. bioplastics MAGAZINE welcomes contributions for publication. Submissions are accepted on the basis of full assignment of copyright to Polymedia Publisher GmbH unless otherwise agreed in advance and in writing. We reserve the right to edit items for reasons of space, clarity or legality. Please contact the editorial office via mt@bioplasticsmagazine.com.

The fact that product names may not be identified in our editorial as trade marks is not an indication that such names are not registered trade marks. bioplastics MAGAZINE tries to use British spelling. However, in articles based on information from the USA, American spelling may also be used.

3 Editorial 5 News

Envelopes

36 Application News 54 Suppliers Guide

part of this print run is mailed to the readers wrapped in biodegradable envelopes sponsored by Kobusch, FKuR Kunststoff GmbH and Maropack GmbH & Co. KG.

57 Event Calendar

Cover

50 Glossary

58 Companies in this issue

Follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/bioplasticsmag

Photo: Michael Thielen

Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bioplasticsmagazine

daily upated news at www.bioplasticsmagazine.com

News

Metabolix presented new findings on PHA biopolymers in PVC applications Metabolix (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA) recently announced its latest findings on the multifunctional benefits of biobased PHA copolymers in a range of applications for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and wood polymer composites.

New research is leading to the development and commercialization of PHA biopolymer technology that improves processing and performance characteristics in a range of PVC applications including flexible, semi-rigid and wood polymer composites, particularly when high levels of fillers and PVC recyclate are incorporated. Among the findings, Metabolix has shown that its PHA biopolymers – highly miscible in PVC – can be used as process aids that act as both a lubricant and fusion aid with a resulting reduction in machine torque to increase ease of processing. The use of PHA also allows the increased use of mineral fillers, wood flour or PVC recyclate with improved properties of the final parts. Another key finding is that all of these performance and processing advantages can deliver significant cost improvements.

“Our PHA biopolymers display a set of unique performance properties in PVC formulations and represent a significant innovation in the industry,” said Max Senechal, Metabolix’s vice president of strategy and commercial development. “Our PHA biopolymers offer a range of processing and performance improvements while also delivering an economic benefit to PVC converters and brand owners. We look forward to continuing to work with the industry to create new solutions for PVC applications in a diverse range of building materials.”

Metabolix has taken its new PHA materials to the market and is working closely with processors and brand owners in a range of PVC applications.

Metabolix is working closely with customers to commercialize its PHA biopolymers in PVC applications such as building materials, flooring, decking and railing systems, wire and cable, tubing, roofing and films, as well as in a variety of parts using recycled or reprocessed PVC. MT www.metabolix.com

Greenwashing: Misuse of EU composting standard EN 13432 Lately, European Bioplastics (EUBP) has noticed an increasing malpractice by producers of fragmentation additives for conventional plastics referring to the European standard for industrial composting, EN 13432, when marketing their products.

Yet such products do not fulfil the requirements of the EU norm for industrial composting of plastic products. Consequently, European Bioplastics considers this a severe case of greenwashing.

Recent misuse cases comprise the outright false claim that additive-mediated plastics comply with EN 13432 (see image). In other cases, additive producers aim to piggyback on the good reputation of EN 13432 by referring to only parts of the standard, for example stating that “The plant growth test and the ecotoxicity effects have been studied with positive results above 100 % according the EN 13432”. European Bioplastics is therefore requesting all producers of additives claiming to make conventional plastics biodegradable either to fully comply with the standard EN 13432, or to cease making what can only be construed as deliberately misleading references.

“If a standard is referenced, all aspects of it need to be fulfilled by the material or product. Should this not be the case, the reference is misleading. We urge all market operators to comply with communication standards according to the ISO 14020 series,“ stated François de Bie, Chairman of the Board of EUBP. Worried about the negative impacts on the environment of additive-mediated conventional plastics, which merely fragment into small pieces, the European Commission has discussed banning such technology in the past. Currently, the Commission is undertaking an assessment of the impact of oxo-degradable plastics on the environment, as these materials represent the foremost part of additive-mediated plastics. According to a recent amendment of the EU Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste, the results shall be presented by 2017, at the latest. KL www.european-bioplastics.org.

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News

daily upated news at www.bioplasticsmagazine.com

ECM BioFilms claims are “false, misleading, and unsubstantiated” says FTC In February, bioplastics MAGAZINE reported on the initial decision handed down at the end of January by Chief Administrative Law Judge D. Michael Chappell regarding the biodegradability claims of ECM Biofilms Inc. In this Initial Decision, Judge Chappell found that ECM violated Section 5 of the FTC Act because its express claims, that ECM Plastics would biodegrade plastics within nine months to five years, were not supported by the evidence.

Now, the Federal Trade Commission has announced its Opinion and Final Order against Ohio-based ECM BioFilms, Inc., finding that the company acted deceptively by making false and unsubstantiated environmental claims about its product, a chemical additive that supposedly would make treated plastics biodegrade in a landfill within nine months to five years or within a reasonably short period of time, as alleged in an administrative complaint announced against ECM in 2013.

The Commission’s Final Order and Opinion come two years after its issued an administrative complaint against ECM and ten months after the Initial Decision issued by FTC Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Chappell. KL http://1.usa.gov/1Yu8UTC

Microplastics in the environment – conference in Cologne The first international conference on Microplastics in the Environment, organised by the nova-Institute on 23 – 24 November 2015 in Cologne, Germany attracted 170 participants from 20 countries. The delegates received first-hand information on the sources and impacts of microplastics in the environment and discussed possible solutions.

Sources: Plastic particles with a diameter smaller than 5 mm are referred to as microplastics. These can be secondary fragments created by the breaking up of larger pieces of plastic such as packaging materials, or fibres that are washed out of textiles. They can also be primary plastic particles produced in microscopic sizes. These include particles used in cosmetics and in other applications.

Impacts: Marine litter is known to have negative effects on the health of more than 600 species. More than half of these ingest or become entangled in plastic debris. The components of microplastics can be toxic or cause endocrine disruption.

In addition, marine organisms that swallow plastic microparticles may potentially ingest higher doses of persistent organic pollutants sticking to the surface of these microplastics. This poses the risk of toxic substances accumulating in the food web and harming a variety of animal species and also human beings.

Biodegradable plastics as a solution? Presentations about biodegradable plastics, e.g. made from cassava starch, from cellulosic feedstock or PHA discussed potential solutions for the problem.

Outcome: The discussions during the conference showed that microplastics from cosmetic products play only a minor but avoidable role in the pollution of the environment. The problem of marine littering is also related to larger pieces of plastic waste entering the environment – as these are sources for microplastics due to the fragmentation processes over time.

Many sources could be identified (hand wash, toothpaste, detergents, cleaners, tyre abrasion, road paints, granulates on playgrounds, etc.) but there is still a huge need for research on entrance pathways (fate of microplastic particles) and quantities ending up in the environment.

However, much of the problem is human behaviour. And as Ramani Narayan (Michigan State University) put it: “Marine environment is not a disposal environment and therefore designing for biodegradability in a marine environment is not a solution.” And: “Products such as microbeads for cosmetic purposes should be designed that they biodegrade in the waste water treatment plants.

They should never even reach the oceans.” MT www.microplastics-conference.eu

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News

Current biodegradable plastics can’t solve marine debris problem A United Nations report that aimed to verify a thesis that plastics considered biodegradable may play an important role in reducing marine litter, has released findings that indicate that this thesis won’t fly.

The report, entitled ‘Biodegradable Plastics and Marine Litter. Misconceptions, Concerns and Impacts on Marine Environments’, found that complete biodegradation of plastics occurs in conditions that are rarely, if ever, met in marine environments. There is also limited evidence suggesting that labelling products as biodegradable increases the public’s inclination to litter, as some people are attracted by technological solutions as an alternative to changing behaviour. Labelling a product as biodegradable may be seen as a technical fix that removes responsibility from the individual, resulting in a reluctance to take action.

“Recent estimates from UNEP have shown as much as 20 million tonnes of plastic end up in the world’s oceans each year,” said Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in a press release.

Most of these are conventional plastics that do not biodegrade, either in marine, or any other environment [MT]. Biodegradable plastics, which biodegrade under favourable conditions on land, are much slower to break up in the ocean and their widespread adoption is likely to contribute to marine litter and consequent undesirable consequences for marine ecosystems.

The report more or less confirms what many in the industry have known for a long time, and it contains important information for the public at large – both as regards oxo-fragmentable plastics and biodegradable plastics. Well-written and well-researched, it is by no means an attack on biobased plastics, but rather an attempt to get a message out and to create awareness.

As its authors put it: “Assessing the impact of plastics in the environment, and communicating the conclusions to a disparate audience is challenging. The science itself is complex and multidisciplinary. Some synthetic polymers are made from biomass and some from fossil fuels, and some can be made from either. Polymers derived from fossil fuels can be biodegradable. Conversely, some polymers made from biomass sources, such as sugar cane, may be non-biodegradable. Apart from the polymer composition, material behaviour is linked to the environmental setting, which can be very variable in the ocean. The conditions under which biodegradable polymers will actually biodegrade vary widely.”

Very true. So biodegradable polymers, at least those that are currently available, are not the answer. What is?

A large part of the solution is most probably human behaviour. KL/MT http://bit.ly/1Lk5d9E

Photo: M. Thielen, 2015

The study also analyzed the environmental impacts of oxo-degradable plastics, enriched with a pro oxidant, such as manganese, which precipitates their fragmentation. It found that in marine environments the fragmentation is fairly slow and can take up to 5 years, during which the plastic objects continue to litter the ocean. And they will never biodegrade into CO2 and water, in any conditions or in any environment whatsoever [MT].

According to UNEP, oxo-degradable plastics can pose a threat to marine ecosystems even after fragmentation.

The report says it should be assumed that microplastics created in the fragmentation process remain in the ocean, where they can be ingested by marine organisms and facilitate the transport of harmful microbes, pathogens and algal species.

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Events

Well-attended 10th European Bioplastics Conference great success

By Karen Laird

European Bioplastics hosted its 10th European Bioplastics Conference, entitled Shaping Smart Solutions this year on 5/6 November 2015 in Berlin, attracting more than 350 participants from industry, policy, research, and media. Once again, the conference proved to be an ideal opportunity to learn about the trends and developments - large and small – taking place in the dynamic bioplastics world. Looking back at the achievements and outstanding developments in this area over the past decade, the bioplastics industry may deservedly be called one of the most innovative and exciting sectors of the European bioeconomy.

As François de Bie, Chairman of European Bioplastics (EUBP), noted in his opening words of the conference: “Ten years ago, bioplastics was still a buzzword. Today, my son Olivier is learning about the benefits of biobased products in high-school. The understanding and awareness of our impact on the environment is clearly growing and bioplastics are at the centre of this change.”

Biobased circular economy Acknowledging this growing awareness, keynote speaker Reinhard Büscher, Head of Unit Chemicals, DG GROWTH at the European Commission, also stressed the necessity to promote biobased products in the European Union in order to unlock Europe’s potential for a resourceefficient economy. Characterizing the bioeconomy as “the cornerstone of a low carbon strategy”, he called for “clear, harmonized standards that define the thresholds for sustainability and facilitate high-quality recycling, which is key to create a strong biobased circular economy.”

The circular economy was a recurrent theme throughout the conference. In his presentation on the global plastic packaging roadmap (GPPR), Rob Opsomer, the Lead for Project MainStream, a multi-industry, CEO-led global initiative led by the World Economic Forum and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, called the circular economy “a viable, attractive alternative, one that is restorative and regenerative by design”. He added: “Plastic packaging has many benefits but it’s an iconic linear material with significant associated negative externalities. The Global Plastic Packaging Roadmap aims to provide an action plan towards an economically and environmentally attractive alternative – a new plastics economy. In the new plastics economy, plastics never become waste but re-enter the economy as defined valuable biological or technical nutrients, based on the principles of the circular economy.” In this economy, biobased plastics will have a functional role, he said.

However, without a level playing field, a thriving biobased economy will be difficult to realize, said Marius Gjerset, of the Norwegian organization ZERO. “Looking at the soaring numbers of electric cars sold in Norway, we can

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say: incentives work,” he said. “Norway is currently the first country in the world that is considering tax incentives for bioplastics.”

Joachim Quoden, the managing director of the Extended Producer Responsibility Alliance, discussed a different aspect of the circular economy. His focus was on the recovery and recycling infrastructure needed for this to be successfully implemented. “The quantities are too small to create our own fraction of bioplastics,” he said.

“We need R&D; we need to collaborate.” His point was underscored by Itai Pelled, the R&D director at Tipa Corp., who said that, with flexible food packaging contributing massively to to overall packaging waste, the various endof life scenarios need to be examined for bioplastics.

Erin Simon, Deputy Director for Sustainability Research&Development for WWF, emphasized in her presentation the transformational nature of the emerging bioeconomy. It represented a change that would “impact on ecosystems and species around the world”, she said.

WWF is working with the Biobased Feedstock Alliance, a group of seven major brand owners who were seeking to make the transition from finite to renewable resources to take place in a sustainable way. “Moving to a more circular, biobased economy is a great challenge, and one that must be met in order to achieve a future where we do not demand more resources from the Earth than it can renew. Working together, it’s possible to tackle these challenges,” she said.

A highly anticipated session was the presentation of the 2015 annual market data update delivered by Hasso von Pogrell, Managing Director of EUBP during the first day of the conference: “The positive trend of the past ten years continues. According to our latest market data, the global bioplastics production capacity is predicted to grow by more than 350 percent in the mid-term, from around 1.7 million tonnes in 2014 to approximately 7.8 million tonnes in 2019,” said von Pogrell.

Materials and more A number of presentations highlighted the latest developments in bioplastics and bioplastic products. Milica Foli, of Haldor Topsoe, a Danish company specialized in catalysis and surface science, talked about the company’s new catalytic technology for the production of bio-glycols.

“They have a molecular similarity to sugars, promote the C6 to C2 pathway via catalysts, have no green premium and offer high growth in commodity chemicals,” she explained. The technology offers potential benefit for the production of low-cost bio-PET. “It is a challenge to get all the way to the bottle,” she said. “We are now ready for a partnership, to take it to demo-scale. And we’re looking for a commitment to go through to the commercial product.”

Events Linda Zellner, the project manager Bioplastics Innovations and Sweden-based Perstorp, introduced the newest member of its extensive Capa family of products – renewable Capa for Bioplastics, a development which builds on the company’s Capa Lactide technology. The properties of these new copolymers can be modified, simply by adjusting the ratio of lactide used, which makes it possible to tailor the products to the customers’ needs.

Pouches were Andy Sweetman’s topic. As the marketing manager of packaging and sustainability at Innovia Films, he said: “They’re functional constructions, with less weight, minimal volume, full barrier, easy to print packaging,” he said. Great packaging, highly sustainable.

But are they? In their present form, they’re impossible to recycle, “and are designed for the dump”. Yet with the current technology, bio-laminates can be constructed that maintain pack performance, using only two layers instead of the conventional three, that offer “substantiated sustainability benefits”. As Sweetman asked: So, now, what’s not to like about pouches?

Commitment to sustainability The conference also made it clear that the willingness of brand owners to commit to sustainability was a growing reality. Retailers such as IKEA and Marks & Spenser spoke about their commitments and initiatives to become more sustainable and the role of bioplastics in achieving these ambitious goals. “By 2020, 100 percent of our plastics will be made from renewable and recycled sources,” explained Per Stoltz, Sustainability Developer at IKEA. IKEA has sustainability in its DNA, he said. In 1976, IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad wrote that “Waste of resources is one of the greatest diseases of mankind. Use your resources the IKEA way. Then you will achieve good results with smaller means.” At IKEA, this means looking at the supply chain, to discover how to introduce secondary material. “It also means designing for circularity and interacting with customers, to make them aware and to stimulate sustainable behaviour. For example, by helping with maintenance, or providing spare parts,” said Stoltz.

Committing to sustainability is also happening in the world of sports. According to Steve Davies, Director of Public Affairs & Communications at NatureWorks, sports is a platform that can be used to get the message across.

As he pointed out: “13 % of Americans follow science.

61 % say they are a sports fan.” This realization led to the founding of the Green Sports Alliance, a 313-member organization that is using sports as a powerful channel for environmental stewardship. Almost from the very beginning, NatureWorks has partnered with the Green Alliance. A comprehensive portfolio of compostable food service ware products made with Ingeo has seen steadily increasing use by many of the Alliance’s members.

François de Bie, EuBP Chairman, opens the 10th European Bioplastics Conference in Berlin

And the winner is…

Mitsubishi Chemicals Corp. and Sharp were awarded the 10th Annual Bioplastics Award, hosted by bioplastics MAGAZINE during the conference, for the development of the front panel of Sharp’s new smartphone made from Mitsubishi’s biobased engineering plastic DURABIO. For more information, see next page. www.european-bioplastics.org

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Award

And the winner is ...

10th Global Bioplastics Award 2015 for Mitsubishi Chemical and Sharp

T

his year the prestigious Bioplastics Oskar was again given to two companies, albeit for one new development: Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. and Sharp Corp.

(Japan) jointly received the prize for the development of the front panel of Sharp’s new smartphone made from Mitsubishi’s biobased engineering plastic DURABIO™. In a world first, a biobased engineering plastic is being used in the front panel of a smartphone.

Durabio is a biobased engineering plastic made from plant-derived isosorbide. This high-performance material offers greater resistance to impact, heat, and weather than conventional engineering plastics. In addition, it has excellent transparency and low optical distortion.

The panel of judges singled out this application as the first instance of a biobased engineering plastic successfully replacing polycarbonate in a technical application. The development captivates through its high profile and the potentially huge field of applications for a biopolymer that also overcomes one of the big problems of incumbent technology – impact resistance. In addition to Frank Steinbrecher /Mitsubishi) and Michael Thielen

being biobased, it also features superior properties.

“The winner has invented a highly promising material for very challenging applications – and we applaud this cool product! It’s a great example of a biobased material”, said Michael Thielen during the award ceremony.

After our first attempt last year to present a trophy made (at least partly) of biobased plastic materials, we went one step further this year. The entire trophy is 3D-printed from different PLA/PHA based compounds. bioplastics MAGAZINE is grateful to colorFabb (Venlo, the Netherlands) who printed the base-plate using their woodFill filament. The logo is made from brassFill and the two leaves are made from copperFill. Logo and leaves were tumbled and polished to enhance the metal gloss effect.

The 3D-filaments made by colorFabb are based on PLA/PHA bioplastic products from FKuR (Willich, Germany) and metal-filled PLA/PHA compounded

by Witcom Engineering Plastics (Etten-Leur, The Netherlands).

The prize was awarded to the winning companies on November 5th, 2015 during the 10th European Bioplastics Conference in Berlin, Germany. MT

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4th PLA World Congress 24 – 25 MAY 2016 MUNICH › GERMANY

PLA

is a versatile bioplastics raw material from renewable resources.

It is being used for films and rigid packaging, for fibres in woven and non-woven applications.

Automotive industry and consumer electronics are thoroughly investigating and even already applying PLA. New methods of polymerizing, compounding or blending of PLA have broadened the range of properties and thus the range of possible applications.

That‘s why bioplastics MAGAZINE is now organizing the 4th PLA World Congress on:

24 – 25 May 2016 in Munich / Germany Experts from all involved fields will share their knowledge and contribute to a comprehensive overview of today‘s opportunities and challenges and discuss the possibilities, limitations and future prospects of PLA for all kind of applications. Like the three congresses the 4th PLA World Congress will also offer excellent networking opportunities for all delegates and speakers as well as exhibitors of the table-top exhibition.

The conference will comprise high class presentations on

Call for Papers

› Latest developments

bioplastics MAGAZINE invites all experts worldwide from material development, processing and application of PLA to submit proposals for papers on the latest developments and innovations.

› Market overview

Please send your proposal, including speaker details and a 300 word abstract to mt@bioplasticsmagazine.com.

› Additives / Colorants

The team of bioplastics MAGAZINE is looking forward to seeing you in Munich.

› Fibers, fabrics, textiles, nonwovens

› Register now to benefit from the Early Bird fee of just EUR 799.00 (after Feb 28, 2016 it will be 899).

