bioplasticsMAGAZINE_0703

Vol. 2 ISSN 1862-5258 

Special editorial Focus: 

Films, trays 

03 | 2007 

bioplastics magazine 

Show preview | 13 

Industrial Composting | 36 

Logos, Part 5 | 38

Visit us: 

K 2007, 

Hall 5, 

Stand B21 

Don’t worry, 

the raw material for Ecovio ® 

is renewable. 

Ecovio ® , a biodegradable plastic from the PlasticsPlus TM product line, 

is keeping up with the times when it comes to plastic bags and food 

packaging. Ecovio ® is made of corn starch, a renewable raw material, 

and it has properties like HD-PE, which translates into a double plus 

point for you. Films made of Ecovio ® are water-resistant, very strong 

and degrade completely in composting facilities within just a few weeks. 

www.ecovio.com 

I N N O VAT I O N R E L I A B I L I T Y PA R T N E R S H I P D I V E R S I T Y

Editorial 

dear readers 

Bottles made from bioplastics, particularly PLA bottles for the 

beverage and dairy industries, were the main editorial focus of our 

last issue. And since this special field of application is such a dynamic 

one, bioplastics MAGAZINE hosted the 1st PLA Bottle Conference in 

Hamburg in mid September. I must admit, the interest and participation 

at this conference exceeded our expectations. It was a great success, 

and you can read our summary report in this issue. 

One of the points frequently discussed about PLA is its limited market 

availability. Different courses of action are being taken with the aim of 

increasing production capacity. However, PLA is not the only bioplastic 

material. Many people who briefly evaluate the bioplastics scene come 

to a misleading conclusion: „bioplastics = PLA = not available, hence 

bioplastics are not available“. And that is clearly wrong. There are a 

number of different bioplastics available in sufficiently large quantities, 

including starch based materials or starch blends, cellulose based 

materials and more. 

So knowing this, the editorial focus of this issue is firmly on films and 

trays. We are grateful to Stuart Lendrum of Sainsbury‘s in the UK, who 

gave us the benefit of his experience and Sainsbury‘s philosophy in 

an interview. Sainsbury‘s announced last year that they were going to 

replace the packaging material of 500 product lines with biodegradable 

materials. 

Another highlight that plastics people (and not only 

bioplastics people) are looking forward to is the world‘s 

biggest plastics show – the K‘2007 in Düsseldorf, 

Germany from October 24 – 31. For those of our readers 

who are going to the „K“ show we have put together a 

preview, so that you can easily find your way through this 

mega event, and see all the exhibitors that are active in 

the field of bioplastics. And please don‘t forget to see the 

booth of bioplastics MAGAZINE in Hall 7, booth number 

C09. 


Films, trays 

03 | 2007 

Vol. 2 ISSN 1862-5258 

And of course in this issue, you’ll find much more of the 

latest bioplastics news, updates on materials, applications, 

politics, basics, opinions, events and much more. 

Michael Thielen 

Publisher 

K‘2007 preview | 13 


Logos, Part 5 | 38 

bioplastics MAGAZINE 

bioplastics MAGAZINE [03/07] Vol. 2

Content 

October 03|2007 

Editorial 03 

News 05 

Suppliers Guide 42 

Events 46 

Materials 

PHBV from Tianan-Biologic 24 

Bio-Ethanol based Polyethylene 26 

Applications 

Trays made from sugarcane 28 

New Closures for Beverage Bottles 29 

Politics 

Overview of the Current Biopolymers 31 

Market Situation 

Basics 

PHA Bioplastics and how they’re made 34 

Industrial Composting: An Introduction 36 

Logos Part 5: GreenPla Logo (Japan) 38 

Glossary 40 

Opinion 

Preview 

Careful use of terms like 39 

“Biodegradable and compostable” 

K’2007 preview 12 

Special 

Interview with Stuart Lendrum, Sainsbury‘s 16 

Compostable Films and Trays 18 

Biodegradable foam trays for fresh food 22 

Impressum 

Publisher / Editorial 

Dr. Michael Thielen 

Samuel Brangenberg 

Dr. Thomas Isenburg, Contributing Editor 

Layout/Production 

Mark Speckenbach, Jörg Neufert 

Head Office 

Polymedia Publisher GmbH 

Hackesstr. 99 

41066 Mönchengladbach, Germany 

phone: +49 (0)2161 664864 

fax: +49 (0)2161 631045 

info@bioplasticsmagazine.com 

www.bioplasticsmagazine.com 

Media Adviser 

Elke Schulte, Katrin Stein 

phone: +49(0)2359-2996-0 

fax: +49(0)2359-2996-10 

es@bioplasticsmagazine.com 

Print 

Tölkes Druck + Medien GmbH 

Höffgeshofweg 12 

47807 Krefeld, Germany 

Print run: 8,000 copies 

bioplastics magazine 

ISSN 1862-5258 

bioplastics magazine is published 

4 times in 2007 and 6 times a year from 2008. 

