Modern Plastics Worldwide - March 2010 - dae uptlax

PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
MATERIAL THOUGHTS
BIOPLASTICS NEWS
Finger lickin’ plastic packaging
At its 35 stores in South Australia, fast food chain KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) has
tasked Cardia Bioplastics to supply it with takeout bags converted from Cardia’s own
patented Compostable material, a biodegradable plastic derived from plant starch.
Cardio would not quantify the size of the KFC contract in terms of bags or tonnes/
year, but did say that increasing sales of Cardia Compostable and Cardia Biohybrid
resins and finished products processed from the material encouraged the company to
bring forward the expansion of its manufacturing facility in Nanjing, China.
The expansion will double manufacturing output there and accommodate the
administration and sales team servicing the China market. At press time, MPW had not
yet heard from the company with regard to its actual capacity at the Nanjing site.
Last autumn Cardia appointed H. Mühlstein & Co. as its distributor for the
Americas, with three firms also tasked for regional distribution in Europe, and Unic
Technologies handling it in Southeast Asia.
KFC’s switch was prompted by the South Australian government’s ban on very
thin (i.e. takeout) noncompostable plastic bags in May 2009. Cardia’s materials meet
international standards for compostability, including Europe’s EN 13432, the United
States’ ASTM D 6400, Japan’s GreenPla, and Australia’s AS 4736-2006.
Cardia Bioplastics, www.cardiabioplastics.com
Updated bioplastics
database compares
apples to apples
An earlier database used information provided
by material suppliers, but its data
proved incomplete and, due to the use of
different standards, the data were not comparable.
Now available online is the second
generation of the Biopolymer Database,
managed by the Hannover University of
Applied Science & Arts (Fachhochschule)
and M-Base Engineering & Software
GmbH (Aachen, both Germany).
This second edition is more valuable
by far in that the team at Fachhochschule
Hannover collected material samples
from most suppliers and performed comparable
material tests on the various bioplastics
marketed. This newly generated
data, broadcast at M-Base’s website,
allows direct comparison of grades and
searches over all suppliers.
The kicker is that the access to the
system is free. The partners openly state
that the data content is not complete and
will be extended on a continuous basis,
but it sure is a good starting point to be
better informed about the mechanical
properties of available bioplastics.
M-Base Engineering & Software GmbH,
www.m-base.de
Loaded PLA proves a
match for styrenics
A new grade of the Ingeo polylactic acid
(PLA)-based bioplastic from NatureWorks
LLC (Minnetonka, MN) is said to be
suited for injection molding of parts with
thermal dimensional stability up to 120°C
(248ºF), notched Izod impact strength
greater than 2 ft-lb/in, and modulus of
around 450,000 psi. Cycle time is compa-
Test moldings of the new PLA grade hold up to
heat better than PS and clarified PP.
rable to that of some styrenics.
The new grade, dubbed Ingeo 3801X,
is part of the supplier’s effort to make
its materials interesting to processors
beyond the packaging realm. Indeed,
this new material more likely will see use
in semi-durable consumer products. The
KFC switched to compostable bags by Cardia
Bioplastics at its 35 stores in South Australia.
new grade combines PLA with a tailored
additive package.
In North America, samples of the new
material are available from the supplier
plus distributors Ashland and Jamplast.
In Asia the supplier is marketing samples
of the material, while in Europe only
R&D samples are as yet available as
the supplier awaits an assessment of
the European Union chemical regulation
REACH status of the material.
NatureWorks LLC, www.natureworksllc.com;
Ashland Inc., www.ashland.com; Jamplast
Inc., www.jamplast.com
RESINS & COMPOUNDS
New PET grade good for
extrusion blowmolding
and recycling
A new grade of PET from supplier
Invista is said to successfully straddle
multiple challenges for the material: It
can be extrusion blowmolded and also
is suitable for recycling via the standard
clear PET recycling stream. Jeff Wardat,
business development manager at the
supplier, officially introduced the new
grade last month at the Nova-Pack 2010
Conference on PET Containers for Food
& Beverages.
18 MARCH 2010 • MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE plasticstoday.com/mpw