› Contact us at mt@bioplasticsmagazine.com for exhibition and sponsoring opportunities

www.pla-world-congress.com

organized by

› High temperature behaviour › Barrier issues

› Applications (film and rigid packaging, textile, automotive,electronics, toys, and many more)

› Reinforcements › End of life options (recycling,composting, incineration etc)

Events

bioplastics MAGAZINE presents: For many reasons plastic carrier bags have become a symbol for unsustainable production, consumption, littering and pollution. As a consequence plastics bags have been targeted by NGOs, media, politicians and regulators. A number of states around the world fully or partially banned plastics bags. Several EU Member States implemented Bagislation restricting use, mandating pricing or use of specific materials and types only.

For the involved businesses plastic carrier and packaging bags represent enormous markets, e.g. exceeding 1 million tonnes and 2 bn € value alone in Europe. It is the biggest single market for bioplastics.

That’s why bioplastics MAGAZINE is now organizing the first Green Bag Conference – Markets and Policy Solutions on 8 – 9 March 2016, in Cologne (Germany).

• Which bags do we really need?

• How will Bagislation be impacting markets?

• What are Green Bag Concepts?

These are the main questions to be addressed and answered by experts and key players contributing to this unique conference.

With pressure amounting on traditional plastic bags, market opportunities emerge for plastic bags which are biobased and recyclable, or biodegradable-compostable, or made from recyclates. For functional or permanent use.

Prominent speakers responsible for legislation and interest representation, market leaders and leading scientists will provide first-hand and fact-based information. The proceedings of the Conference will be shared with the Governments of all 28 EU Member States, and with those from abroad upon request.

Please visit the conference website for the programme, registration, travelling support and more: www. greenbagconference.com

Preliminary Programme – Green Bag Conference – Markets and Policy Solutions There will be five thematic sessions:

Day 1 - March 08, 2016 - starting 12 a.m.

•

Registration – Welcome and networking lunch

•

Setting the scene: introduction including market data

•

Policy Solutions: presented by officials from the EC and four EU Member states

•

Market Solutions: introducing three different bag concepts and views from the EU retail

•

Coffee break in the afternoon & cocktail reception at 6:00 p.m. – opportunitites for dialog and visiting the exhibition

Day 2 - March 09, 2016 - starting 8:30 a.m.

• Knowlege base: explaining science and facts from film recycling, biodegradation and composting, biobased sourcing, marine littering and life cycle analysis •

Getting involved: presenting and discussing views of key players on where we are and what are we aiming for to establish the best market and policy solutions

•

Farewell lunch at 1:00 p.m.

Would you like getting involved? — Become a sponsor or exhibitor — contact kaeb@greenbagconference.com

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› Plastic bags have become a symbol for unsustainable production, consumption, littering and pollution. › Plastics bags have been targeted by NGOs, media, politicians and regulators. › Around the world states have fully or partially banned plastic bags. › Several EU States have implemented Bagislation restricting the use of these bags. › Plastic carrier and packaging bags represent enormous markets.

That’s why bioplastics MAGAZINE is now organizing the first

Green Bag Conference – Markets and Policy Solutions The conference will provide first-hand information from officials and key players about EU and national state legislation, the technical framework, and the impact on businesses, markets and the environment.

Register now and benefit from the Early Bird fee of EUR 650.00 (until Jan 31, 2016)

www.greenbagconference.com #moregreenbags

Films/Flexibles/Bags

New PLA films for packaging applications Heat, grease and oil resistant PLA film for papaer bags Italian retail chains are always looking for sustainable packaging solutions in response to consumers’ increased desire to reduce the depletion of fossil resources and to fight climate change. Following this trend, Nicoletti SpA, an Italian manufacturer of paper bags for fresh foods, has recently introduced in its portfolio a bag for roasted chickens made entirely of renewable resources.

Fig. 1: D808 20 µm+paper roasted chicken bags.

The paper bag is fully laminated with recently developed NATIVIA™ D808 20 µm film from Taghleef Industries (Ti), and has a transparent window which allows see-through of the packaged products. Unique performance and thermal properties of D808 20 µm film ensure heat resistance of the bag at storage temperatures up to 80 °C. Improved heat resistance was the primary requirement of the film, since the roasted chickens that are cooked every morning in the deli corner need to be kept at a temperature above 65 °C (in bulk) in order to avoid proliferation of microorganisms.

22.0 20.0 18.0

D808 20 µm MD D808 20 µm TD NTSS 20 µm MD NTSS 20 µm TD

% shrinkage

16.0 14.0 12.0 10.0 8.0 6.0 4.0 2.0 0.0 80

85

90

95

100

105

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115

120

125

130

Temperature (°C)

Fig. 2: Thermal shrinkage (%) with increasing temperature curves for D808 20 µm and NTSS 20 µm films.

Fig. 3: Injected containers with NATIVIA IML label.

Like all NATIVIA films, D808 20 µm provides very good barrier to grease and fatty juices from the foodstuff, protecting the paper packaging against grease penetration. NATIVIA D808 film also shows better heat resistance in terms of lower heat shrinkage and higher values of Tg, glass transition temperature, and Tm, melting temperature, compared to standard PLA films. The graph plots the thermal shrinkage in percent in MD (machine) and TD (transverse) directions at increasing temperatures for D808 20 µm and standard NTSS 20 µm films.

PLA film for In Mould Labels At LabelExpo 2015, Taghleef Industries presented an injected container with an in-mould label produced with NATIVIA NTSS 40 µm. The highly transparent and glossy film offers a bio-based and compostable (according to EU standard EN 13432) solution for injected containers. This joint development project involved Taghleef Industries for the supply of the IML film, Grafiche Seven S.p.A. for the printing of the labels, and Elledi Plast S.r.l. for the injection moulding of the PLA based container for cream cheese. The label was printed using reel fed offset and flexo technology with 6 colors + varnish. Superior stiffness and film flatness ensure print register stability during the printing run, while film surface properties lead to suitable ink adhesion for IML application. Optimal stiffness is also crucial for efficient die cutting. A PLA based resin has been used for the injection moulding of the containers.

Taghleef Industries is one of the largest global manufacturers of biaxially oriented polypropylene films (BoPP), cast polypropylene films (CPP), biaxially oriented polylactic acid and biodegradable films (BoPLA). Ti’s brand portfolio includes NATIVIA biodegradable BoPLA, used in many packaging sectors, and demonstrates Ti’s commitment to offering sustainable packaging solutions to the global market. www.ti-fims.com

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A

very Dennison’s (Oegstgeest, the Netherlands) focus on sustainability was in the spotlight at Labelexpo Europe 2015 with the introduction of two biobased polyethylene label films. These new products are the first self-adhesive PE filmic labels with a face stock that includes more than 80 % renewable content.

They offer brand owners the opportunity to meet their target on renewable resources in packaging, while continuing to benefit from the functionality and performance of a regular polyethylene label.

“Economic growth, natural resource scarcity and an increasing demand for goods and services will all contribute to an uncertain supply of finite non-renewable resources in the years to come,” said Xander van der Vlies, sustainability director at Avery Dennison Materials Group Europe. “With our expanding product range of sustainable label materials – which now includes these biobased PE label films – we can support converters who want to fulfil brand owners’ needs for packaging from renewable resources, while also helping them to provide a differentiating product and drive sales in a fast-growing segment.”

The biobased PE self-adhesive laminates are available in a white and a clear version.

The resin used for the new biobased PE films is made from Bonsucro® Certified Sugar Cane, which follows rigorous social and environmental monitoring prior to certification.

Both new products offer performance and recyclability comparable to standard PE85 resin.

With the proper precautions and preparation (e. g. the dies should be sharp and not damaged for the die-cutting), these films act as drop-in replacements, meaning converters can substitute conventional PE for a biobased PE label film without investing in new machinery.

By using biomass to create a PE label film which contains more than 80% bio based resin, brand owners can reduce their dependency on fossil based packaging materials. The introduction of the bio based film is Avery Dennison’s response to their growing interest in using biobased packaging materials.

Think Sustainable

Biobased PE film for label applications

M·VERA® –

biodegradable bioplastic

With our M·VERA® range of biodegradable plastics (certified to EN 13432), we provide you with customized solutions for your application: • Film Such as shopping bags, biowaste bags or agricultural films • Injection moulding Such as coffee capsules, cutlery or toys • Color, carbon black and additive masterbatches

Our team of highly experienced plastic specialists is pleased to help you – contact us!

Thanks to close collaboration between various members across the value chain, it has been possible to bring these biobased PE label films to market.

Avery Dennison worked with global resin producer Braskem and Belgium converter Desmedt Labels to prototype and test the biobased PE label at the Belgium facilities of Ecover, manufacturer of ecologically sound cleaning products.

Avery Dennison introduces biobased PE film for label applications.

(Photo: Avery Dennison)

This new product is one component in the wider efforts towards achieving Avery Dennison’s 2025 Sustainability Goals, and it demonstrates the way in which environmental improvements can go hand in hand with business success. www.averydennison.com.

BIO-FED Branch of AKRO-PLASTIC GmbH BioCampus Cologne · Nattermannallee 1 50829 Cologne · Germany Phone: +49 221 88 88 94-00 Fax: +49 221 88 88 94-99 info@bio-fed.com www.bio-fed.com bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

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Films/Flexibles/Bags

A big step forward in PBAT polymerization

W

hen China-based advanced plastics material producer Jinhui Zhaolong, decided several years ago to expand into biodegradable polymer technology, the company was mainly motivated by the realization that a more sustainable approach was needed toward industrial development. Since that time, the company has successfully established its PBAT operations and has taken strides to promote the biodegradable industry in China and worldwide.

Three years ago, Jinhui Zhaolong launched Ecoworld as its PBAT brand. Continuing its development work, today Ecoworld PBAT has earned all the necessary biodegradable and compostable certificates, and has also gained recognition from the industry.

PBAT, an important and versatile biodegradable plastic, is the main raw material for biodegradable plastic film production, and is widely used in packaging and agriculture.

As a result of rising public awareness of pollution and other environmental problems rises, combined with the desire for a higher standard of life, many actions are being taken around the world to fight white pollution. The biodegradable market is growing at rapidly; a large-scaled synthetic technology industrial is expected to be important and critical with challenges. Unlike other polymers, such as PET or PE, many unpredictable problems can occur throughout the PBAT industrialization process, such as with the catalytic system, polymerization technology, production installation and processing parameters, etc.. Over the past three years, Jinhui Zhaolong has thoroughly trialed and evaluated its process in order to to perfectly match up all these factors.

Among these, the most challenging area in the PBAT polymerization process proved to be choosing the right catalyst.

Various catalysts in the polymerization process have different

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reaction rates. Metal catalysts are well known and generally preferred, but finding a high active, selective and dispersed metal catalyst is still one of the greatest challenges. After hundreds of lab and pilot tests, the R&D team of Jinhui Zhaolong has developed a brand new catalyst system, which can perfectly fit into its 20,000 tonnes/a polymerization production process.

From the above experiences, Jinhui Zhaolong has concluded that the homodispersity of the catalyst during polymerization is the key to maintaining PBAT consistency. Many new findings were discovered during the process, among which the fact that microstructure and size are the most influential factors in the preparation of catalysts. Microstructure can increase the available surface area by a factor of 1,000 or more, which leads to a uniform dispersion of the catalytic active center in the prepolymer melt. Nano sized catalysts are more efficient, but the size of catalytic particles is relative to the production system.

In most cases, 10~900 nanometers is a reasonable size range.

Also, the influence of the catalyst on the crystallization rate should be noted, which is based on the content of nucleating catalyst particles.

The newest Ecoworld PBAT features a tensile strength of 18~20 MPa, and an elongation at break of 650 %.

Researchers hope that this improvement in the mechanical properties will offer possibilities for expanding the application range of PBAT. In the future, Jinhui Zhaolong will not only target PBAT’s traditional film applications but will also try to convert PBAT into high-performance, durable, biodegradable plastics, which are designed to be used for a longer period. Jinhui Zhaolong will continue to promote the biodegradable industry and to work towards a better environment. MT www.ecoworld.jinhuigroup.com

Polylactic Acid Uhde Inventa-Fischer has expanded its product portfolio to include the innovative stateof-the-art PLAneo ® process. The feedstock for our PLA process is lactic acid, which can be produced from local agricultural products containing starch or sugar.

The application range of PLA is similar to that of polymers based on fossil resources as its physical properties can be tailored to meet packaging, textile and other requirements.

Think. Invest. Earn.

Uhde Inventa-Fischer GmbH Holzhauser Strasse 157–159 13509 Berlin Germany Tel. +49 30 43 567 5 Fax +49 30 43 567 699 Uhde Inventa-Fischer AG Via Innovativa 31 7013 Domat/Ems Switzerland Tel. +41 81 632 63 11 Fax +41 81 632 74 03 marketing@uhde-inventa-fischer.com www.uhde-inventa-fischer.com

Uhde Inventa-Fischer

Films/Flexibles/Bags

Plastic bags in Italy The law – the market and real life…

By Michael Thielen

A

lmost 5 years after the bag ban law in Italy came into force, bioplastics MAGAZINE wanted first-hand information on the current situation in Italy. To that end, we therefore visited the greater Milan area for a couple of days in mid-October and spoke both to a number of stakeholders, as well as to real people, i. e. consumers. I was accompanied by Dr. Harald Kaeb, the founder and former chairman of European Bioplastics, who today is active as a consultant. Dr. Kaeb is a renowned expert in bioplastics and in what we call bagislation (bioplastics MAGAZINE will publish an update by Dr. Kaeb in issue 01/2016). We visited Vinçotte Italy to talk about some basic facts around the topic, spoke to a purchasing manager of one of the country’s largest supermarket chains, visited two manufacturers of biodegradable shopping bags, and a composting plant. Between these meetings, we visited a significant number of retail supermarkets and discounter stores, where we talked to a few of their customers immediately after they came through the checkout counter.

The law Much has been published (e. g. [1]) in the past 5 years about the shopping bag legislation in Italy. If you search the web for “bag ban Italy”, Google immediately turns up 2.5 million hits.

In brief: on January 1, 2011 a law [2] came into force in Italy, which said that the single-use plastic shopping bags with thicknesses below 60 µm (100 µm for food-contact applications) distributed by retail stores must be made from biodegradable plastics (certified compostable according to EN 13432) or the stores should offer bags made from cloth, paper or other biodegradable materials.

In the beginning, there was a transition phase to allow retailers to use up existing stocks of traditional plastic bags.

Penalties for non-compliance were not introduced until August 2014.

One goal of the law was to reduce the overall number of shopping bags used. And this has been achieved, at least to some extent: the total volume of shopping bags consumed in Italy was approximately 180,000 tonnes in 2010. “The total amount today is about 90,000 tonnes, 50,000 of which are biodegradable/compostable”, we were told by Claudio Puliti, Sales Manager at bag manufacturer IbiPLAST in Solbiate Olana.

Another goal was the diversion of biowaste from landfill to composting, by having consumers use the compostable shopping bags for the collection of household biowaste.

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Films/Flexibles/Bags Whether this can be achieved with biodegradable shopping bag can, however, be debated. The “Annual Report of the Italian Composting and Biogas Association 2015” [3] states an increase of biowaste treated in Italian composting plants of 23 % (2005 – 2009) and 18 % (2009 – 2011) but of only 4,5 % in the period from 2011 to 2013, after the law came into force.

And there is room for improvement, which is putting it mildly, as regards the third goal, as well. The idea was to reduce the number of conventional plastic bags in composting plants by replacing them with compostable bags. Our subjective impression when visiting the ENTSORGA composting facility in Santhía, as well as a sneak peek into some biowaste bins at the curb side, suggests that there is still some way to go before reaching this goal (see pictures on page 21).

Some facts and figures The following facts and figures (source [3]) will help to provide a better understanding of the whole context.

5.2 million tonnes of organic waste from the separate collection of food and green waste was collected (and recycled in 240 Composting- or 43 Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plants) in Italy in the year 2013. This biowaste is divided into so-called food waste (including both cooked and uncooked food residues, including meat, fish, etc.) and green waste (such as clippings from gardens and parks).

These 5.2 million tonnes represent 42 % of the total amount of collected municipal solid waste (MSW) (27 % food-, 15 % green waste).

Per inhabitant, this amounts to an average of 86 kg/a of separately collected biowaste.

At the gates of the composting plants, the collected food waste shows an average contamination of 4.8 % of noncompostable materials.

The market This article is not intended to give a complete overview of the overall market development of biodegradable/ compostable bags in Italy, but rather to present some examples about the concrete market situation for a few arbitrarily chosen stakeholders.

At the first meeting during our trip, Barbara Calabria (Deputy General Manager, Vinçotte Italy) gave a general overview of the situation in Italy.

One of her first remarks was, that, even if all compostable shopping bags must be certified by an independent third party and thus must show either the OK compost logo, the Seedling or the Italian CIC (Consorzio Italiano Compostatori) Logo, “we were and are still surprised of what some Italians come up with, using their creativity and phantasy…” as Barbara put it. The majority of bags, however, is properly certified and marked.

Unlike in many other countries, single-use shopping bags are not given away for free at the supermarkets; instead, consumers are charged a fee of 0.05 or – in most cases – 0.10 Euro per bag. Exemptions are, for example, local markets or pharmacies or the like. It was unclear, however, whether local street markets were also required to offer compostable bags: on one such market in Borgomanero we saw just one stand (chicken products) that offered compostable bags – all the others were giving out conventional PE bags.

Oxo-fragmentable bags have been a problem in Italy, but, according to Barbara, it is a problem that is getting smaller. One reason is a number of lawsuits that Vinçotte have won in their fight against the misuse of their OKCompost-Logo. Vinçotte is one of the very important gatekeepers controlling the compliance of market players and certificate owners.

Retail stores The retail market in Italy includes a number of really large supermarket chains – so-called hypermarkets – such as ipercoop, Carrefour, Esselunga, Auchan, Conad and others. We were happy to talk to a purchasing manager of one of these chains1, whom we’ll call Mario.

Long before biodegradable shopping bags became mandatory in Italy, this supermarket had already started to introduce such bags over fifteen years ago (a few hundred thousand per year in the late 1990s). The quality of the early bio-bags was not very good, Mario explained, so the bags were not well accepted by the consumers. Moreover, composting in general was not as well established at the The legal department of the supermarket chain withdrew permission to mention the name a week after our visit.

1

Examples of different compostable shopping bags

Street market in Borgomanero bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

19

Films/Flexibles/Bags Even though Erretiplast (and many others) started with Mater-Bi from Novamont, many retailers decided in favour of competition, i.e. any material that was certified compostable by (e. g.) by Vinçotte could be used. So today, Erretiplast mostly uses materials from FKuR, BASF or Biotec. “More than 90 % is imported from Germany” Ricardo told us. And Tommaso Lovati (SIPA Management) is enthusiastic about FKuR: “They tailor compounds to any requirement you may have. If necessary, they could come up with a new compound in a very short timeframe”.

Riccardo Tentori (Erretiplast) and Michael Thielen

end of the 1990s (fewer than 80 plants, compared to more than 240 today [3]).

However, the mentality of the people has changed over the last few years, he said. One reason is that the quality (tear resistance and weld line strength) became better.

On the other hand, the consumers also became more educated and better informed about the environmental benefits of the system, for example, via the supermarkets’ communication channels (website, newsletters etc). And the number of composting plants has also increased.

Mario is confident that, if this continues (currently only 40 % of the Italian population have access to industrial composting and home composting is rarely established), acceptance will increase even more.

Bag manufacturers Just like the supermarket chain mentioned above, the first bag manufacturer visited – Erretiplast in Cassago Brianza – started to produce a few biodegradable/ compostable bags at the end of the 1990s from Novamont’s Mater-Bi® material. However, after the law took effect in 2011, “we saw a dramatic transition from PE to biodegradable plastics,” as Riccardo Tentori, Business Development Manager of Erretiplast (and son of the owner) told us: “About a factor of 10.” But similar to what we heard in the supermarket, Riccardo also reported bag performance issues in the early years. “And the raw materials were much more expensive in the beginning”, he said.

Like most of their competitors, Erretiplast was afraid the supermarkets would comply with the new law immediately, but with paper or nonwoven fibre bags.

However, consumers and supermarkets accepted the compostable plastic bags, “after two - three difficult years, this year has marked a turnaround”, Riccardo said.

“The demand is quite stable now… no big increases, but also no decline”. Riccardo told us about a coexistence of compostable bags, nonwoven bags and reusable bags. “It seems we have found an equilibrium,” he said. And doing our own statistics, we found this indeed to be true (see below).

