Download - Union Wallonne des Entreprises

kes”First sales in April 2008Currently in the introduction phase, the firsttables were sold in April 2008. “For themoment, sales follow our fancy”, admitsThierry Hoyaux. “We go where the windtakes us. The contacts and successes weexperience at one fair determine our nextprospection steps. That’s why it isimpossible for us to forecast our sales in thecoming months”. Thierry Hoyaux and histeam particularly target specialist designerfurniture stores, high-end kitchen designers,architectural firms, as well as, of course, thecompany’s usual customers, comprised ofbilliards clubs and billiards wholesalersaround the world. ■Futerro: for a clean and innovative technologyBioplastics wrap it upin WalloniaBioplastics fromvegetable originsrepresent a tiny part ofworld-wide plasticproduction, but areenjoying considerablegrowth within thatsector. There areinnumerablepossibilities, but theseare still to be developed.Futerro, a joint ventureborn within theframework of theWalloon Marshal Plan,sees a future market foritself here.FUTERROstsone-way barrel”enormous increase in the price of stainlesssteel as well as of transportation costs. What’smore, the brewery must clean a traditionalstainless steel barrel using chemical productsand sterilise it with steam. Then the barrelmust be filled and sent in a container by boatand then truck to its destination. Once it hasbeen emptied, it is returned by truck and boatas far as Antwerp. Then, it is again put on atruck and sent to Brunehaut, where it ischecked, repaired if necessary, sterilised andrefilled. As much as nine months can passbetween these two refill operations.” Ninemonths during which the brewery issupporting its investment in a barrel that costit 70 euros and the deposit for which – fixedglobally by the beer manufacturing giants – isbarely 30 euros. This is not an inconsiderableeconomic issue. Marc Antoine De Mees isthus convinced that these “one-way” barrelsrepresent the future. The more so as thecompany should soon have a recyclable barrelthat is both smaller and less expensive. Justwhat is needed to convince hesitantcustomers! ■Big leaps in technology are often the resultof genius and hard work, but opportunity– and sheer luck – play their part, as well.This is the case for the Futerro project, ajoint venture set up to develop a productiontechnology for bioplastics from vegetableorigins. PolyLactic Acid (PLA) is a polyesterobtained from lactic acid, which itselfcomes from the fermentation of sugar(sugar beet or sugarcane) or from starch(corn, wheat, potato or manioc). “Since1991, we have known that PolyLactic Acidoffers interesting potential, and that youcan make polymers with it”, explainsPhilippe Coszach, head of R&D at Galactic,one of the two shareholding companies inthe joint venture. “In the meantime, ourcompany focussed on lactic acid, becausethere was already a market, but the PLAproject continued to progress, although atvariable speeds. Our objective has alwaysbeen to develop our own productionprocess for PLA.”Factory will be ready in 2009Then, one day, an opportunity gave new lifeto the project. Thanks to the WalloonRegion and its Marshall Plan, Galactic wasconvinced to develop its project in Wallonia(and not in China, where a partnership wasalso possible). In particular, it joined forceswith the Research Centre of TotalPetrochemicals.This created an ideal partnership: thanks toits significant experience in polymer• FUTERRO JOINT VENTURE SHAREHOLDERS(50/50): Galactic (Escanaffles) and TotalPetrochemicals (Feluy).• OTHER PROJECT PARTNERS: University ofMons-Hainaut and Materia Nova Natiss.• DESCRIPTION: development of a productiontechnology for PolyLactic (PLA) bioplastics fromrenewable vegetable sources.• PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT:15+ doctors, engineers and techniciansapplications, it will also bring expertise toeverything downstream. “In essence,Futerro is following two objectives”,comments Jean-Michel Brusson, head ofR&D for Total Petrochemicals. “Firstly, todemonstrate that there is an economical,reliable and performant process forproducing PLA. Secondly, to producestandard PLA, followed by PLA withimproved properties.”Launched in October 2007, the project willgive birth, by the end of 2009, to a pilotplant in Escanaffles (Hainaut), capable ofproducing 1500 tonnes of PLA each year.The two project leaders specify that theproject is currently concentrating on thepackaging market. But in the longer term,many other applications are foreseen:computers, GSMs, fabrics, automobilefinishings, etc. ■Dynamisme December 2008 .35