In the beginning, the situation was quite different, explained Riccardo. Some retailers were reluctant to introduce the compostable bags, others wanted to have compostable bags in every store on the 1st of January.

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Some bag makers from other countries (and from Italy) tried to save money by making the bags thinner. But since supermarkets today purchase the bags by weight, there is no real incentive to reduce the thickness. On the other hand, the production waste (the cut-out sections of the t-shirt-bags) must be put back into the process. “And this is rather difficult if the bags are too thin,” Riccardo explained.

The second bag manufacturer we visited within the framework of this report was IbiPLAST in Solbiate Olana.

This company, too, started to make biodegradable bags about 20 years ago using Mater-Bi Material.

Sales Manager Claudio Puliti supports the characteristics of Novamont’s Mater-Bi. The 3,000 tonnes of material they process annually are almost exclusively Mater-Bi and less than 5 % of what they produce are conventional PE bags. “We prefer Mater-Bi for technical reasons,” he said. “The quality is unique and constant – it’s the better product”. However, sometimes the clients ask for specific materials. “Some for cost reasons, some for smell reasons,” Claudio tells us, “some do not want starch-based materials – others want potato starch…”. Apart from this, he more or less confirmed what Riccardo had told us about quality, wall thickness etc.

Composting The Annual Report of the Italian Composting and Biogas Association (CIC) 2015 [3] says: “The presence of postconsumer plastics by error or negligence into source separated food waste represents a problem for composting facilities; compostable bags used for separate collection of food waste can strongly improve the quality of organic waste.”

And further: “In 2013 CIC conducted an investigation on types of bags used for source separated biowaste collection.

It shows that: about 50 % of bags fulfilled the standard UNI-EN13432 (certified compostable bags); about 15 % of bags are oxo-(…)degradable or bags made (with) other (…) additives (non compostable bags); Unfortunately, about 35 % of the bags are traditional plastic bags (non compostable bags).

The most recent data (2014 CIC’s survey) prove that the percentage of certified compostable bags for organic waste collection is strongly increasing. It is probably correlated with the (new) law 116/2014 which since August 2014 has imposed fines for single-use shopping bags selling.”

We are not able to verify whether the latter is true or not, based on our single visit to a single composting plant.

However, we saw quite some non-degradable plastic bags, and Stefania Miranda of ENTSORGA (the company running that plant) confirmed that they find virtually anything arriving at their facility: “including car batteries sometimes,” she

Films/Flexibles/Bags said. “But we have a visual control so that improper materials or items can promptly be sorted out before entering the composting process,” she added.

“However, the plastic does not disturb the composting process,” Stefania explained. “At the end, the plastic and all other non-compostables, such as metals etc. are separated and disposed of separately. And this costs money … the more plastic, the more expensive”. And if a truck delivers waste which obviously contains more than 5 % plastic, they charge an extra fee, Stefania told us. “For anaerobic digestion however, conventional plastics are indeed a problem,” she told us.

36,000 tonnes of mixed bio-waste is processed at the plant in Santhía every year, resulting in 5,000 tonnes of compost that can be sold. “Mostly to the rice fields in the area”, Stefania said. The rest is mainly water and CO2.

The plan is to add an AD (Anaerobic Digestion) plant to produce the energy needed to operate the plant. Asked what her biggest wish was, Stefania told us: “more compostable bags, less plastics bags, please…”.

Production of biodegradable shopping bags for Penny supermarkets at ibiPLAST

Real Life Even if the law states in article 182, that biodegradable bags for the collection of biowaste must be certified compostable, obviously, there are bags on the market that are not certified, Barbara Calabria of Vinçotte said. In fact, we found bags in a discounter store that stated they were biodegradable/compostable acc. to EN 13432 in print on the bag. However, no logo of any certification body could be found anywhere on the bag. We called the manufacturer of the bags and talked to a spokesperson (who asked to remain unnamed), who confirmed that the bags were indeed certified, but that the discounter didn’t want any logo on the bag. Why this should be is a different question …

We started our survey of real life in the supermarkets with some undeniably unrepresentative statistics. We started at 7 p.m. at an Ipercoop market, where we counted the customers coming through 4 checkout counters. We discovered that about 50 % were using compostable shopping bags (in most cases 2, sometimes even more), while 50 % used their own reusable bags (mostly PP or PET nonwovens) which they had brought from home. The picture was different the next morning at 10:30 a.m. at an Esselunga supermarket. Here,

Biowaste bins in curbside collection: consumers dispose their biowaste in biodegradable bags (the yellow bag is such a bag from supermarket Esselunga)

Harald Kaeb and Stefania Miranda at the ENTSORGA composting plant

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

21

Films/Flexibles/Bags 75 % brought their own reusable bags, and 25 % took biodegradable bags from the cashier. We assumed that, in the evening, there are more working people shopping after work and in a rush. In the morning, the shoppers were mainly housewives or retired people, who had more time and could plan their shopping tour without having to hurry. So more of them brought their own bags… As mentioned before, with about 45 – 50 counted each time, this was certainly not a representative survey…

We then approached a number of customers to pose a few questions directly.

Interviewing consumers directly after passing the checkout counter

When asked: “Why did you chose biodegradable bags?”, the responses were mostly along the lines of: “Because in Italy you can only buy such bags” – “to reduce pollution” – “because they can be used for biowaste collection”. Only one woman said: “Because I forgot my reusable bag at home”.

We then asked about what they intended to do with the bags after use. All of the consumers we talked to responded in a similar vein: “to use it for collecting biowaste (rifiuti umidi)” – “for collecting normal trash”– One person said “I put it into the biowaste collection to give it back to the natural cycle” The next question was whether they would use the bags several times…“Yes – but mostly for collection of waste (normal and bio)” – I’ll use it again for shopping” – “No, because I’m afraid it will tear”.

Reusable bags can be bought directly at the checkout counter

In our final question, we asked for the consumer’s opinion on the new law. In most cases, this drew a positive response: the majority responded with: “it is good, is OK, it’s the right way to protect our environment.”

Conclusions Almost five years after the law came into force, the impact is clear. Compostable shopping bags have found acceptance by supermarkets and consumers alike, although 50% or more of the consumers also use reusable bags which they bring from home. At the end of the day, the target to reduce the number of plastic bags to a maximum of 90 (per capita, per year) by 2019 must still be reached, but it looks as if Italy is well on its way towards achieving this. For the diversion of biowaste from landfill to industrial composting, bags are one of the most important means, as Italians use them to collect and carry the waste. The Italian infrastructure for the collection and treatment of biowaste has improved greatly over the last decade, but it seems that more needs to be done on source separation and quality control in the future.

References [1] “Bye bye shopping bag”, bioplastics MAGAZINE, Vol 6, Issue 01/2011, page 6 [2] Section 1, clause 1130 of the law of 26 of December 2006, n. 296, modified by section 23, clause 21-novies Legislative Decree 1st July 2009, n.78, modified by the law of 3 August 2009, n. 102 (came into force 1st January 2011).

Also Betty, our cover girl, who we interviewed as well, confirmed that they are using the bags for the collection of biowaste, and that the law is a good approach.

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[3] “Annual Report of the Italian Composting and Biogas Association 2015” http://www.renewablematter.eu/partners/CIC/CIC%20 annual_report2015eng.pdf last accessed Oct. 2015

Consumer Electronics

Housings made of bioplastic Biograde is predominantly composed of natural resource materials and does not contain starch or starch derivatives.

It is injection mouldable on conventional injection moulding equipment and can even be used with multi-cavity moulds.

The material has excellent heat resistance, withstanding temperatures of up to 115 °C, and material properties that are comparable to polystyrene: rigid and transparent, depending on grade.

I

n addition to a wide range of standard plastic housings and tuning knobs for electronic devices, OKW Gehäusesysteme from Buchen, Germany, also manufactures products that are made from specialized materials. Depending on the specific requirements of the application and its intended use, these include housings that are produced from biobased plastics.

For customers seeking to help protect the environment, OKW now uses a special bioplastic suitable for long-term use. Electronic housings made from BIOGRADE®, a cellulosebased material produced by FKuR (Willich, Germany) on the basis of renewable raw materials, offer a number of technological and ecological advantages.

The housing (cf. photo), produced in off-white (RAL 9002) and complying with the UL 94 HB fire safety standard, has similar properties to high-quality plastic, a high quality of use and a very good surface finish. Housings from the Soft-Case product group have been part of OKW’s standard product range since October 2011, and are also available in larger quantities from stock.

The products manufactured by OKW from special materials can also be further modified using various processing and finishing techniques such as mechanical processing, printing or EMC coating.

Application examples include Bio-housings for diagnostics, therapy, measuring and control engineering, peripheral and interface equipment, household and many more. The products meet the demands and requirements that society makes on developers and manufacturers. MT www.okw.com

BIO MEETS PLASTICS. The specialists in plastic recycling systems.

An outstanding technology for recycling both bioplastics and conventional polymers CHOOSE THE NUMBER ONE.

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Consumer Electronics

Biobased plastic smartphone screen

M

itsubishi Chemical Corporation (headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan) and Sharp Corporation (Osaka, Japan) cooperate in applying Mitsubishi’s biobased engineering plastic DURABIO™ for the front panel of Sharp’s new smartphone, the AQUOS CRYSTAL 2. Even if bioplastics MAGAZINE repeatedly reported about this 2015 Bioplastics Award winning application (see p. 10), we’d like to cover it again and give some more technical details about Durabio.

Most front panels of smartphones are made of glass. In contrast to easily breakable glass, transparent polycarbonate or PMMA were considered for this application. However conventional Polycarbonate is crack-resistant but not scratch resistant, whereas PMMA is scratch resistant but not crack-resistant. MCC-developed Durabio is a bio-based engineering plastic made from plant-derived isosorbide which is both scratch resistant and crack-resistant and it has no yellowing (aging) effect, like comparable conventional plastics. MT

Oil

Sorbitol

Phenol / Acetone

O Isosorbide OH X HO OH Co-monomers O DURABIOTM oxygen-containing O Alicyclic OC Polycarbonate O X n O O Co-polymers m O

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DURABIO is a polycarbonate polymer. A main monomer is Isosorbite made from plant derived glucose

Low Birefringence Excellent Transparency

Good

Ductil Impact resistance

Plant-derived Glucose

Bio!car 24th Sept 2015

www.m-kagaku.co.jp

DURABIOTM

PC PC/PMMA alloy

High Surface Hardness PC

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Surface Hardness (Tabor abrasion test)

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DURABIO shows excellent UV light resistance, that is non-yellowing, compared with PC.

40 High Impact Resistance (Multi-axial Impact)

PMMA Surface Hardness

Heat Resistance PC

Bio-based Content Sustainability

Comparative general properties

Flame Retardance

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Superior UV Resistance

DURABIOTM

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Time Scale Machine: 6-kW Metaling Weather Meter M6T Irradiance: 1.5 kW/m2, Condition: 63 °C x 50 % RH

100 hr

Yellowness Index after UV Light Irradiation

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

25

Consumer Electronics

The Fair Mouse A pioneer project in socially sustainable electronics

Even such a simple product as a computer mouse consists of dozens of parts, many of which are composed of a number of smaller parts again, which in turn have necessarily also undergone a series of production steps. The aim of Nager IT (Bichl, Germany) is to produce all these parts under fair working conditions, with as ultimate goal to build a socially sustainable computer mouse. Well, the Fair Mouse is an optical computer, equipped with a power cable. The mouse comes with two, optionally three buttons and a wooden scroll wheel. It has been available since 2012, and since that time, some 5000 of these mouse devices have been sold.

From the very beginning, Nager IT took care to implement supply chain transparency, and currently more than two-thirds of the production process occurs under fair conditions. The assembly

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Schwefelfunktionelle Silane

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Veränderungen des Elastomernetzwerks

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Funktionalisierung von Kunststoffen

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ACN-Anteil und mechanische Eigenschaften

Optimising tear resistance

Thermoelastisches Kraftzuwachspotenzial

Magazine for the Polymer Industry

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First and foremost, the idea behind the Fair Mouse was to produce a product that met the criteria for social sustainability. However, the ecological aspects also play a major role. To produce the mouse, Nager IT uses PVC-free cables, scroll wheels carved from wood and bioplastic housings. The shell is based on PLA made from GMO free sugar cane from Thailand. The bioplastic material comes from Corbion. In order to create a compound that fulfils the requirements of the filigree housing structure, it is necessary, at least for the time being, to add talc and a small number of petroleum-based ingredients. The compound was developed by the IfBB (Institute for Bioplastics and Biocomposites, Hanover, Germany) and has a renewable resource content of . Corbion is working on solutions to replace the sugar cane by agricultural waste products. As it now stands, results from trials with bagasse, straw and wood chips seem to show that these offer the most promising solution.

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operations are subcontracted by a social enterprise in Southern Germany employing disabled people, components are sourced from producers in Europe, Israel or Japan. Still, some parts are produced in China. Wherever possible, Nager IT maintains close contact, observing and trying to improve working conditions.

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Buying responsibly has become a big issue over the last few decades: fair trade coffee, fair trade clothes, even fair trade wedding rings are available in the Western markets. When it comes to electronics, however, things are different: production still goes hand-in-hand with human rights violations in mines and sweat-shop style factories. Time to make a change, time to build fair IT. And that is precisely the aim of the Fair Mouse project.

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bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

Volume 7, November 2015

4| 2015

Consumer Electronics

New research paves the way

E

lectronics have radically changed the way people live and communicate. The sheer number of gadgets owned has risen astronomically, with analysts at German market research firm GfK reporting that 1.2 billion smartphones alone were sold globally in 2014, and that in the first quarter of 2015, smartphone unit demand was up +7 % on the same period of last year. The benefits are manifest: gadgets have not only simplified our lives but also made them more comfortable and luxurious. But the disadvantages are there, too. Next to a huge and still-growing dependence on personal electronic devices, there is the problem of the waste they generate.

Americans alone, on average, replace their mobile phones every 22 months, junking more than 150 million phones a year in the process. The question is, therefore: are users disposing of their older devices in a responsible way? Not really. The latest figures suggest that only around 13 % of electronic waste is disposed of and recycled properly.

Waste from electronics, says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is one of the fastest growing sources of waste in North America. Worldwide, an estimated 40 million tonnes of electronic waste is generated every year. Discarded and obsolete electronic devices contain lead, mercury, cadmium and other persistent and bioaccumulative toxics that, when improperly managed or disposed, pose threats to human health and the environment. Unsurprisingly, the EPA, therefore, strongly supports keeping used electronics out of landfills.

But the options to do so are relatively limited. In October, however, researchers from the University of Missouri published the study Self-Assembled Peptide-Polyfluorene Nanocomposites for Biodegradable Organic Electronics as the inside cover article in the journal Advanced Materials Interfaces. The researchers’ advancements could one day help reduce electronic waste in the world’s landfills. As the paper’s abstract points out, “Based on self-assembly and mimicking strategies occurring in nature, peptide nanomaterials play a unique role in a new generation of hybrid materials for the electronics of the 21st century.” A peptide is a chemical compound containing two or more amino acids (amino acid polymers) that are coupled by a peptide bond.

“Current mobile phones and electronics are not biodegradable and create significant waste when they’re disposed,” said Suchismita Guha, professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the MU College of Arts and Science. “This discovery creates the first biodegradable active layer in organic electronics, meaning – in principle – we can eventually achieve full biodegradability.”

“These peptides can self-assemble into beautiful nanostructures or nanotubes, and, for us, the main goal has been to use these nanotubes as templates for other materials,” Guha said. “By combining organic semiconductors with nanomaterials, we were able to create the blue light needed for a display. However, in order to make a workable screen for your mobile phone or other displays, we’ll need to show similar success with red and green light-emitting polymers.”

“So eventually the screen might be biodegradable, and at some point scientists hope to make the electronics out of printable ink, so instead of using circuit boards, you might use cellulose and printable inks to make the electronics,” Guha said. Then the entire device could be biodegradable.

The scientists also discovered that by using peptide nanostructures they were able to use less of the polymer.

Using less to create the same blue light means that the nanocomposites achieve almost 85 % biodegradability. “By using peptide nanostructures, which are 100 % biodegradable, to create the template for the active layer for the polymers, we are able to understand how electronics themselves can be more biodegradable,” Guha explained. “This research is the first step and the first demonstration of using such biology to improve electronics.”

Guha’s research is partially funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (Catalyzing New International Collaboration) and is being conducted in collaboration with colleagues from the Federal University of ABC in Brazil.

Based on materials provided by University of Missouri. KL munews.missouri.edu

A theoretical simulation of the distribution of the polymer on peptide nanotubes

Photo courtesy Dr. Guha

Biodegradable displays for electronics

Guha, along with graduate student Soma Khanra, collaborated with a team from the Federal University of ABC (UFABC) in Brazil to develop organic structures that could be used to light handheld device screens. Using peptides, or proteins, researchers were able to demonstrate that these tiny structures, when combined with a blue light-emitting polymer, could successfully be used in displays.

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

27

Materials

New biaxially oriented sheet product Biobased card sheet stock launched at Cartes Secure Connexions

A

t this year’s Cartes Secure Connexions digital security trade show, BI-AX International, a US manufacturer of oriented film, teamed up with biopolymer producer NatureWorks for the introduction of an entirely new line of Evlon biaxially oriented sheet products. The newly developed biobased Evlon sheet, which the company developed in collaboration with NatureWorks, is an extension of BI-AX International’s Evlon biaxially oriented film, which is likewise made from Ingeo™ biopolymer.

Available immediately, the new biobased sheet provides a competitive alternative to the traditional polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) used for credit, key and gift cards, as well as signage and folded cartons made from those petroleum-based plastics. This extension to the Evlon line offers a heat stable sheet with exceptional stiffness – ideal performance factors for sheet stock used for cards, signs, and cartons. The development of a bi-axially oriented Ingeo-based sheet is the latest innovation made by the two companies which have been collaborating on biobased solutions for more than a decade.

“What we recognized,” explained Brad Harrow, Sales Manager at BI-AX, “is that the technology we’ve been using to biaxially orient films gives us the unique ability to produce tough, higher gauge sheet products, without the nucleants or impact modifiers on which other manufacturers must rely.”

With its first sheet product offered in 254 µm (10 mil) gauge in white and clear formats, this entrant marks a significant product line expansion for BI-AX, as the company adds heavier gauge sheet products to what was already a comprehensive Evlon portfolio of 20 – 75 µm films. Moreover, it effectively challenges the perception that heat stable sheet products cannot be achieved without sacrificing high biobased content.

As Koen Bastiaens, NatureWorks NA Business Leader

Evlon sheet offers high clarity, folds cleanly and retains its shape making it an excellent choice for folded cartons

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bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

Films & Cards pointed out: “Ingeo biobased cards not only offer performance enhancements, but also deliver price stability compared to volatile, petro based materials. Evlon sheet stiffness allows thin-gauging and materials savings.”

Evlon’s high gloss sheet possesses high surface energy, parameters which provides for outstanding printing. BIAX co-extrusion capabilities mean the company is able to offer multilayer structures with an adjustable skin layer which facilitates customization of surface properties such as coefficient of friction, heat sealability, and tint. This coextrusion capability has allowed Evlon film to seal at lower temperatures than most orientated polypropylene (OPP) films, making it ideally suited for flexible film packaging.

The table below shows how the new 254 µm Evlon biobased sheet offers much better stiffness and impact resistance compared to PVC and HIPS. These properties lead to great durability as well as the ability to reduce the gauge of the sheet while maintaining the performance of thicker gauge petroleum based materials. KL www.biaxinc.com. www.natureworksllc.com.

Comparative data for sheet products PVC

HIPS

Evlon

Method

1,805

1,613

3,654

Tensile modulus in machine direction [MPa]

Impact resistance

7.4

5.1

18.4

Gardner impact [N-m/mm]

Biobased card content

0%

0%

100 %

ASTM 6868

Stiffness

Book Review

Handbook of Biodegradable Polymers, 2nd Edition

narocon Berlin, Germany

T

his 700-page book is a compilation of key topics associated with biodegradable polymers. The first five chapters (175 pages), written by seven different authors, focus on aspects of biodegradability and ecotoxicity and describe various methods, standards and certification schemes. Whilst these are changing over time, according to a chapter written by R.-J. Müller our fundamental knowledge and basic understanding of scientific biodegradation mechanisms would seem to date back to the early 1990s. Chapters 6 to 12 (300 pages) are a compilation of material and production data on the main types of biodegradable polymers. The focus is on the well-known commercial polyester-based polymers and compounds, although proteins, enzymatic monomer synthesis and polymerization processes are also discussed. A 20-page chapter offers a detailed introduction to life cycle analysis methodology, followed by a comprehensive, 50page description of Italy’s organic recycling concept and the role of

compostable bags. The final three chapters provide general overviews of bioplastics (by R. Narayan), biorefineries (T. Hirth, R. Busch) and EU funding opportunities (A. Perrazzelli). A 50-page index makes it possible to search for a multitude of keywords.

The book’s greatest strength is that it has brought together the various elements that are linked to biodegradable polymers, affording readers a quick entrance to a complex world. It is assumed this will in particular benefit professional newcomers, and ambitious readers from non-core-business layers. The contents are a bit repetitive and the chapters vary in language and in the degree to which they delve into detail, which is a consequence of the mixed author compilation.

Nevertheless, the content follows and mirrors the concept and communication of Novamont, the company that can be considered the intellectual leader of the technology. Readers may miss timeliness in some chapters, for example, an update on the science and mechanisms of biodegradation in various biological systems. A more stringent structuring with less overlap may have helped to include more material performance, application and market data. http://bit.ly/1MP0JtF

organized by

supported by

20. - 22.10.2016

Bioplastics in Packaging

Messe Düsseldorf, Germany

BIOPLASTICS BUSINESS BREAKFAST

By: Harald Kaeb

B

3

PLA, an Innovative Bioplastic Bioplastics in Durable Applications Subject to changes

At the World‘s biggest trade show on plastics and rubber: K‘2016 in Düsseldorf bioplastics will certainly play an important role again.

Call for Papers now open www.bioplastics-breakfast.com Contact: Dr. Michael Thielen (mt@bioplasticsmagazine.com)

On three days during the show from Oct 20 - 22, 2016 bioplastics MAGAZINE will host a Bioplastics Business Breakfast: From 8 am to 12 noon the delegates get the chance to listen and discuss highclass presentations and benefit from a unique networking opportunity.

The trade fair opens at 10 am. bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

29

Materials

Sunflower Power

By Karen Laird

Golden Compound creates innovative biocompounds from sunflower hulls

“Why do we use sunflowers? Because they have proven to be an amazing source of natural fiber”, said Marcel Dartée, general manager of Golden Compound, a start-up company headquartered in Ladbergen, in northern Germany. “Although, to be more precise, it’s actually the fibers derived from ground sunflower hulls that are used in our plastic compounds.”

As a side product of the sunflower oil industry, sunflower hulls have traditionally been regarded as a product with little to no value. For the most part, they are burned as fuel for the crushing plants or serve as low-quality roughage for cattle and sheep. Yet, as Dartée pointed out: “There is an infinite supply of sunflower hulls. They are a sustainable source of natural fiber that, moreover, in no way interferes with the food chain.”

From pilot to plant The idea for using sunflower hulls to create a new type of biocompound originated with a German company called SPC, which had close ties with a sunflower oil mill. SPC specialized in the development and marketing of processes and technologies to produce biomaterials. Cargill saw the potential of the idea and the two companies, both of whom were already active in the sunflower business, established the 50/50 joint venture company Golden Compound GmbH in June, 2014. The description of the activities of the new company was

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bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

relatively straightforward: based on technology provided by SPC, the object of the company was to develop, manufacture, and commercialize a range of biopolymers reinforced with natural fiber derived from sunflower seed hulls.

The initial pilot plant was up and running by October 1st of last year, and has since been scaled up, to reach a production capacity of 2.5 tonnes/year today. The company is planning to construct an industrial-scale facility, the size and site of which still remain to be determined.

The new compounds have been launched under the name S2PC, short for Sustainable Sunflower Plastic Compounds and are available as natural-fiber reinforced PP or PLA compounds. The company also offers compounds based on recycled post-consumer PP. The compounds currently on the market have been especially developed for injection molding; other grades are under development.

While the natural color of the compounds is dark, with a visible fiber structure, the fibers are easily rendered invisible by adding regular carbon black to the formulation.

At the Fakuma trade show in October (Friedrichshafen, Germany), which marked the first public appearance of Golden Compound, various products were on display at the stand, including a pure black desk tray made from the new compounds.

Materials Excellent processing properties According to Dartée, the materials, which the company has tested in various markets, have met with a positive response.

“The results have been good,” he said. “The compounds have been successfully used in a number of office furniture applications, as well as in office supply products.”

Part of the positive response is at least due to the fact that to date, all conversions have been made at equal or lower cost. Yet economics is not the only answer.

“Sunflower seed hulls have inherent foaming properties,” explained Dartée. “This considerably enhances the filling behavior, especially in thick-walled products.”

At the stand at the Fakuma, he displayed two identical products, one molded with S2PC, the other with conventional material. The difference was clearly visible: the product molded with conventional material showed sink marks; the S2PC product did not. “There is no need to overfill the part or for high back pressure. This is the result of the very slight foaming action that occurs. An additional benefit is that, due to the excellent heat dissipation properties of the material, the cycle times are also reduced for these thicker products.”

Golden Compound’s S²PC materials also have a lower density and are lighter in weight compared to, for example, glass-filled compounds. According to Dartée, combinations are also possible. “Using a 30 % loading of sunflower hulls together with a 20 % glass fiber loading in PP, can replace 40 % glass fiber while retaining all mechanical properties.

Not only does the density go down – so less weight – but the cycle time is also reduced,” he said.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating The S2PC materials also provide the stiffness needed to replace materials, such as PS (in the case of the desk tray), or even PA. At the Fakuma, Golden Compound was showcasing examples of office furniture in which the new compounds have replaced the original nylon used in, for example the back support of an office chair. In fact, the company has partnered with Germany-based furniture manufacturer fm Büromöbel, which has now incorporated S2PC into various of its products. “fm Büromöbel wanted to improve the environmental footprint of its office furniture product range without sacrificing on quality,” said Ulrich Meyer, managing director of fm Büromöbel Franz Meyer GmbH & Co. KG, Böse. “S2PC, made with plant-based remnants, offers us both ecological and economic benefits”. The customer response has been extremely positive, he reported, as the products offer sustainable benefits at no additional cost.

Next to the office furniture and supplies market, Golden Compound is also looking at the opportunities offered by the horticultural industry – and the automotive industry, where the new S2PC compounds could easily replace glass-filled PP in various non-visible components.

Yet, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. As Dartée emphasized, what it ultimately comes down to is performance.

If customers understand, and are convinced that the product offers superior benefits, at an affordable price, they will be prepared to make the switch. “Not because S2PC is a sustainable choice, but because it works.” www.golden-compound.com

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

31

Materials

The world’s first bioplastic from sewage

T

he world’s first PHA from sewage water has arrived.

And, while sewage may not sound exactly like the most appealing source of bioplastic, this first kilo of sewagebased PHA represents a truly groundbreaking innovation. In a world first, PHA has been produced from bacteria that had first purified the wastewater treated at a full-scale wastewater treatment facility in Bath, located in the Dutch province of Zeeland, within the scope of an innovative project called PHARIO. The first kilo of PHA produced in this way was presented to Oerlemans Packaging director Joan Hanegraaf during a stakeholders conference hosted by the company in Genderen (NL).

Polyhydroxyalkanoates, or PHAs, are fully biodegradable plastics that, under normal conditions, will degrade within a relatively short period of time. PHAs are linear polyesters produced in nature by bacterial fermentation of sugar or lipids. They are made by bacteria to store carbon and energy, a function which in mammals is fulfilled by fat. These bioplastics are generating increasing interest, mainly because of their unique ability to biodegrade in water. As a result, the number of applications is starting to rise. However, the price of PHA has continued to be a major drawback: until now, the production of PHA has involved specially cultivated bacteria that fermented sugar, resulting in high production costs and, consequently, a reluctant market uptake.

The business case The bacteria at wastewater treatment plants, however, also can produce PHA. Moreover, they are abundantly available.

Could these bacteria offer an economically viable route to producing PHA biopolymers? Using the complex bacterial flora in a wastewater treatment plant, instead of a pure culture of PHA-producing bacteria would eliminate the need for special nutrient medium, as this would be provided by the wastewater. This would lead to lower production costs, and hopefully, lower market prices.

Three Dutch water boards and their partners decided it was worth putting to the test. This summer, they launched what is known as the PHARIO project, with the signing of the joint venture agreement at the wastewater treatment plant in Bath, located in the Dutch province of Zeeland.

The pilot project is a joint initiative of three Dutch water authorities Brabantse Delta, De Dommel and Wetterskip Fryslân, in collaboration with STOWA (Dutch Foundation for Applied Water Research), sludge treatment plant SNB, and two commercial parties, Veolia and KNN. Veolia Water Technologies is an international supplier of plants and services for communal and industrial wastewater treatment, and is participating in the project via its Swedish subsidiary

Wastewater treatment facility provides valuable feedstock for PHA production

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Materials

At stakeholders event. Oerlemans Packaging director Joan Hanegraaf receives first kilo of sewage-based PHA

AnoxKaldnes that, together with KNN, is contributing specialist knowhow and technology for the production of PHA. The partners in the project all contributed to the funding; in addition, the project was awarded a grant from the TKI Biobased Economy innovation program. The project is one of the most promising to come out of the Green Deal concluded in the Netherlands last year between the Dutch Water Authorities and the government.

Importantly, the PHA produced using the technology is clean and hygienic. Measures must be taken to ensure the quality is consistent and stable in this respect. The current project is intended to demonstrate the possibilities and the quality of PHA which the technology offers. As Martin Tietema, Director KNN Bioplastic commented: “PHA bioplastic enables us to develop innovative and biodegradable products with which we can fundamentally revise the way our society uses plastics.”

Sewage sludge: a fertile feedstock source

Value chains for PHA

The main purpose of a water treatment plant is to produce clean drinking water. However, this is a process that also yields various residual products, that together form a semisolid slurry known as sludge. While part of the sludge is recycled, it is currently for the most part a waste product, which is pressed into sludge cakes and then burned.

The organizations behind the project organized the stakeholder meeting to show potential customers the first results of the project, which Hennie Roorda, member of the board of the Dutch Water Authorities called a “fundamental transition”.

This sludge, however, also contains the billions of bacteria that form part of the water purification process. These bacteria have gorged themselves on the organic waste in the water, consisting of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins, converting these into water, carbon dioxide and other non-toxic compounds. These are the bacteria that also produce PHA. The challenge, however, is separating the PHA from the bacteria, without affecting the quality in any way. This is a step that requires sophisticated technology, and that therefore also influences the cost price of the material.

Successful production – on a small scale Currently, this extraction step is carried out in Sweden at the pilot plant of Veolia subsidiary and project partner AnoxKaldnes. Veolia holds a number of patents for the technology used here. The Cella technology developed by AnoxKaldnes works by creating the best possible process conditions for increasing the presence of biopolymerproducing bacteria. The bioploymers are then harvested and further processed for industrial use. According to AnoxKaldnes, the processes “enable the recovery of valueadded renewable resources including biopolymers, lipids, minerals, other platform chemicals and energy as byproducts of process and wastewater management services.

This is the future of traditional Environmental Engineering.”

“This is the only way to describe the transition currently ongoing within the water authorities. By converting sewage into clean materials, sustainable energy and viable water, the water authorities are functioning as an important link in closing chains and cycles towards a sustainable society,” she said.

Ultimately, the aim is to establish value chains for PHA. While current production capacity is small – a few kilos per week – the idea is to scale this up to include the total treated wastewater volume and ultimately resulting in a production capacity of 2,000 metric tons/year. To that end, investment – and the commitment of stakeholders – are required to make it possible to scale up the technology and create a market for the PHA produced. This first batch shows the potential of the technology – and that it works.

“Having successfully achieved continuous production of biopolymers from wastewater means that the PHARIO project has taken a big step towards a circular economy and resourcing the world”, said Jacob Bruus, Executive Vice President Veolia Water Technologies, Sweden. “The results show that there is an alternative to plastics based on fossil fuels and that a solution to the plastics polluting our oceans lies within reach.” KL bit.ly/1MFDPXK (Dutch website)

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

33

Market study on Bio-based Building Blocks and Polymers in the World

Capacities, Production and Applications: Status Quo and Trends towards 2020

Bio-based polymers: Will the positive growth trend continue?

Bio-based polymers: Worldwide production capacity will triple from 5.7 million tonnes in 2014 to nearly 17 million tonnes in 2020. The data show a 10% growth rate from 2012 to 2013 and even 11% from 2013 to 2014. However, growth rate is expected to decrease in 2015.

Consequence of the low oil price?

The new third edition of the well-known 500 page-market study and trend reports on “Bio-based Building Blocks and Polymers in the World – Capacities, Production and Applications: Status Quo and Trends Towards 2020” is available by now. It includes consistent data from the year 2012 to the latest data of 2014 and the recently published data from European Bioplastics, the association representing the interests of Europe’s bioplastics industry.

Bio-based drop-in PET and the new polymer PHA show the fastest rates of market growth.

Europe looses considerable shares in total production to Asia. The bio-based polymer turnover was about € 11 billion worldwide in 2014 compared to € 10 billion in 2013. http://bio-based.eu/markets The nova-Institute carried out this study in collaboration with renowned international experts from the field of bio-based building blocks and polymers. The study investigates every kind of bio-based polymer and, for the second time, several major building blocks produced around the world.

What makes this report unique?

■ The 500 page-market study contains

over 200 tables and figures, 96 company profiles and 11 exclusive trend reports written by international experts.

■ These market data on bio-based building blocks and polymers are the main source of the European Bioplastics market data.

■ In addition to market data, the report offers a complete and in-depth overview of the biobased economy, from policy to standards & norms, from brand strategies to environmental assessment and many more.

■ A comprehensive short version (24 pages) is available for free at http://bio-based.eu/markets

million t/a

Bio-based polymers: Evolution of worldwide production capacities from 2011 to 2020 20

actual data

forecast

15

10

2% of total polymer capacity, €11 billion turnover

5

2011

©

2012

2013

2014

2016

2017

2018

2019

Epoxies

PUR

CA

PET

PTT

PEF

EPDM

PE

PBS

PBAT

PA

PHA

Starch Blends

PLA

-Institut.eu | 2015

2020

Full study available at www.bio-based.eu/markets

Content of the full report This 500 page-report presents the findings of nova-Institute’s market study, which is made up of three parts: “market data”, “trend reports” and “company profiles” and contains over 200 tables and figures.

The “market data” section presents market data about total production capacities and the main application fields for selected bio-based polymers worldwide (status quo in 2011, 2013 and 2014, trends and investments towards 2020). This part not only covers bio-based polymers, but also investigates the current biobased building block platforms.

The “trend reports” section contains a total of eleven independent articles by leading experts

Order the full report The full report can be ordered for 3,000 € plus VAT and the short version of the report can be downloaded for free at: www.bio-based.eu/markets

To whom is the report addressed?

■ The whole polymer value chain:

agro-industry, feedstock suppliers, chemical industry (petro-based and bio-based), global consumer industries and brands owners ■ Investors ■ Associations and decision makers

2015

Contact Dipl.-Ing. Florence Aeschelmann +49 (0) 22 33 / 48 14-48 florence.aeschelmann@nova-institut.de

in the field of bio-based polymers. These trend reports cover in detail every important trend in the worldwide bio-based building block and polymer market.

The final “company profiles” section includes 96 company profiles with specific data including locations, bio-based building blocks and polymers, feedstocks and production capacities (actual data for 2011, 2013 and 2014 and forecasts for 2020). The profiles also encompass basic information on the companies (joint ventures, partnerships, technology and bio-based products). A company index by biobased building blocks and polymers, with list of acronyms, follows.

Application News

Green to the Grave

Bioplastics offer safe

Marieke Havermans is a Dutch entrepreneur who is fast taking the idiom “from cradle to grave” to an entirely new level. A packaging expert, she has developed a new ecological casket made of 100 % biological materials that will decompose via natural processes in the ground within a period of some 10 years. And for those who prefer cremation: the casket will burn cleanly, reducing toxic emissions by up to 75 % compared to conventional caskets.

solution for toys

The idea for environmentally friendly coffins arose in 2012, and Havermans decided to go for it. Market research revealed that this was a product that had not yet been attempted to be made from bioplastic. She resigned from her job and started her company, Onora, in 2012, funded by an investor who believed in the project, a crowdfunding campaign and the proceeds from three awards, including the MKB Export Award.

Germany-based JELU-WERK has developed a wood-plastic compound that, according to the company, offers a superior solution to the toy industry. This bioplastic combines the advantages of wood and plastic: it can be three-dimensionally molded, offers design freedom, yet possesses the positive attributes of wood, such as higher strength and rigidity than plastic, which increases toy safety. In its warmth, feel and smell, the new material closely resembles wood. The company stresses that JELUPLAST® is completely free of chlorine, formaldehyde, phenol, plasticizers and PVC. An added advantage is its inherent bactericidal effect: the ISO 22196 test for antibacterial activity on plastics shows that Jeluplast has a strong antibacterial effect.

This means that even baby toys are protected against harmful germs and bacteria.

The caskets are made of a purpose-designed bioplastic – a natural fiber-filled PLA-based compound that is completely biodegradable.

They are the biggest single products ever made completely from bioplastic. The caskets are injection molded; the two, huge molds, one for the lid and one for the coffin itself, were built in China.

The casket is basically a thin-walled container with reinforcing ribs and stiffening features, that can accommodate up to 150 kg of weight.

Moreover, this structure means that far less material is needed to produce the coffin, which helps to keep the costs down. Because the coffin is injection molded, not only can features such as grips be integrated in the design, fasteners, such as screws, and adhesives are also unnecessary.

According to Havermans, the casket has rounded corners and an organic form: “based on a cocoon,” she says. The coffins come with an organic, hemp matrass and pillow made of hemp fiber, an eco-cotton sheet and, if desired, a blanket made of ecological Dutch wool. KL www.onora.eu

The bioplastic is composed of food-safe plastic and natural fibers. The natural fiber content can be set individually – loadings of up to 50 % or even 70 % are possible. The natural fibers can remain visible in the end product or be invisibly incorporated, according to preference. Using a biobased plastic matrix results in a compound that is 100 % biobased. The choice of matrix ultimately depends on the required properties. Jelusplast can be processed by injection molding, extrusion, compression molding, blow molding or foaming.

The company uses only fibers from selected woods that are PEFC-certified and have clearly defined properties. This is only fibers are processed that meet suitable criteria, such as a fixed grain size. This allows Jelu to adjust the physicalmechanical properties of the biocomposite to specific values.

The characteristics can be varied and adjusted to individual applications depending on the additives used.

The material is available as a premixed compound; compounds are formulated with different filler concentrations and alternating additives according to the customers’ needs. Jelu offers biocomposites based on polyethylene, polypropylene, thermoplastic starch (TPS), polylactides (PLA) and other plastics.

The fibers are either wood fibers or cellulose fibers. Jeluplast with PLA or TPS is biodegradable or compostable. KL www.jeluwerk.com

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bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

Application News

New biobased laminate for

Buzzed – 3D filament

sustainable food packaging

made from beer

Two bioplastics companies, Bio4Pack and The Bioplastic Factory, both of which are headquartered in the Netherlands, have collaborated on the development and marketing of a new biobased laminated film that is suitable for food packaging applications.

Dubbed BBII-80, the new film has earned a four star biobased rating from Vinçotte, indicating that it has a biobased content of minimally 80 %.

In additionally to scoring high on the sustainability scale, the BBII-80 laminate structure also features excellent product properties, good processability and easy handling. The laminate structure is composed of a cellulose outer layer consisting of Innovia Films’ compostable cellulose NatureFlex NK Matt film. A metallized NatureFlex film provides outstanding barrier properties, with low oxygen and water vapour permeability, making the film suitable for packaging a wide range of products, as both values score below 1.

Seal integrity is ensured through the use of Braskem’s I’m Green renewable bio-PE film.

The new laminate can easily be processed on any conventional packaging line and can simply be printed with up to 8 colours (full colour + 4 support colours). As an innovative bio-laminate packaging construction, BBII-80 film offers manufacturers of food products a packaging solution with a performance that is at least as good as anything traditional packaging has to offer, with sustainability thrown in as an added benefit.

Already, the new laminate structure has generated interest in the market. The first producer to utilise the product is a Netherlandsbased company called ‘Aardse Droom’, who is packaging its organic Sapana Delibars in the new film. This company has been certified since 2008 and is affiliated with Skal Biocontrole, the designated Control Authority responsible for the inspection and certification of organic companies in the Netherlands.

The company has announced that it will be using the film for its complete range of deli bars in the flavours almond/spiced biscuit, cashew/ginger, cashew/cinnamon, Brazil nut/vanilla, walnut/chai and walnut/cinnamon.

The enhanced moisture barrier of the BBII-80 laminated film also makes it possible for this to be used to package coffee (beans and ground). This is likely to be the next application.

According to the two companies that launched the new laminate, its high biobased content means that its production is extremely environmentally friendly. Compared to conventional film, some 4,200 kg of CO2 are saved per 1,000 kg of BBII-80 manufactured.

Next to BBII-80, the collaboration between Bio4Pack and The Bioplastic Factory has resulted in the development of a wide range of other films, as well – both biobased and biodegradable – for a host of different applications.KL

First, it was a coffee cup made of coffee-based filament. Now, 3D printing filament manufacturer 3Dom USA has introduced its newest eco-friendly product, called Buzzed. And it’s made from beer because, as 3Dom puts it: “We hate to see a good beer go to waste.”

To make Buzzed, 3Dom USA uses waste byproducts from the beer-making process, which the company gets from a local major label brewing plant. Buzzed uses those beer left-overs to create a special 3D printing material with visibly unique print finishes. The filament produces products with a rich golden color and a noticeable natural grain.

Now, a stein printed with Buzzed is a true beer stein.

This is the second in a line of intriguing materials from 3Dom USA called the c2composite line; coffee-made filament Wound Up was the first.

The filament maker has partnered with c2renew, a biocomposite company that takes supposedly unusable material and makes it usable, to create the c2Composite line of biobased filaments.

Buzzed filament can be printed on any machine capable of printing with PLA using standard PLA settings. It comes spooled on the 100 % bio-based Eco-Spool™ and is available in 1.75 mm and 2.85 mm diameters.

According to the company, the coffee and beerbased filaments are fun and focused on spreading the 3Dom USA name. However, said 3Dom USA, there are definite plans to release more distinctive biobased products, with highly advanced mechanical properties, in the near future. KL www.3domusa.com

www.thebioplasticfactory.nl www.bio4pack.com www.innoviafilms.com

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

37

Application News

Bio-PA selected for new abrasive monofilament Royal DSM has announced that its high performance bio-based EcoPaXX® polyamide has been chosen as the basis for a series of new high temperature resistant abrasive monofilaments from the world’s leading abrasive monofilament producer Hahl-Pedex.

Abrasive brush tools are used in a wide variety of industries for cleaning, deburring, structuring and finishing applications.

Generally, they are made using an array of abrasive monofilaments consisting of a polymer such as PA6, PA610 and PA612, to which an abrasive material, such as silicium carbide, ceramic or diamond grit has been added. The performance of the abrasive brush tool depends to a large extent on the material properties and performance of the polymer employed. Key requirements typically include: continuous use temperature, abrasion resistance, bending stiffness, and also often UV resistance.

Hahl-Pedex is the world leader in abrasive monofilaments and together with DSM has developed AbraMaXX™, a new series of abrasive monofilaments based on DSM’s EcoPaXX Polyamide 410. PA410 has a considerably higher melting point (250 °C) than PA610 (218 °C) and PA612 (215 °C) while maintaining an equal abrasion resistance and higher bending stiffness due to higher modulus. This means that the new abrasive monofilaments can be employed at higher temperatures, leading to a higher abrasion index. A higher abrasion index means longer brush tool lifetimes and more removed metal per brush tool weight.

Hahl-Pedex expects the new product range to fill the gap between the abrasive filaments with temperature class 100 °C and the ultrahigh range with temperature class 250 °C. Kees Tintel, Business Manager EcoPaXX, said: “The abrasive monofilaments, and also other technical monofilaments, are applications where EcoPaXX PA410’s high melting point, stiffness, good abrasion and chemical resistance, and very good thermal stability at high continuous use temperature add real value. In addition to all this, EcoPaXX is also bio-based.”

Hahl-Pedex currently offers the new AbraMaXX products in silicium carbide, ceramic and diamond grit versions. KL www.ecopaxx.com · www.hahl-pedex.com.

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bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

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From Science & Research

From Corn to T-shirt Rapid Textile Prototyping at ITA in Aachen

T

his article presents the Rapid Textile Prototyping method developed at the Institute of Textile Technology (ITA) using the example of the production of a T-shirt made from PLA. One of the core competences of the Aachen, Germany based ITA is the representation of nearly complete textile process chains, beginning with raw materials such as natural fibers or granulates of synthetic material and ending up with read-ymade end products or pre-products.

In the field of yarn production, spun yarn, multifilament yarn, monofilament yarn, as well as high modulus filament yarn can be produced at the ITA. The produced yarns can then be processed in all classic methods of surface production like weaving, knitting, warp knitting, braiding, as well as nonwoven surface production in bonded yarn or fiber layers. Finishing processes, like thermosetting and the dyeing of cloth bales, are outsourced to partner companies. After finishing, the cloth can be cut and joined into textile pre-products by sewing or welding.

Furthermore, fiber composites can be laminated in moulds, or impregnated with resin through infusion, and hardened in the autoclave.

The Rapid Textile Prototyping method, developed at ITA, shows the realization of a fabric with all the needed process steps starting with yarn spinning. All the parameters necessary for the production of a fabric can be identified in a top-down process, whereas the choice of the appropriate polymer, or the appropriate natural fiber, can be made through the “bottom-up” process. Picture 1 illustrates

Melt spinning [2,500 m/min]

Raw material

PLA pellets

Texturizing [600 m/min]

the different steps involved in the production of a T-shirt made of PLA using the Rapid Textile Prototyping process developed by ITA. The steps, which this manufacturing process require, are the following: Melt spinning Texturing Knitting Finishing Ready-to-wear manufacturing A multifilament yarn with POY (partially oriented yarn) characteristics is produced from PLA in the melt spinning process. PLA is a material that crystallizes slowly in the spinning process, which means that crystallization continues on the bobbin.The heat produced during this post-crystallization accumulates in the inner yarn layers.

This heat accumulation results in a shift of the amorphous phase past the glass transition temperature in parts of the polymer melt, which leads to slipping yarn layers in the lapping process and hence to an instable bobbin formation.

Using a FDY (fully drawn yarn) process with heated godets at crystallization temperature leads to a completed PLA crystallization in the winding process. [3] The process speed is reduced from 3,500 m/min to 2,500 m/min. Two spinning days are needed to realize the needed yarn quantity of 20 kg (in 1 kg bobbins)

Heat setting & deyeing [0.5 m/min] (external)

Weft knitting [0.5 m2/min]

Rapid textile prototyping

Cutting & sewing

Product

PLA T-Shirt

Picture1: Rapid Textile Prototyping at the ITA, exemplary for PLA

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bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

From Science & Research

The yarn is crimped with a false twist in the following texturing process in order to improve feel and heatinsulating capacity. An adjustment of the spin finish has an intense influence on yarn damage and may help a better manufacturing of the PLA yarn. The process speed is 600m/min and after adjusting the parameters, 20 kg material can be textured with several parallel positions within one day.

By: Nicole Mevissen, Mathias Beer, Yves-Simon Gloy, Thomas Gries Institut für Textiltechnik (ITA) der RWTH Aachen University Aachen, Germany

The next step of the process chain is manufacturing a textile surface. The textured multifilament yarn is delivered with a speed of 140 m/min at 20 knitting positions in the circular knitting machine, resulting in a single jersey.

Roughly 0,5 m2 of knitted cloth are produced per minute.

In the knitting process, an elastane filament yarn is plated to the PLA yarn in order to adjust the elongation properties to a reference product made from polyester yarn. After the knitting process, thermosetting and dyeing are processed with about 0,5 m/min.

The last step includes cutting the apparel pattern and manufacturing the ready-to-wear T-shirt. Finally, the organic T-shirt is compared to the reference model, made from polyester, in standardized textile testing methods (weight per unit, strength/elongation, air permeability, stitch density, thickness).

As the textile process chain can be examined completely at the ITA, new products can either be developed from existing material, or already existing products can be modified by using new material. One of the core challenges is usually finding and setting the appropriate process parameters for the new product or material. For this purpose, existing processes are adjusted according to the requirements, or, if necessary, completely new processes or process steps and the needed machine technology are developed. The ITA can support the establishment of new manufacturing processes and their preparation for industrial production.

Acknowledgment: Special thanks are due to Dr. Roy Dolmans for supervising a master’s thesis on the procedural dimensioning and manufacturing of the PLA T-shirt. Further thanks go to the company Dolinschek GmbH, Burladingen, who supported the manufacturing process with their help in thermosetting and dyeing.

References: [1] B. Linnemann, M. Sri Harwoko, T. Gries, Faserstoff-Tabellen; Polylactidfasern (PLA), 1. Ausgabe, Institut für Textiltechnik (ITA) der RWTH Aachen, Aachen, 2004 [2] Endres, H.-J.; Siebert-Raths, A.: Technische Biopolymere Rahmenbedingungen, Marktsituation, Herstellung, Aufbau und Eigenschaften; München, Hanser Verlag, 2009 [3] Dolmans, R.: Bewertung kommerziell erhältlicher, biobasierter Polymere in der textilen Filamentextrusion, Dissertation, Shaker Verlag, Aachen, 2014 www.ita.rwth-aachen.de

Institut of Textile Technology (ITA) der RWTH Aachen University ITA belongs to the top three institutes of RWTH Aachen University. Its core competences are in the development of textile machinery and textile machine components, in high-performance fiber materials, in manufacturing processes, in spinning supply chains, and in the development of innovative textile-based products in the fields of mobility, construction and living, and energy and health. The central fields of technologies are efficiency of material and energy, integration of functions, and integrative manufacturing technology. The institute employs about 110 scientific researchers including mechanical engineers, chemists, physicians and economists.

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

41

From Science & Research

Stereoblock-PLA: Lab gimmick or competitive addition to the market?

A

Synthesis of sb-PLA

lthough polylactides (PLA) entered the polymer market some time ago, the application fields are still restricted by a number of drawbacks. Two of the most severe of these are the limited thermal stability (HDT) and the high degree of brittleness of the material. The main type of PLA that is currently found on the market is PLLA, the enantiomer prepared from L-lactide and L-lactic acid, respectively, because of the natural abundance of the latter. By blending PLLA and PDLA – the most common path to increase the HDT – stereocomplex (sc) crystals are formed that have an approximately 50 K higher melting point than the homochiral (hc) crystals of PLLA and PDLA. However, in simple sc blends, both sc and hc crystals are formed, with the latter becoming more dominant as the molecular weight of the PLA chains increases. This leads to the deterioration of the thermal properties. Since high molecular weights are necessary to achieve satisfactory mechanical properties, a conflict of aims is virtually preprogrammed. A more efficient sc crystallisation takes place in the so-called stereoblock (sb) PLA. Here, blocks of PLLA are chemically linked with PDLA blocks [1].

Diisocyanates were chosen as suitable coupling agents for the isomeric PLA blocks due to their high reactivity with hydroxyl groups. Consequently, the PLA chains to be coupled had to be terminated with hydroxyl groups on both chain ends (PLA diols). Within the sb-PLA, the isomeric PLA blocks are then linked by urethane bonds (fig. 1).

Different ratios of PLLA/PDLA are easy to adjust in this way.

PLA-diols with different number average molecular weights were synthesised by ring opening polymerisation (ROP) of L- and D-lactide, respectively, in the mini plant of the Fraunhofer IAP. Molecular weights were adjusted by the quantity of the bifunctional initiator ethylene glycol used.

A prepolymer method was applied for the polyaddition reaction. In the 1st step, an NCO-terminated prepolymer was synthesised by reacting the PLLA isomer with a twofold excess of diisocyanate. Afterwards, in the 2nd step, sb-PLA was produced by reaction with the isomeric PDLA-diol.

Both reaction steps were performed by reactive extrusion in a Brabender DSE 12/36 twin-screw extruder. All heating zones were set to 170 °C during preparation of the NCOprepolymer; in the 2nd step, a temperature gradient from 190 °C (feed) to 230 °C (nozzle) was applied. The feeding rate was set to 200 g/h. The extrusion technique is easily implementable into existing production units and is even already being used for finishing steps. Four different types of sb-PLA with varying molecular weights and compositions were synthesised, as is shown in the table (fig. 2).

Nowadays, the availability of D-lactic acid is increasing – a prerequisite for diversification of PLA by sb-PLA formation. Nevertheless, the challenge to develop a simple synthesis process for sb-PLA, which can be integrated into the implemented synthesis process of PLA, still remains.

Recent studies performed by the authors have focussed on the development of a reactive extrusion process for synthesising sb-PLA with improved heat distortion temperature, good mechanical properties and good processability in injection moulding.

Fig. 1: Principle of sb-PLA synthesis

Fig. 2: Synthesised sb-PLAs and their hydroxyl-telechelic prepolymers

HO

OH

HO

OH

OCN

NCO

sb-PLA

Mn L-PLA*

Mn D-PLA*

ratio L/D

Mn**

Mw**

g/mol

g/mol

g/mol

g/mol

1

17

16.8

50/50

45.7

126

2

15.5

13.5

50/50

25.5

56.5

3

17.9

16.8

80/20

44.8

106

4

17.9

9

80/20

50.2

132

* GPC: methylene chloride; universal calibration (viscosity); IAP ** GPC: hexafluoroisopropanol; PMMA standard; PSS Mainz

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bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

From Science & Research

By Elke Mitzner1, André Gomoll1, Felix Reiche2, Antje Lieske1

The fast sc crystallisation of sb-PLA leads to higher heat distortion temperatures (HDT). Within our investigations, the lower molecular weight sb-PLA 50/50 reached the highest HDT (B) of 92 °C right after injection moulding of test specimens. This is approximately 30 K higher than that of commercial PLLA without additives.

2

EO, hesco Kunststoffverarbeitung C Luckenwalde, Germany

6

sb - PLA 1 sb - PLA 2 Ingeo 3 251D

4

Heat flow [mW]

2 0 -2 -4 -6 -8 -10 20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

Temperature [°C]

Fig. 3: DSC traces of sb-PLA (50/50) in comparison with Ingeo 3251D (10 K/min, 2nd run)

Fig. 4: Notched Charpy impact strength of sb-PLA (50/50) in comparison with Ingeo 3251D 7

6

5

Charpy, notched [kJ/m²]

It can also be seen that the crystallisation behaviour is influenced by the molecular weight. sb-PLA 1, with the same composition but a higher molecular weight than sb-PLA 2, crystallised in a wider temperature range. The two peak maxima are probably an indication of the formation of two different crystal forms. On the other hand, the degree of crystallisation given by the melting enthalpies was not influenced and was calculated to be 58 %, which is a fairly high value compared to 27 % in Ingeo 3251D and the 35 % given as average value in literature [2].

raunhofer Institute for Applied F Polymer Research IAP Potsdam-Golm, Germany

8

Properties of sb-PLA with equivalent D/L ratio The thermophysical behaviour of the materials was determined by dynamic scanning calorimetry (DSC; heating and cooling with 10 K/min). A comparison of two different sb-PLAs (sb-PLA 1 and 2 in the table), both with an L/D-ratio of 50/50 but different molecular weights, with Ingeo® 3251D (standard injection moulding grade) is given in figure 3.

What is immediately noticeable is that the melting point of the sb-PLAs is about 40 K higher than that of the commercial PLLA. Furthermore, only sc crystals and no lower melting hc crystals are detected.

It is worth mentioning that – in contrast to the commercial PLA – crystallisation of the sb-PLAs took place during cooling, indicating a clear acceleration of the crystallisation rate for sb-PLA. For injection moulding processes, for example, this represents a major benefit, as shorter cycle times become feasible.

1

4

3

sb-PLA 2 + PBS

2 3251D + PBS 1 3251D

sb-PLA 2

0 1

2

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

43

From Science & Research Elasticity module, tensile strength and elongation at break of the sb-PLAs were in the same range compared with commercial PLLA. The low impact strength of PLA is usually improved by the addition of plasticisers or impact modifiers. It could be shown that polybutylene succinate (PBS), a likewise bio-based aliphatic polyester, enhanced the impact strength of both sb- and commercial PLA (Ingeo 3251D). While the values of the native polymers were comparable, the notched Charpy impact strength of the sb-PLA / PBS blend was approximately 30 % higher than that of the Ingeo 3251D / PBS blend (fig. 4).

Properties of sb-PLA with non-equivalent D/L ratio Two different sb-PLAs with a D/L ratio of 80/20 (sb-PLA 3 and 4 in the table) were synthesised in the same way.

The materials differ in molecular weights of the PLA diols used, as is shown in the table.

Both materials crystallised slower than the sb-PLAs with a D/L-ratio of 50/50, which becomes obvious by an approximately 25 K lower crystallisation temperature in the cooling run of DSC. Moreover, the degree of crystallisation is lower but nonetheless reaches 32 %. Again, no lower melting hc crystals are detected.

Elasticity module (3,200 MPa) and tensile strength (65 MPa) were in the same range compared with sb-PLA 50/50 having comparable molecular weight.

Injection moulding of sb-PLA The processability of the native sb-PLA 2, as well as of the respective blend with PBS, was investigated at hesco Kunststoffverarbeitung GmbH, Luckenwalde and compared with Ingeo 3251D. Using a standard injection mould of a sulphur atom from the molecule construction kit produced

by Cornelsen Experimenta (fig. 5), serial production process samples were moulded. The compact sphere body with six bonding arms is considered to be geometrically demanding, in terms of filling the injection cavity. The best results

were achieved with sb-PLA 2 / PBS. Injection moulding of this material resulted in defect-free parts with a good surface which could be easily removed from the mould.

Furthermore, sb-PLA 2 / PBS closely approached cooling and total cycle times of established ABS types. In contrast, the native Ingeo material, as well as the respective PBS blend, resulted in parts with air inclusions and incompletely moulded bonding arms. Additionally, the latter materials required significantly longer cycle times.

Further research Having demonstrated the beneficial properties of sbPLA, as well as the general principles of a technically implementable synthesis process, our future work will focus on the further development of the process and on the development of sb-PLA grades adopted to different processing techniques (injection moulding, film extrusion, blown film production etc.) and with different material properties. The decisive parameters to be varied include molecular weight, length and ratio of the isomeric blocks, additives and blending partners. Furthermore, alternative coupling agents will be investigated.

Acknowledgement The project this publication is based on was funded by the Brandenburg Ministry of Economic and European Affairs and the EU. The responsibility for the content of the publication lies with the authors.

The blending with PBS by Linotech, Forst and the determination of molecular weights by PSS, Mainz is gratefully acknowledged. www.iap.fraunhofer.de www.hesco.de References: [1] M. Hirata, Y. Kimura, Structure and properties of stereocomplex-type poly(lactic acid), in: Poly(lactic acid): Synthesis, structure, properties, processing and applications, 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 59 – 65 [2] L. Fambri, C. Migliaresi, Crystallization and thermal properties, in: ibid., 113 – 124

Fig. 5: Models of the sulphur atom made from the Molecule Construction Kit of Cornelsen Experimenta

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bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

Naturally Compost

First day

Excellent Heat sealability

30 days

Heat resistance up to

100 C

60 days

120 days

180 days

Runs well with LDPE machine

*This test was conducted under natural condition in Bangkok, Thailand.

Dreaming of naturally compostable bioplastic ? Here is the answer.

BioPBS is revolutionary in bioplastic technology by excelling 30°C compostable and being essentially bio-based in accordance with Vincotte for OK COMPOST (EN13432), OK COMPOST HOME marks, and DIN CERTCO for Biobased Products in European Union.

It is compostable without requiring a composting facility and no adverse effects on the environment.

BioPBS™ is available in various grades, which can be applied in a wide range of end use applications ranking from paper coated packaging, flexible packaging, agricultural film, and injection molding. It provides non-process changing solution to achieve better results in your manufacturing needs, retains the same material quality, and can be processed in existing machine as good as conventional material. In comparison with other bioplastics, BioPBS™ is excellent heat properties both heat sealability and heat resistance up to 100 °C.

8C084/8C085

8C083

BioPBS™ is available in various grades that conform to the following international standards for composting and biobased.

For more information

PTTMCC Biochem : +66 (2) 2 140 3555 / info@pttmcc.com MCPP Germany GmbH : +49 (0) 152 018 920 51 / frank.steinbrecher@mcpp-europe.com MCPP France SAS : +33 (0) 6 07 22 25 32 / fabien.resweber@mcpp-europe.com PTT MCC Biochem Co., Ltd. A Joint Venture Company of PTT and Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation 555/2 Energy Complex Tower, Building B, 14th Floor, Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand

T: +66 (0) 2 140 3555 I F: +66(0) 2 140 3556 I www.pttmcc.com

Basics

Plastics made from CO2 Carbon dioxide as chemical feedstock

I

n the last decades much work has been done in the field of carbon dioxide capture, purification, and transformation into useful and new fuels, chemicals and polymers.

The explosion of interest in CO2 has led to a new awareness at industrial, societal, and scientific levels with the result that carbon dioxide is no longer a mere waste product, but rather an abundant, low cost raw material. Moreover, using carbon dioxide as chemical feedstock plays a key role for the sustainable future of chemical industry and opens up new prospects for solving global challenges, and in the end it could help boosting a low carbon society. High on the European research agenda, scientists and engineers around the world are very active in Carbon Capture Utilization (CCU) research, especially in the fields of solar fuels (power-to-fuel, power-to-gas), but also in CO2-based chemicals and polymers. Meanwhile the implementation is only a stone’s throw away. First pilot and commercial production plants are already installed in which CO2 is used either directly as polymer building block or indirectly in combination with other monomers that are not CO2derived to obtain a large array of final plastics with tailormade properties.

plastic that is synthesized from copolymerization of CO2 and propylene oxide (C3H6O). PPC contains up to 50 % CO2 by mass, shows good biodegradability properties, high temperature stability, high elasticity and transparency, and has a memory effect. These characteristics open up a wide range of applications, including countless uses as packaging films and foams, dispersions and softeners for brittle plastics. Other big advantages of PPC are its thermoplastic behaviour, which is similar to many existing plastics, the possible combination with other polymers, and its use as filler. Moreover, PPC does not require special tailor-made machines to process it, making PPC a ready-to-use alternative to many existing plastics. PPC is also a good softener for biobased plastics. Many of these, for example PLA and PHA, are originally too brittle and can therefore be used for many applications only in combination with additives. Of course, it is not new, but it clearly illustrates the comprehensive application possibilities of this CO2-based polymer: PPC gives new options and offers an extensive range of material characteristics in combination with PLA or PHA. This keeps the material biodegradable and translucent, and it can be processed without any trouble in existing machinery. In Germany some years ago, BASF, Siemens and the TU Munich worked on PPC and combined it with PHA and PLA for vacuum cleaner and refrigerator parts to demonstrate the new material’s potential and properties.

This paper is mainly focused on polypropylene carbonate (PPC), polyethylene carbonate (PEC) and polyurethanes (PUR) based on CO2 (figure 1).

Polypropylene carbonates (PPC) and Polyethylene carbonates (PEC)

Besides Novomer and Empower Materials in the USA, the Norwegian company Norner and South Korea’s SK Innovation are also well-known companies who are

Polypropylene carbonates (PPC) are biodegradable aliphatic polyesters and the first remarkable example of

PPC

Figure 1: Routes to PPC, PEC and PU from CO2 (nova-Institut GmbH, 2012)

PO

CO2 Polyol

EO PEC

Isocyanate PUR

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bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

Basics

By: Barbara Dommermuth and Achim Raschka nova-Institute Hürth, Germany

working on PPC. Novomer, an emerging sustainable chemistry company, was founded in 2004 and is focused on commercializing high performance, cost-effective, environmentally responsible polymers and chemicals based on proprietary catalyst technology (figure 2). This novel technology allows traditional chemical feedstock such as propylene oxide with carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide from pollution to be converted into cost-effective sustainable materials for a wide variety of applications from thermoplastics to coatings. This results in a family of novel PPC polymers that contain up to 50 % CO2 by weight and they are thus alternative to conventional fossil-based polyether, polyester and polycarbonate polyols currently on the market with up to 90 % lower CO2eq-emissions.

that Jowat AG, a leading German supplier of industrial adhesives, is the first to commercially adopt Novomer’s new Converge PPC polyols. Jowat is using the polyols in polyurethane hot melt adhesive applications.

Novomer has also a proprietary technology to obtain polyethylene carbonate (PEC )from ethylene oxide and CO2 by a process similar to the one used for the production of PPC. PEC is 50 % CO2 by weight and can be used in a number of applications to replace and improve traditional petroleum-based plastics currently on the market. PEC exhibits excellent oxygen barrier properties that make it useful as a barrier layer for food packaging applications.

Furthermore, PEC has a significantly improved environmental footprint compared to polymers typically used as barrier layer such as ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) and polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC).

Novomer’s proprietary cobalt-based catalyst system is cost-effective (20 to 40 % lower cost) and produces a polymer with an extremely precise backbone, and little to no by-products. In addition, the polymerization reaction occurs at slightly above ambient temperature so the entire process generates a very small carbon footprint.

The recent commercial interest necessitated an increased volume, so the process has been scaled up to produce PPC in the multi-thousand-tonne range. Novomer started the first commercial production of PPC in 2014 with a production capacity of 5,000 t/a at Albemarle, Houston, Texas. They are using CO2 from ethanol fermentation, ammonia, hydrogen and ethylene oxide production, reformers, natural gas wells and the flue gas from coalfire power plants and replace up to half of the fossil fuel in the materials. End of 2014 the company announced

Alongside SK Innovation, further companies from Asia are working in the PPC area such as Jiangsu JinlongCAS Chemical Co., Ltd. with a PPC production capacity of 22,000 t/a. Inner Mongolia Mengxi High-Tech Group Co., Ltd. has also been producing PPC commercially with a production capacity line of 3,000 t/a since 2004. They plan to further expand in the coming years. Both companies are from China.

Econic Technologies is a highly innovative, and fast growing chemical technology company, based at Imperial College, London. The company has developed a homogeneous bimetallic complex for the manufacturing of polymers via co-polymerisation of carbon dioxide and

Figure 2: Novomer’s CO2-based polyols platform (Novomer 2014)

Propylene oxide (PO)

Polypropylene carbonate (PPC)

CO2 Novomer catalyst

High Mw thermoplastic polymers

PO + CO2 + Catalyst + Initiator I

OH

HO

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Low Mw polyols (thermosets)

HO

43 wt% CO2

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• Initiator spurs polymerizations • Creates more, shorter PPC chains

• No initiator present during reaction • Creates fewer, longer PPC chains

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Basics some of the mineral oils). The zinc-based catalyst allows for the conversion of propylene oxide with carbon dioxide from the flue gas, produced by coal-fired power plant of RWE Power, into a light-coloured viscous polyol, one of the two building blocks needed to produce polyurethane (figure 3).

epoxides, for example propylene oxide and ethylene oxide.

Up to 30 – 43 % of petrochemical feedstock can be replaced

by CO2 from industrial waste streams such as chemical or power plants. Econic Technologies started operations in 2012 after initial investment from Imperial Innovations and Norner Verdandi to develop the technology further towards commercial applications. The current technology is covered by a number of worldwide patents and patent applications. A further £ 5.1 million (€ 7.1 million) investment in 2013 by Jestream Capital and Imperial Innovations will be used to scale up and commercialise the technology.

In February 2011, Covestro started up a pilot plant in Leverkusen, in which CO2 was combined with propylene oxide on a large scale. Carbon dioxide comes from a RWE power plant near Cologne and is first separated from flue gas, liquefied, filled up in cylinders and in the end transported to Covestro.

Definitions: CO2-plastic? – Bioplastic? – recycled CO2?

Tests disclosed good properties of the new polyol with the result that CO2-based polyurethanes can be used for many applications. The new polyol has the same level of quality as conventionally manufactured materials, it has an equal stability to existing products and a more sustainable impact. Other noteworthy facts are the lower heat of combustion and the reduction of costs by replacing a certain amount of petro-based propylene oxide by carbon dioxide. Not to be forgotten is the lower greenhouse gas emission, since CO2 is chemically bound. Taken as a whole the CO2 balance of the new process is far better than that of the conventional production method.

It must be pointed out that it is not easy to give an unambiguous classification to PPC, because its definition falls into a grey area. As discussed above, it can be produced from CO2 recovered from flue gases and conventional propylene oxide, and in this case it cannot be defined as biobased. It may still be attractive due to its 43 % of recycled CO2 and its full biodegradability. The production of PPC from CO2, which is produced during the combustion of biomass, can be classified as 43 % biobased and complies with the official ASTM D6866 definition.

Additionally, if propylene oxide could be produced through the oxidation of biobased propylene, it could be then declared 57 % biobased, or even 100 % biobased if CO2 and propylene oxide are both biobased. Since more and more plastics and chemicals will be derived from recycled CO2 in the future, a new classification and definition such as recycled CO2 will be needed to avoid confusing consumers.

High-quality polyols based on CO2 are currently not available on a commercial scale. However, after a successful pilot phase, a commercial production line with an annual capacity of 5,000 tonnes is under construction in Dormagen, Germany, as part of the Dream Production project, totalling an investment of € 15 million. Commercial production of these CO2-based polyols is expected to start early 2016. Polyols are initially planed for the production of flexible foam for mattresses.

Polyurethanes (PUR) Worldwide, more than 13 million tonnes of polyurethanes are produced every year for a wide variety of applications.

Since researchers have found a way to incorporate CO2 into the molecular structure of polyurethanes, this polymer is also particularly sustainable.

While the proportion of petroleum in this chemical is 80 %, Covestro aims at reducing the petro-based content to 60 % in a next step. In the new process, CO2 is used twice.

First, the greenhouse gas is incorporated directly into a new kind of precursor (polyoxymethylene polycarbonate polyol, POM PET), replacing 20 % of the petroleum.

Second, it is also indirectly used for the production of a chemical that is also incorporated into the precursor for a further 20 % saving in petroleum. As a result, the proportion of alternative raw materials is 40 %. In addition, the number of plastics that can be produced using carbon dioxide is increasing: among thermoplastic polyurethanes

The Dream Production and the intensive research in CO2 of Covestro (formerly Bayer MaterialScience) is the bestknown example at the present time. After four decades of research, the group of German scientists from Covestro, RWE Power, RWTH Aachen University and CAT Catalytic Center, found a suitable catalyst to produce polyurethane blocks made from CO2-derived polyols (where CO2 replaces

Figure 3: Production of polyurethane (Covestro, 2014)

O R

O

O

x

Polyol

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O

y

OH

+

O

C

N

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O R˙

Isocyanate

R

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x

O

(Poly)urethane

y

O

N H

R˙

Basics (TPU), films and casting elastomers, it is also possible to use the new polyol in all kinds of applications, including automotive interiors, cable sheathing and sporting goods such as ski boots. This part of the Dream Polymers project is still at lab scale.

It is being supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. External institutions in Germany such as the CAT Catalytic Center, the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis and the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology are also involved.

Polymers and chemicals derived from biotechnology and other processes Beside these polymers produced by a chemical synthesis to a polyol via a metallic catalyst, some biotechnology routes for the production of well-known biobased polymers are also on their way. This is especially true for the technology to produce polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) and polylactic acid (PLA) based on the biotechnological production of lactic acid. These technologies using acetogenic bacteria to produce this kind of product are not on the market yet but several companies and research bodies are working on it. Examples are among others: LanzaTech (AU/USA), they are using patented, whollyowned microbes to convert carbon rich waste resources from industries or biogenic sources into valuable fuels and chemicals (platform chemicals and building blocks) through a process of gas fermentation. Another example but with a strong focus on fuel production is JOULE Unlimited (USA). They pioneered a unique CO2-to-liquids conversion technology that also offers an entirely new alternative for the production of CO2-based chemicals. Last but not least is Phytonix Corporation, based in the United States. This company is manufacturing sustainable chemicals directly from carbon dioxide, sunlight, and water via patented photobiological and genomics technology. In this manner, Phytonix produces n-butanol which can be used for the production of biobased plastics.

Without doubt, Liquid Light (USA) is one of the key players in producing major chemicals from low-cost, globally-abundant carbon dioxide. The core technology, developed initially on the basis of licensed processes from Princeton and substantially enhanced since then, is centered on low-energy catalytic electrochemistry to convert CO2 to chemicals, combined with hydrogenation and purification operations. Liquid Light’s first process via oxalic acid is for the production of ethylene glycol (MEG), which is used to make a wide range of consumer products such as PET plastic bottles, antifreeze and polyester clothing.

Liquid Light’s technology can be used to produce more than 60 chemicals with large existing markets, including propylene, isopropanol, methyl-methacrylate and acetic acid. The first commercial production plant is planned for the year 2017. www.nova-institut.eu

www.wpc-conference.com © Resysta Furniture and Decking (2), Faurecia, Tecnaro

Sixth WPC & NFC Conference, Cologne Wood and Natural Fibre Composites 16 – 17 December 2015, Maritim Hotel, Germany

Programme, Sponsors: Dr. Asta Eder asta.eder@nova-institut.de Organisation, Communication, Exhibition: Dominik Vogt

World’s Largest WPC & NFC Conference in 2015!

dominik.vogt@nova-institut.de Organiser:

Market opportunities through intersectoral innovation in Wood-Plastic Composites and Natural Fibre Composites New applications – huge replacement potential in plastics and composites!

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The international two-day programme, taking place in English The world’s most comprehensive WPC exhibition

Vote for „The Wood and Natural Fibre Composite Award 2015“ Gala dinner and other excellent networking opportunities

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Basics

Glossary 4.1

last update issue 04/2015

In bioplastics MAGAZINE again and again the same expressions appear that some of our readers might not (yet) be familiar with. This glossary shall help with these terms and shall help avoid repeated explanations such as PLA (Polylactide) in various articles.

Since this Glossary will not be printed in each issue you can download a pdf version from our website (bit.ly/OunBB0) bioplastics MAGAZINE is grateful to European Bioplastics for the permission to use parts of their Glossary.

Version 4.0 was revised using EuBP’s latest version (Jan 2015). [*: bM ... refers to more comprehensive article previously published in bioplastics MAGAZINE)

Bioplastics (as defined by European Bioplastics e.V.) is a term used to define two different kinds of plastics: a. Plastics based on → renewable resources (the focus is the origin of the raw material used). These can be biodegradable or not. b. → Biodegradable and → compostable plastics according to EN13432 or similar standards (the focus is the compostability of the final product; biodegradable and compostable plastics can be based on renewable (biobased) and/or non-renewable (fossil) resources).

Bioplastics may be - based on renewable resources and biodegradable; - based on renewable resources but not be biodegradable; and - based on fossil resources and biodegradable.

1 Generation feedstock | Carbohydrate rich plants such as corn or sugar cane that can also be used as food or animal feed are called food crops or 1st generation feedstock. Bred my mankind over centuries for highest energy efficiency, currently, 1st generation feedstock is the most efficient feedstock for the production of bioplastics as it requires the least amount of land to grow and produce the highest yields. [bM 04/09] st

2nd Generation feedstock | refers to feedstock not suitable for food or feed. It can be either non-food crops (e.g. cellulose) or waste materials from 1st generation feedstock (e.g. waste vegetable oil). [bM 06/11] 3rd Generation feedstock | This term currently relates to biomass from algae, which – having a higher growth yield than 1st and 2nd generation feedstock – were given their own category.

Aerobic digestion | Aerobic means in the presence of oxygen. In →composting, which is an aerobic process, →microorganisms access the present oxygen from the surrounding atmosphere. They metabolize the organic material to energy, CO2, water and cell biomass, whereby part of the energy of the organic material is released as heat. [bM 03/07, bM 02/09]

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Anaerobic digestion | In anaerobic digestion, organic matter is degraded by a microbial population in the absence of oxygen and producing methane and carbon dioxide (= →biogas) and a solid residue that can be composted in a subsequent step without practically releasing any heat. The biogas can be treated in a Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHP), producing electricity and heat, or can be upgraded to bio-methane [14] [bM 06/09] Amorphous | non-crystalline, glassy with unordered lattice Amylopectin | Polymeric branched starch molecule with very high molecular weight (biopolymer, monomer is →Glucose) [bM 05/09] Amylose | Polymeric non-branched starch molecule with high molecular weight (biopolymer, monomer is →Glucose) [bM 05/09] Biobased | The term biobased describes the part of a material or product that is stemming from →biomass. When making a biobasedclaim, the unit (→biobased carbon content, →biobased mass content), a percentage and the measuring method should be clearly stated [1] Biobased carbon | carbon contained in or stemming from →biomass. A material or product made of fossil and →renewable resources contains fossil and →biobased carbon.

The biobased carbon content is measured via the 14C method (radio carbon dating method) that adheres to the technical specifications as described in [1,4,5,6].

Biobased labels | The fact that (and to what percentage) a product or a material is →biobased can be indicated by respective labels. Ideally, meaningful labels should be based on harmonised standards and a corresponding certification process by independent third party institutions. For the property biobased such labels are in place by certifiers →DIN CERTCO and →Vinçotte who both base their certifications on the technical specification as described in [4,5] A certification and corresponding label depicting the biobased mass content was developed by the French Association Chimie du Végétal [ACDV].

Biobased mass content | describes the amount of biobased mass contained in a material or product. This method is complementary to the 14C method, and furthermore, takes other chemical elements besides the biobased carbon into account, such as oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen. A measuring method has been developed and tested by the Association Chimie du Végétal (ACDV) [1] Biobased plastic | A plastic in which constitutional units are totally or partly from → biomass [3]. If this claim is used, a percentage should always be given to which extent the product/material is → biobased [1] [bM 01/07, bM 03/10]

Biodegradable Plastics | Biodegradable Plastics are plastics that are completely assimilated by the → microorganisms present a defined environment as food for their energy. The carbon of the plastic must completely be converted into CO2 during the microbial process.

The process of biodegradation depends on the environmental conditions, which influence it (e.g. location, temperature, humidity) and on the material or application itself. Consequently, the process and its outcome can vary considerably. Biodegradability is linked to the structure of the polymer chain; it does not depend on the origin of the raw materials.

There is currently no single, overarching standard to back up claims about biodegradability.

One standard for example is ISO or in Europe: EN 14995 Plastics- Evaluation of compostability - Test scheme and specifications [bM 02/06, bM 01/07]

Biogas | → Anaerobic digestion Biomass | Material of biological origin excluding material embedded in geological formations and material transformed to fossilised material. This includes organic material, e.g. trees, crops, grasses, tree litter, algae and waste of biological origin, e.g. manure [1, 2] Biorefinery | the co-production of a spectrum of bio-based products (food, feed, materials, chemicals including monomers or building blocks for bioplastics) and energy (fuels, power, heat) from biomass.[bM 02/13] Blend | Mixture of plastics, polymer alloy of at least two microscopically dispersed and molecularly distributed base polymers Bisphenol-A (BPA) | Monomer used to produce different polymers. BPA is said to cause health problems, due to the fact that is behaves like a hormone. Therefore it is banned for use in children’s products in many countries.

BPI | Biodegradable Products Institute, a notfor-profit association. Through their innovative compostable label program, BPI educates manufacturers, legislators and consumers about the importance of scientifically based standards for compostable materials which biodegrade in large composting facilities.

Carbon footprint | (CFPs resp. PCFs – Product Carbon Footprint): Sum of →greenhouse gas emissions and removals in a product system, expressed as CO2 equivalent, and based on a →life cycle assessment. The CO2 equivalent of a specific amount of a greenhouse gas is calculated as the mass of a given greenhouse gas multiplied by its →global warmingpotential [1,2,15]

Basics Carbon neutral, CO2 neutral | describes a product or process that has a negligible impact on total atmospheric CO2 levels. For example, carbon neutrality means that any CO2 released when a plant decomposes or is burnt is offset by an equal amount of CO2 absorbed by the plant through photosynthesis when it is growing.

Carbon neutrality can also be achieved through buying sufficient carbon credits to make up the difference. The latter option is not allowed when communicating → LCAs or carbon footprints regarding a material or product [1, 2].

Carbon-neutral claims are tricky as products will not in most cases reach carbon neutrality if their complete life cycle is taken into consideration (including the end-of life).

If an assessment of a material, however, is conducted (cradle to gate), carbon neutrality might be a valid claim in a B2B context. In this case, the unit assessed in the complete life cycle has to be clarified [1] Cascade use | of →renewable resources means to first use the →biomass to produce biobased industrial products and afterwards – due to their favourable energy balance – use them for energy generation (e.g. from a biobased plastic product to →biogas production). The feedstock is used efficiently and value generation increases decisively.

Catalyst | substance that enables and accelerates a chemical reaction Cellophane | Clear film on the basis of →cellulose [bM 01/10] Cellulose | Cellulose is the principal component of cell walls in all higher forms of plant life, at varying percentages. It is therefore the most common organic compound and also the most common polysaccharide (multisugar) [11]. Cellulose is a polymeric molecule with very high molecular weight (monomer is →Glucose), industrial production from wood or cotton, to manufacture paper, plastics and fibres [bM 01/10] Cellulose ester | Cellulose esters occur by the esterification of cellulose with organic acids. The most important cellulose esters from a technical point of view are cellulose acetate (CA with acetic acid), cellulose propionate (CP with propionic acid) and cellulose butyrate (CB with butanoic acid). Mixed polymerisates, such as cellulose acetate propionate (CAP) can also be formed. One of the most well-known applications of cellulose aceto butyrate (CAB) is the moulded handle on the Swiss army knife [11] Cellulose acetate CA | → Cellulose ester CEN | Comité Européen de Normalisation (European organisation for standardization) Certification | is a process in which materials/products undergo a string of (laboratory) tests in order to verify that the fulfil certain requirements. Sound certification systems should be based on (ideally harmonised) European standards or technical specifications (e.g. by →CEN, USDA, ASTM, etc.) and be performed by independent third party laboratories. Successful certification guarantees a high product safety - also on this basis interconnected labels can be awarded that help the consumer to make an informed decision.

Compost | A soil conditioning material of decomposing organic matter which provides nutrients and enhances soil structure. [bM 06/08, 02/09]

Compostable Plastics | Plastics that are → biodegradable under →composting conditions: specified humidity, temperature, → microorganisms and timeframe. In order to make accurate and specific claims about compostability, the location (home, → industrial) and timeframe need to be specified [1].

Several national and international standards exist for clearer definitions, for example EN 14995 Plastics - Evaluation of compostability Test scheme and specifications. [bM 02/06, bM 01/07] Composting | is the controlled →aerobic, or oxygen-requiring, decomposition of organic materials by →microorganisms, under controlled conditions. It reduces the volume and mass of the raw materials while transforming them into CO2, water and a valuable soil conditioner – compost.

When talking about composting of bioplastics, foremost →industrial composting in a managed composting facility is meant (criteria defined in EN 13432).

The main difference between industrial and home composting is, that in industrial composting facilities temperatures are much higher and kept stable, whereas in the composting pile temperatures are usually lower, and less constant as depending on factors such as weather conditions. Home composting is a way slower-paced process than industrial composting. Also a comparatively smaller volume of waste is involved. [bM 03/07] Compound | plastic mixture from different raw materials (polymer and additives) [bM 04/10) Copolymer | Plastic composed of different monomers.

Cradle-to-Gate | Describes the system boundaries of an environmental →Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) which covers all activities from the cradle (i.e., the extraction of raw materials, agricultural activities and forestry) up to the factory gate Cradle-to-Cradle | (sometimes abbreviated as C2C): Is an expression which communicates the concept of a closed-cycle economy, in which waste is used as raw material (‘waste equals food’). Cradle-to-Cradle is not a term that is typically used in →LCA studies.

Cradle-to-Grave | Describes the system boundaries of a full →Life Cycle Assessment from manufacture (cradle) to use phase and disposal phase (grave).

Crystalline | Plastic with regularly arranged molecules in a lattice structure

e.g. sugar cane) or partly biobased PET; the monoethylene glykol made from bio-ethanol (from e.g. sugar cane). Developments to make terephthalic acid from renewable resources are under way. Other examples are polyamides (partly biobased e.g. PA 4.10 or PA 6.10 or fully biobased like PA 5.10 or PA10.10) EN 13432 | European standard for the assessment of the → compostability of plastic packaging products Energy recovery | recovery and exploitation of the energy potential in (plastic) waste for the production of electricity or heat in waste incineration pants (waste-to-energy) Environmental claim | A statement, symbol or graphic that indicates one or more environmental aspect(s) of a product, a component, packaging or a service. [16] Enzymes | proteins that catalyze chemical reactions Enzyme-mediated plastics | are no →bioplastics. Instead, a conventional non-biodegradable plastic (e.g. fossil-based PE) is enriched with small amounts of an organic additive.

Microorganisms are supposed to consume these additives and the degradation process should then expand to the non-biodegradable PE and thus make the material degrade. After some time the plastic is supposed to visually disappear and to be completely converted to carbon dioxide and water. This is a theoretical concept which has not been backed up by any verifiable proof so far. Producers promote enzyme-mediated plastics as a solution to littering. As no proof for the degradation process has been provided, environmental beneficial effects are highly questionable.

Ethylene | colour- and odourless gas, made e.g. from, Naphtha (petroleum) by cracking or from bio-ethanol by dehydration, monomer of the polymer polyethylene (PE) European Bioplastics e.V. | The industry association representing the interests of Europe’s thriving bioplastics’ industry. Founded in Germany in 1993 as IBAW, European Bioplastics today represents the interests of about 50 member companies throughout the European Union and worldwide. With members from the agricultural feedstock, chemical and plastics industries, as well as industrial users and recycling companies, European Bioplastics serves as both a contact platform and catalyst for advancing the aims of the growing bioplastics industry.

Extrusion | process used to create plastic profiles (or sheet) of a fixed cross-section consisting of mixing, melting, homogenising and shaping of the plastic.

DIN | Deutsches Institut für Normung (German organisation for standardization)

FDCA | 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid, an intermediate chemical produced from 5-HMF. The dicarboxylic acid can be used to make → PEF = polyethylene furanoate, a polyester that could be a 100% biobased alternative to PET.

DIN-CERTCO | independant certifying organisation for the assessment on the conformity of bioplastics

Fermentation | Biochemical reactions controlled by → microorganisms or → enyzmes (e.g. the transformation of sugar into lactic acid).

Dispersing | fine distribution of non-miscible liquids into a homogeneous, stable mixture

FSC | Forest Stewardship Council. FSC is an independent, non-governmental, not-forprofit organization established to promote the responsible and sustainable management of the world’s forests.

Density | Quotient from mass and volume of a material, also referred to as specific weight

Drop-In bioplastics | chemically indentical to conventional petroleum based plastics, but made from renewable resources. Examples are bio-PE made from bio-ethanol (from

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Basics Gelatine | Translucent brittle solid substance, colorless or slightly yellow, nearly tasteless and odorless, extracted from the collagen inside animals‘ connective tissue.

Genetically modified organism (GMO) | Organisms, such as plants and animals, whose genetic material (DNA) has been altered are called genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Food and feed which contain or consist of such GMOs, or are produced from GMOs, are called genetically modified (GM) food or feed [1]. If GM crops are used in bioplastics production, the multiple-stage processing and the high heat used to create the polymer removes all traces of genetic material. This means that the final bioplastics product contains no genetic traces. The resulting bioplastics is therefore well suited to use in food packaging as it contains no genetically modified material and cannot interact with the contents.

Global Warming | Global warming is the rise in the average temperature of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans since the late 19th century and its projected continuation [8]. Global warming is said to be accelerated by → green house gases.

Glucose | Monosaccharide (or simple sugar).

G. is the most important carbohydrate (sugar) in biology. G. is formed by photosynthesis or hydrolyse of many carbohydrates e. g. starch.

Greenhouse gas GHG | Gaseous constituent of the atmosphere, both natural and anthropogenic, that absorbs and emits radiation at specific wavelengths within the spectrum of infrared radiation emitted by the earth’s surface, the atmosphere, and clouds [1, 9] Greenwashing | The act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company, or the environmental benefits of a product or service [1, 10] Granulate, granules | small plastic particles (3-4 millimetres), a form in which plastic is sold and fed into machines, easy to handle and dose.

HMF (5-HMF) | 5-hydroxymethylfurfural is an organic compound derived from sugar dehydration. It is a platform chemical, a building block for 20 performance polymers and over 175 different chemical substances. The molecule consists of a furan ring which contains both aldehyde and alcohol functional groups.

5-HMF has applications in many different industries such as bioplastics, packaging, pharmaceuticals, adhesives and chemicals.

One of the most promising routes is 2,5 furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), produced as an intermediate when 5-HMF is oxidised. FDCA is used to produce PEF, which can substitute terephthalic acid in polyester, especially polyethylene terephthalate (PET). [bM 03/14] Home composting | →composting [bM 06/08] Humus | In agriculture, humus is often used simply to mean mature →compost, or natural compost extracted from a forest or other spontaneous source for use to amend soil.

Hydrophilic | Property: water-friendly, soluble in water or other polar solvents (e.g. used in conjunction with a plastic which is not water resistant and weather proof or that absorbs water such as Polyamide (PA).

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Hydrophobic | Property: water-resistant, not soluble in water (e.g. a plastic which is water resistant and weather proof, or that does not absorb any water such as Polyethylene (PE) or Polypropylene (PP).

Industrial composting | is an established process with commonly agreed upon requirements (e.g. temperature, timeframe) for transforming biodegradable waste into stable, sanitised products to be used in agriculture. The criteria for industrial compostability of packaging have been defined in the EN 13432. Materials and products complying with this standard can be certified and subsequently labelled accordingly [1,7] [bM 06/08, 02/09] ISO | International Organization for Standardization JBPA | Japan Bioplastics Association Land use | The surface required to grow sufficient feedstock (land use) for today’s bioplastic production is less than 0.01 percent of the global agricultural area of 5 billion hectares.

It is not yet foreseeable to what extent an increased use of food residues, non-food crops or cellulosic biomass (see also →1st/2nd/3rd generation feedstock) in bioplastics production might lead to an even further reduced land use in the future [bM 04/09, 01/14] LCA | is the compilation and evaluation of the input, output and the potential environmental impact of a product system throughout its life cycle [17]. It is sometimes also referred to as life cycle analysis, ecobalance or cradle-tograve analysis. [bM 01/09] Littering | is the (illegal) act of leaving waste such as cigarette butts, paper, tins, bottles, cups, plates, cutlery or bags lying in an open or public place.

Marine litter | Following the European Commission’s definition, “marine litter consists of items that have been deliberately discarded, unintentionally lost, or transported by winds and rivers, into the sea and on beaches. It mainly consists of plastics, wood, metals, glass, rubber, clothing and paper”. Marine debris originates from a variety of sources.

Shipping and fishing activities are the predominant sea-based, ineffectively managed landfills as well as public littering the main land-based sources. Marine litter can pose a threat to living organisms, especially due to ingestion or entanglement.

Currently, there is no international standard available, which appropriately describes the biodegradation of plastics in the marine environment. However, a number of standardisation projects are in progress at ISO and ASTM level. Furthermore, the European project OPEN BIO addresses the marine biodegradation of biobased products.

Mass balance | describes the relationship between input and output of a specific substance within a system in which the output from the system cannot exceed the input into the system.

First attempts were made by plastic raw material producers to claim their products renewable (plastics) based on a certain input of biomass in a huge and complex chemical plant, then mathematically allocating this biomass input to the produced plastic.

These approaches are at least controversially disputed [bM 04/14, 05/14, 01/15]

Microorganism | Living organisms of microscopic size, such as bacteria, funghi or yeast.

Molecule | group of at least two atoms held together by covalent chemical bonds.

Monomer | molecules that are linked by polymerization to form chains of molecules and then plastics Mulch film | Foil to cover bottom of farmland Organic recycling | means the treatment of separately collected organic waste by anaerobic digestion and/or composting.

Oxo-degradable / Oxo-fragmentable | materials and products that do not biodegrade!

The underlying technology of oxo-degradability or oxo-fragmentation is based on special additives, which, if incorporated into standard resins, are purported to accelerate the fragmentation of products made thereof. Oxodegradable or oxo-fragmentable materials do not meet accepted industry standards on compostability such as EN 13432. [bM 01/09, 05/09] PBAT | Polybutylene adipate terephthalate, is an aliphatic-aromatic copolyester that has the properties of conventional polyethylene but is fully biodegradable under industrial composting. PBAT is made from fossil petroleum with first attempts being made to produce it partly from renewable resources [bM 06/09] PBS | Polybutylene succinate, a 100% biodegradable polymer, made from (e.g. bio-BDO) and succinic acid, which can also be produced biobased [bM 03/12].

PC | Polycarbonate, thermoplastic polyester, petroleum based and not degradable, used for e.g. baby bottles or CDs. Criticized for its BPA (→ Bisphenol-A) content.

PCL | Polycaprolactone, a synthetic (fossil based), biodegradable bioplastic, e.g. used as a blend component.

PE | Polyethylene, thermoplastic polymerised from ethylene. Can be made from renewable resources (sugar cane via bio-ethanol) [bM 05/10] PEF | polyethylene furanoate, a polyester made from monoethylene glycol (MEG) and →FDCA (2,5-furandicarboxylic acid , an intermediate chemical produced from 5-HMF). It can be a 100% biobased alternative for PET. PEF also has improved product characteristics, such as better structural strength and improved barrier behaviour, which will allow for the use of PEF bottles in additional applications. [bM 03/11, 04/12] PET | Polyethylenterephthalate, transparent polyester used for bottles and film. The polyester is made from monoethylene glycol (MEG), that can be renewably sourced from bio-ethanol (sugar cane) and (until now fossil) terephthalic acid [bM 04/14] PGA | Polyglycolic acid or Polyglycolide is a biodegradable, thermoplastic polymer and the simplest linear, aliphatic polyester. Besides ist use in the biomedical field, PGA has been introduced as a barrier resin [bM 03/09] PHA | Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) or the polyhydroxy fatty acids, are a family of biodegradable polyesters. As in many mammals, including humans, that hold energy reserves in the form of body fat there are also bacteria that hold intracellular reserves in for of of polyhydroxy alkanoates. Here the microorganisms store a particularly high level of

Basics energy reserves (up to 80% of their own body weight) for when their sources of nutrition become scarce. By farming this type of bacteria, and feeding them on sugar or starch (mostly from maize), or at times on plant oils or other nutrients rich in carbonates, it is possible to obtain PHA‘s on an industrial scale [11]. The most common types of PHA are PHB (Polyhydroxybutyrate, PHBV and PHBH. Depending on the bacteria and their food, PHAs with different mechanical properties, from rubbery soft trough stiff and hard as ABS, can be produced. Some PHSs are even biodegradable in soil or in a marine environment PLA | Polylactide or Polylactic Acid (PLA), a biodegradable, thermoplastic, linear aliphatic polyester based on lactic acid, a natural acid, is mainly produced by fermentation of sugar or starch with the help of micro-organisms.

Lactic acid comes in two isomer forms, i.e. as laevorotatory D(-)lactic acid and as dextrorotary L(+)lactic acid.

Modified PLA types can be produced by the use of the right additives or by certain combinations of L- and D- lactides (stereocomplexing), which then have the required rigidity for use at higher temperatures [13] [bM 01/09, 01/12] Plastics | Materials with large molecular chains of natural or fossil raw materials, produced by chemical or biochemical reactions.

PPC | Polypropylene Carbonate, a bioplastic made by copolymerizing CO2 with propylene oxide (PO) [bM 04/12] PTT | Polytrimethylterephthalate (PTT), partially biobased polyester, is similarly to PET produced using terephthalic acid or dimethyl terephthalate and a diol. In this case it is a biobased 1,3 propanediol, also known as bioPDO [bM 01/13] Renewable Resources | agricultural raw materials, which are not used as food or feed, but as raw material for industrial products or to generate energy. The use of renewable resources by industry saves fossil resources and reduces the amount of → greenhouse gas emissions. Biobased plastics are predominantly made of annual crops such as corn, cereals and sugar beets or perennial cultures such as cassava and sugar cane.

Resource efficiency | Use of limited natural resources in a sustainable way while minimising impacts on the environment. A resource efficient economy creates more output or value with lesser input.

Seedling Logo | The compostability label or logo Seedling is connected to the standard EN 13432/EN 14995 and a certification process managed by the independent institutions →DIN CERTCO and → Vinçotte. Bioplastics products carrying the Seedling fulfil the criteria laid down in the EN 13432 regarding industrial compostability. [bM 01/06, 02/10] Saccharins or carbohydrates | Saccharins or carbohydrates are name for the sugar-family.

Saccharins are monomer or polymer sugar units. For example, there are known mono-, di- and polysaccharose. → glucose is a monosaccarin. They are important for the diet and produced biology in plants.

Semi-finished products | plastic in form of sheet, film, rods or the like to be further processed into finshed products

Sorbitol | Sugar alcohol, obtained by reduction of glucose changing the aldehyde group to an additional hydroxyl group. S. is used as a plasticiser for bioplastics based on starch.

implies a commitment to continuous improvement that should result in a further reduction of the environmental footprint of today’s products, processes and raw materials used.

Starch | Natural polymer (carbohydrate) consisting of → amylose and → amylopectin, gained from maize, potatoes, wheat, tapioca etc. When glucose is connected to polymerchains in definite way the result (product) is called starch. Each molecule is based on 300 -12000-glucose units. Depending on the connection, there are two types → amylose and → amylopectin known. [bM 05/09]

Thermoplastics | Plastics which soften or melt when heated and solidify when cooled (solid at room temperature).

Starch derivatives | Starch derivatives are based on the chemical structure of → starch.

The chemical structure can be changed by introducing new functional groups without changing the → starch polymer. The product has different chemical qualities. Mostly the hydrophilic character is not the same.

Starch-ester | One characteristic of every starch-chain is a free hydroxyl group. When every hydroxyl group is connected with an acid one product is starch-ester with different chemical properties.

Starch propionate and starch butyrate | Starch propionate and starch butyrate can be synthesised by treating the → starch with propane or butanic acid. The product structure is still based on → starch. Every based → glucose fragment is connected with a propionate or butyrate ester group. The product is more hydrophobic than → starch.

Sustainable | An attempt to provide the best outcomes for the human and natural environments both now and into the indefinite future.

One famous definition of sustainability is the one created by the Brundtland Commission, led by the former Norwegian Prime Minister G. H. Brundtland. The Brundtland Commission defined sustainable development as development that ‘meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’

Sustainability relates to the continuity of economic, social, institutional and environmental aspects of human society, as well as the nonhuman environment).

Sustainable sourcing | of renewable feedstock for biobased plastics is a prerequisite for more sustainable products. Impacts such as the deforestation of protected habitats or social and environmental damage arising from poor agricultural practices must be avoided. Corresponding certification schemes, such as ISCC PLUS, WLC or BonSucro, are an appropriate tool to ensure the sustainable sourcing of biomass for all applications around the globe.

Sustainability | as defined by European Bioplastics, has three dimensions: economic, social and environmental. This has been known as “the triple bottom line of sustainability”.

This means that sustainable development involves the simultaneous pursuit of economic prosperity, environmental protection and social equity. In other words, businesses have to expand their responsibility to include these environmental and social dimensions. Sustainability is about making products useful to markets and, at the same time, having societal benefits and lower environmental impact than the alternatives currently available. It also

Thermoplastic Starch | (TPS) → starch that was modified (cooked, complexed) to make it a plastic resin Thermoset | Plastics (resins) which do not soften or melt when heated. Examples are epoxy resins or unsaturated polyester resins.

Vinçotte | independant certifying organisation for the assessment on the conformity of bioplastics WPC | Wood Plastic Composite. Composite materials made of wood fiber/flour and plastics (mostly polypropylene).

Yard Waste | Grass clippings, leaves, trimmings, garden residue.

References: [1] Environmental Communication Guide, European Bioplastics, Berlin, Germany, 2012 [2] ISO 14067. Carbon footprint of products Requirements and guidelines for quantification and communication [3] CEN TR 15932, Plastics - Recommendation for terminology and characterisation of biopolymers and bioplastics, 2010 [4] CEN/TS 16137, Plastics - Determination of bio-based carbon content, 2011 [5] ASTM D6866, Standard Test Methods for Determining the Biobased Content of Solid, Liquid, and Gaseous Samples Using Radiocarbon Analysis [6] SPI: Understanding Biobased Carbon Content, 2012 [7] EN 13432, Requirements for packaging recoverable through composting and biodegradation. Test scheme and evaluation criteria for the final acceptance of packaging, 2000 [8] Wikipedia [9] ISO 14064 Greenhouse gases -- Part 1: Specification with guidance..., 2006 [10] Terrachoice, 2010, www.terrachoice.com [11] Thielen, M.: Bioplastics: Basics. Applications. Markets, Polymedia Publisher, 2012 [12] Lörcks, J.: Biokunststoffe, Broschüre der FNR, 2005 [13] de Vos, S.: Improving heat-resistance of PLA using poly(D-lactide), bioplastics MAGAZINE, Vol. 3, Issue 02/2008 [14] de Wilde, B.: Anaerobic Digestion, bioplastics MAGAZINE, Vol 4., Issue 06/2009 [15] ISO 14067 onb Corbon Footprint of Products [16] ISO 14021 on Self-declared Environmental claims [17] ISO 14044 on Life Cycle Assessment

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

53

Suppliers Guide 1. Raw Materials

AGRANA Starch Thermoplastics Conrathstrasse 7 A-3950 Gmuend, Austria Tel: +43 676 8926 19374 lukas.raschbauer@agrana.com www.agrana.com

Simply contact:

Jincheng, Lin‘an, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311300, P.R. China China contact: Grace Jin mobile: 0086 135 7578 9843 Grace@xinfupharm.com Europe contact(Belgium): Susan Zhang mobile: 0032 478 991619 zxh0612@hotmail.com www.xinfupharm.com

suppguide@bioplasticsmagazine.com

1.1 bio based monomers

Showa Denko Europe GmbH Konrad-Zuse-Platz 4 81829 Munich, Germany Tel.: +49 89 93996226 www.showa-denko.com support@sde.de

Tel.: +49 2161 6884467 Stay permanently listed in the Suppliers Guide with your company logo and contact information.

For only 6,– EUR per mm, per issue you can be present among top suppliers in the field of bioplastics.

For Example:

39 mm

Evonik Industries AG Paul Baumann Straße 1 45772 Marl, Germany Tel +49 2365 49-4717 evonik-hp@evonik.com www.vestamid-terra.com www.evonik.com

Polymedia Publisher GmbH Dammer Str. 112 41066 Mönchengladbach Germany Tel. +49 2161 664864 Fax +49 2161 631045 info@bioplasticsmagazine.com www.bioplasticsmagazine.com

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Sample Charge for one year:

PTT MCC Biochem Co., Ltd. info@pttmcc.com / www.pttmcc.com Tel: +66(0) 2 140-3563 MCPP Germany GmbH +49 (0) 152-018 920 51 frank.steinbrecher@mcpp-europe.com MCPP France SAS +33 (0) 6 07 22 25 32 fabien.resweber@mcpp-europe.com

Corbion Purac Arkelsedijk 46, P.O. Box 21 4200 AA Gorinchem The Netherlands Tel.: +31 (0)183 695 695 Fax: +31 (0)183 695 604 www.corbion.com/bioplastics bioplastics@corbion.com

DuPont de Nemours International S.A. 2 chemin du Pavillon 1218 - Le Grand Saconnex Switzerland Tel.: +41 22 171 51 11 62 136 Lestrem, France Fax: +41 22 580 22 45 Tel.: + 33 (0) 3 21 63 36 00 plastics@dupont.com www.roquette-performance-plastics.com www.renewable.dupont.com www.plastics.dupont.com 1.2 compounds

6 issues x 234,00 EUR = 1,404.00 € The entry in our Suppliers Guide is bookable for one year (6 issues) and extends automatically if it’s not canceled three month before expiry.

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bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

Tel: +86 351-8689356 Fax: +86 351-8689718 www.ecoworld.jinhuigroup.com ecoworldsales@jinhuigroup.com

API S.p.A. Via Dante Alighieri, 27 36065 Mussolente (VI), Italy Telephone +39 0424 579711 www.apiplastic.com www.apinatbio.com

Kingfa Sci. & Tech. Co., Ltd. No.33 Kefeng Rd, Sc. City, Guangzhou Hi-Tech Ind. Development Zone, Guangdong, P.R. China. 510663 Tel: +86 (0)20 6622 1696 info@ecopond.com.cn www.ecopond.com.cn FLEX-162 Biodeg. Blown Film Resin!

Bio-873 4-Star Inj. Bio-Based Resin!

FKuR Kunststoff GmbH Siemensring 79 D - 47 877 Willich Tel. +49 2154 9251-0 Tel.: +49 2154 9251-51 sales@fkur.com www.fkur.com

GRAFE-Group Waldecker Straße 21, 99444 Blankenhain, Germany Tel. +49 36459 45 0 www.grafe.com

NUREL Engineering Polymers Ctra. Barcelona, km 329 50016 Zaragoza, Spain Tel: +34 976 465 579 inzea@samca.com www.inzea-biopolymers.com

PolyOne Avenue Melville Wilson, 2 Zoning de la Fagne 5330 Assesse Belgium Tel.: + 32 83 660 211 www.polyone.com 1.3 PLA

Shenzhen Esun Ind. Co;Ltd www.brightcn.net www.esun.en.alibaba.com bright@brightcn.net Tel: +86-755-2603 1978

Suppliers Guide 1.4 starch-based bioplastics

Limagrain Céréales Ingrédients ZAC „Les Portes de Riom“ - BP 173 63204 Riom Cedex - France Tel. +33 (0)4 73 67 17 00 Fax +33 (0)4 73 67 17 10 www.biolice.com

BIOTEC Biologische Naturverpackungen Werner-Heisenberg-Strasse 32 46446 Emmerich/Germany Tel.: +49 (0) 2822 – 92510 info@biotec.de www.biotec.de

PolyOne Avenue Melville Wilson, 2 Zoning de la Fagne 5330 Assesse Belgium Tel.: + 32 83 660 211 www.polyone.com

Natur-Tec® - Northern Technologies 4201 Woodland Road Circle Pines, MN 55014 USA Tel. +1 763.404.8700 Fax +1 763.225.6645 info@natur-tec.com www.natur-tec.com

2. Additives/Secondary raw materials

GRAFE-Group Waldecker Straße 21, 99444 Blankenhain, Germany Tel. +49 36459 45 0 www.grafe.com

NOVAMONT S.p.A. Via Fauser , 8 28100 Novara - ITALIA Fax +39.0321.699.601 Tel. +39.0321.699.611 www.novamont.com

3.1 films

1.5 PHA

TianAn Biopolymer No. 68 Dagang 6th Rd, Beilun, Ningbo, China, 315800 Tel. +86-57 48 68 62 50 2 Fax +86-57 48 68 77 98 0 enquiry@tianan-enmat.com www.tianan-enmat.com

Metabolix, Inc. Bio-based and biodegradable resins and performance additives 21 Erie Street Cambridge, MA 02139, USA US +1-617-583-1700 DE +49 (0) 221 / 88 88 94 00 www.metabolix.com info@metabolix.com 1.6 masterbatches

GRAFE-Group Waldecker Straße 21, 99444 Blankenhain, Germany Tel. +49 36459 45 0 www.grafe.com

Infiana Germany GmbH & Co. KG Zweibrückenstraße 15-25 91301 Forchheim Tel. +49-9191 81-0 Fax +49-9191 81-212 www.infiana.com

Taghleef Industries SpA, Italy Via E. Fermi, 46 33058 San Giorgio di Nogaro (UD) Contact Emanuela Bardi Tel. +39 0431 627264 Mobile +39 342 6565309 emanuela.bardi@ti-films.com www.ti-films.com

President Packaging Ind., Corp.

PLA Paper Hot Cup manufacture In Taiwan, www.ppi.com.tw Tel.: +886-6-570-4066 ext.5531 Fax: +886-6-570-4077 sales@ppi.com.tw 6. Equipment 6.1 Machinery & Molds

Molds, Change Parts and Turnkey Solutions for the PET/Bioplastic Container Industry 284 Pinebush Road Cambridge Ontario Canada N1T 1Z6 Tel. +1 519 624 9720 Fax +1 519 624 9721 info@hallink.com www.hallink.com

Institut für Kunststofftechnik Universität Stuttgart Böblinger Straße 70 70199 Stuttgart Tel +49 711/685-62814 Linda.Goebel@ikt.uni-stuttgart.de www.ikt.uni-stuttgart.de

narocon Dr. Harald Kaeb Tel.: +49 30-28096930 kaeb@narocon.de www.narocon.de

6.2 Laboratory Equipment

4. Bioplastics products MODA: Biodegradability Analyzer SAIDA FDS INC. 143-10 Isshiki, Yaizu, Shizuoka,Japan Tel:+81-54-624-6260 Info2@moda.vg www.saidagroup.jp Minima Technology Co., Ltd. Esmy Huang, Marketing Manager No.33. Yichang E. Rd., Taipin City, Taichung County 411, Taiwan (R.O.C.) Tel. +886(4)2277 6888 Fax +883(4)2277 6989 Mobil +886(0)982-829988 esmy@minima-tech.com Skype esmy325 www.minima-tech.com

9. Services

Osterfelder Str. 3 46047 Oberhausen Tel.: +49 (0)208 8598 1227 Fax: +49 (0)208 8598 1424 thomas.wodke@umsicht.fhg.de www.umsicht.fraunhofer.de

3. Semi finished products

Grabio Greentech Corporation Tel: +886-3-598-6496 No. 91, Guangfu N. Rd., Hsinchu Industrial Park,Hukou Township, Hsinchu County 30351, Taiwan sales@grabio.com.tw www.grabio.com.tw

Uhde Inventa-Fischer GmbH Holzhauser Strasse 157–159 D-13509 Berlin Tel. +49 30 43 567 5 Fax +49 30 43 567 699 sales.de@uhde-inventa-fischer.com Uhde Inventa-Fischer AG Via Innovativa 31 CH-7013 Domat/Ems Tel. +41 81 632 63 11 Fax +41 81 632 74 03 sales.ch@uhde-inventa-fischer.com www.uhde-inventa-fischer.com

nova-Institut GmbH Chemiepark Knapsack Industriestrasse 300 50354 Huerth, Germany Tel.: +49(0)2233-48-14 40 E-Mail: contact@nova-institut.de www.biobased.eu

7. Plant engineering

EREMA Engineering Recycling Maschinen und Anlagen GmbH Unterfeldstrasse 3 4052 Ansfelden, AUSTRIA Phone: +43 (0) 732 / 3190-0 Fax: +43 (0) 732 / 3190-23 erema@erema.at www.erema.at

UL International TTC GmbH Rheinuferstrasse 7-9, Geb. R33 47829 Krefeld-Uerdingen, Germany Tel.: +49 (0) 2151 5370-333 Fax: +49 (0) 2151 5370-334 ttc@ul.com www.ulttc.com

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

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Suppliers Guide 10.2 Universities

10.3 Other Institutions

Tel.: +49 2161 6884467

10.1 Associations

BPI - The Biodegradable Products Institute 331 West 57th Street, Suite 415 New York, NY 10019, USA Tel. +1-888-274-5646 info@bpiworld.org

European Bioplastics e.V. Marienstr. 19/20 10117 Berlin, Germany Tel. +49 30 284 82 350 Fax +49 30 284 84 359 info@european-bioplastics.org www.european-bioplastics.org

Simply contact:

suppguide@bioplasticsmagazine.com

IfBB – Institute for Bioplastics and Biocomposites University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hanover Faculty II – Mechanical and Bioprocess Engineering Heisterbergallee 12 30453 Hannover, Germany Tel.: +49 5 11 / 92 96 - 22 69 Fax: +49 5 11 / 92 96 - 99 - 22 69 lisa.mundzeck@fh-hannover.de http://www.ifbb-hannover.de/

Stay permanently listed in the Suppliers Guide with your company logo and contact information.

Biobased Packaging Innovations Caroli Buitenhuis IJburglaan 836 1087 EM Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel.: +31 6-24216733 http://www.biobasedpackaging.nl

For only 6,– EUR per mm, per issue you can be present among top suppliers in the field of bioplastics.

For Example:

Polymedia Publisher GmbH Dammer Str. 112 41066 Mönchengladbach Germany Tel. +49 2161 664864 Fax +49 2161 631045 info@bioplasticsmagazine.com www.bioplasticsmagazine.com

Michigan State University Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science Professor Ramani Narayan East Lansing MI 48824, USA Tel. +1 517 719 7163 narayan@msu.edu

39 mm

10. Institutions

Sample Charge: 39mm x 6,00 € = 234,00 € per entry/per issue

Sample Charge for one year: 6 issues x 234,00 EUR = 1,404.00 € The entry in our Suppliers Guide is bookable for one year (6 issues) and extends automatically if it’s not canceled three month before expiry.

magnetic_148,5x105.ai 175.00 lpi 45.00° 15.00° 14.03.2009 75.00° 0.00° 14.03.2009 10:13:31 10:13:31 Prozess CyanProzess MagentaProzess GelbProzess Schwarz

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bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

Events

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Event Calendar 3rd Biopolymers 2015 International Conference 14.12.2015 - 16.12.2015 - Nantes, France

the next six issues for €149.–

1)

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SUSTAINABLE PLASTICS 2016

01.03.2016 - 02.03.2016 - Cologne, Germany

2) aged 35 and below. end a scan of your student card, your ID or similar proof ...

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Green Bag Conference 2016 organized by bioplastics MAGAZINE 08.03.2016 - 09.03.2016 - Cologne, Germany

05 | 2015

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Innovation Takes Root

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ISSN 1862

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Nov / De c

ISSN 1862

ts

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12 Textiles| Fibres / 36 terials | Barrier ma

06 | 2015

30.03.2016 - 01.04.2016 - Orlando Florida, USA www.innovationtakesroot.com

Basics Land

3rd Bioplastic Materials Topical Conference

e) | 48 use (updat

Highligh ts Films / Fle xibles / Ba gs | 12 Consum er Electr onics | 24

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19.04.2016 - 21.04.2016 - Bloomington, (MN) USA www. www.eiseverywhere.com/ehome/130808?eb=227133

Chinaplas 2016

25.04.2016 - 28.04.2016 - Shanghai, China Vol. 10

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organized by bioplastics MAGAZINE 24 - 25. 05.2016 - Munich, Germany

Vol. 10 7

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MAGAZIN E

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57

Companies in this issue Company

Editorial

3DOM USA

37

Aardse Droom

37

Company

Editorial

Advert

Company

FKuR

20

2,54

Natur-Tec

fm Büromöbel

31

Nicoletti

Editorial

Advert 55

14

Adsale (Chinaplas)

23

Fraunhofer IAP

42

Norner Verdani

48

Agrana Starch Thermoplastics

54

Fraunhofer ICT

49

nova Institute

6,5

34,53, 55

Novamont

20

55,6

Novomer

46

AnoxKalndes

33

API

Fraunhofer UMSICHT 54

6 30

19

Golden Compound

Avery Dennison

16

Grabio Greentech

20,46

55

FTC

Auchan

BASF

Grafe

NUREL Engineering Polymers

54

55

OKW

25

54,55

Onora

36

Beoplast

26

Grafiche Seven

14

Perstorp

8

BI-AX International

28

Green Sports Alliance

8

Phytonix

49

Bio4Pack

37

Hahl-Pedex

38

plasticker

Biobased Feedstock Alliance

8

Haldor Topsoe

8

PolyOne President Packaging

55

56

Hallink

BioFed

15

hesco Kunstsoffverarbeitung

44

PTT/MCC

55

IbiPLAST

18

Roquette

7

56

IKEA

8

RWE Power

48

56

Imperial Innovations

48

20

Bösel Plastic Managenment BPI

55

56 54,55

Biobased Packaging Innovations

Biotec

Infiana Germany

45,54

RWTH Aachen

39,48 55

15,37

C2renew

37

Innovia Films

8,37

Cargill

30

Inst. f. bioplastics & biocomposites IfBB

48,76

Carrefour

19

Institut für Texttiltechik ITA

39

Showa Denko

CAT Catalytic Center

48

Ipercoop

19

Siemens

46

Conad

19

Jelu Werk

36

SIPA Management

20

Consorzio Italiano Compostatori

19

Jetstream Capital

48

SK Innovation

47

Corbion

76

Jiangsu Jinlong CAS

47

Skal Biocontrole

37

Covestro

48

Jinhui Zhaolong

16

SNB

32

Desmedt Labels

15

Joule Unlimited

49

STOWA

32

DSM

38

Jowat

47

Taghleef Industries

14

The Bioplastic Factory

37

54

54

55

Kingfa

Sharp 56

35,54

54

8,10,24

SHENZHEN ESUN INDUSTRIAL

54 54

ECM Biofilms

6

KNN

32

TianAn Biopolymer

Econic Technologies

47

Lanza tech

49

Tipa

8

Ecover

15

Leibniz Inst. F. Catalysis

49

TU Munich

46

Ellediplast

14

Limagrain Céréales Ingrédients

Ellen MacArthur Foundation

8

Liquid Light

49

UL International TTC

Empower Materials

46

Mangxi High-tech

47

UNEP

Entsorga

19

Marks & Spence

8

Metabolix

5 6

Erema

25,55

Erretiplast

20

Michigan State University

Esselunga

19

Minima Technology

European Bioplastics

5,8

European Commission

56

Mitsubishi Chemical

8

Evonik 8

Editorial Planner

Uhde Inventa-Fischer

17,55 55 7

Univ. Stuttgart (IKT)

55

Veolia

56

Vinçotte

55

World Economic Forum

8

8,10,24

WWF

8

26

ZERO

8

narocon

55

NatureWorks

55

55

55

Nager IT 54,59

Extended Producer Resp Alliance

55

54

Saida

Braskem

DuPont

58

Advert

32 18,37

Zhejiang Hangzhou Xinfu Pharmaceutical

54

8,28

2015/16

Issue

Month

Publ.-Date

edit/ad/ Deadline

Editorial Focus (1)

Editorial Focus (2)

Basics

01/2016

Jan/Feb

08 Feb 16

31 Dec 15

Automotive

Foams

Green Public Procurement

02/2016

Mar/Apr

04 Apr 16

04 Mar 16

Thermoforming / Rigid Packaging

Marine Pollution / Marine Degaradation

Design for Recyclability

Chinaplas preview

03/2016

May/Jun

06 Jun 16

06 May 16

Injection moulding

Joining of bioplastics (welding, glueing etc), Adhesives

PHA (update)

Chinaplas Review

04/2016

Jul/Aug

01 Aug 16

01 Jul 16

Blow Moulding

Toys

Additives

05/2016

Sep/Oct

04 Oct 16

02 Sep 16

Fiber / Textile / Nonwoven

Polyurethanes / Elastomers/Rubber

Co-Polyesters

K'2016 preview

06/2016

Nov/Dec

05 Dec 16

04 Nov 16

Films / Flexibles / Bags

Consumer & Office Electronics

Certification - Blessing and Curse

K'2016 Review

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/15] Vol. 10

Trade-Fair Specials

Green up your flooring High performance naturally

Biobased polyamides for carpeted floors can improve the overall environmental sustainability of building interiors. Used for floorings, VESTAMIDÂŽ Terra withstands typical mechanical and physical loads in office and public buildings, and durably retains the attractive surface of the floorings.

Evonik offers a variety of technical longchain polyamides suchs as PA610, PA1010 and PA1012. They all share a similar to improved technical performance compared to conventional engineering polyamides while also having a significantly lower carbon footprint. www.vestamid-terra.com

www.novamont.com

BIODEGRADABLE AND COMPOSTABLE BIOPLASTIC

CONTROLLED, ITALIAN, GUARANTEED Using the MATER-BI trademark licence means that NOVAMONTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s partners agree to comply with strict quality parameters and testing of random samples from the market.

These are designed to ensure that films are converted under ideal conditions and that articles produced in MATER-BI meet all essential requirements. To date over 1000 products have been tested.

THE GUARANTEE OF AN ITALIAN BRAND MATER-BI is part of a virtuous production system, undertaken entirely on Italian territory.

It enters into a production chain that involves everyone, from the farmer to the composter, from the converter via the retailer to the consumer.

USED FOR ALL TYPES OF WASTE DISPOSAL

MATER-BI has unique, environmentally-friendly properties.

It is biodegradable and compostable and contains renewable raw materials.

It is the ideal solution for organic waste collection bags and is organically recycled into fertile compost.

r7_10.2015

EcoComunicazione.it

QUALITY OUR TOP PRIORITY