This publication is sent to qualified 

subscribers (149 Euro for 6 issues). 

bioplastics MAGAZINE is read 

in more than 80 countries. 

Not to be reproduced in any form 

without permission from the publisher 

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. 

Cover 

bioplastics MAGAZINE is grateful to real 

supermarkets for the permission to shoot the 

cover photo 


News 

Clearly much tougher 

Sukano announces unique impact modifier for 

transparent PLA applications 

Highly transparent polylactide (PLA) packaging with significantly 

enhanced impact resistance is now a reality, thanks to SUKANO® 

PLA im S550. The special feature of this revolutionary impact modifier, 

which has been optimised for use with FDA-approved food 

contact biodegradable PLA, is that it does not impair the transparency 

or the heat stability of the PLA. At a concentration of just 

4% impact resistance is improved by a factor of 10, so preventing 

cracks and splinters in PLA sheet and film during cutting or 

stamping. In comparison with competitive products SUKANO® 

PLA im S550, in addition to its compostability and excellent transparency, 

is highly cost-effective. In comparison with other products 

in the market this unique impact modifier is compostable and is 

above all highly transparent. PLA processors can use the impact 

modifier in combination with other Sukano PLA masterbatches, 

such as the PLA dc S511 slip/antiblock concentrate or white and 

black colour masterbatches, to produce a tailor-made blend with 

no loss of performance. 

www.sukano.com 

Impect strength of PLA film 

Impact strength of PLA film 

China‘s Livan to 

build plants in 

Hungary for 

20 million EUR 

Chinese packaging firm Livan Biodegradable 

Product Co. Ltd. will set up two plants 

in Hungary at a combined cost of HUF 5 billion 

(EUR 19.6 million) , the Hungarian Ministry 

of Economic Affairs has said. 

Livan will build plants in Alsózsolca and 

Edelény (eastern Hungary) in scope of a 

green-field investment. The deal is the first 

Chinese investment of this kind in Hungary. 

The plants, which will create 800 jobs, 

are to be built by 2009. Initially, it is planned 

to produce 50,000 metric tonnes a year of 

environmentally friendly packaging material 

and double that amount by a later date 

when Livan adds new capacities to the facility. 

The company will use corn to make 

packaging boxes for the food industry. 

1.4 

1.2 

Impact Strength ISO 6603/2 @ RT 

PLA film 500 µm with 

2% SUKANO ® PLA dc S511 

1.0 

Total Energy (J) 

0.8 

0.6 

0.4 

0.2 

0.0 

0% 4% 8% 

% S UKANO® 

PLA im S550 


News 

OnColor TM BIO Colorants and 

OnCap TM BIO Additives based on 

sustainable raw materials 

PolyOne Corporation recently introduced its new OnColor BIO Colorants and OnCap BIO Additives 

for use in biodegradable polymers such as polylactide (PLA), polyhydroxybutyrate- valerate 

copolymer (PHBV), polybutylene succinate (PBS), polybutylene adipate- co-terephthalate (PBAT) 

and starch blends. 

„We developed these new colorants and additives in direct response to requests from our customers 

around the world for products based on sustainable materials,“ said John Van Hulle, vice 

president and general manager, North American Color for PolyOne color and additives products 

and services. „OnColor BIO Colorants and OnCap BIO Additives enable our customers to manufacture 

products with low environmental impact.“ 

OnColor BIO Colorants are available in a wide range of transparent and opaque colors. The 

OnCap BIO Additives product line includes denesting, antistatic, slip, antiblock, UV protection, 

blue tone and anti-fog additives. PolyOne also offers OnColor SmartbatchTM BIO masterbatches, 

which combine OnColor BIO Colorants and OnCap BIO Additives into a single masterbatch. 

In addition to offering several standard product grades, PolyOne can customize an OnColor BIO 

Colorant or OnCap BIO Additive to meet a customer‘s specific processing need or end-use application. 

PolyOne‘s OnColor BIO Colorants and OnColor BIO Additives meet several global industry 

and composting standards, including EN 13432 (European Union), ASTM D6400 (U.S.A.), BPS 

GREENPLA (Japan) and DIN CERTCO (Germany). 

www.polyone.com 

PLA based bioplastics from sugar 

beet and sugarcane residues 

Bio-On, an Italian start-up company is entering the bioplastics market with a process that 

produces polylactide based bioplastics (PLA) from sugar beet and sugarcane residues with a 

claimed efficiency of 95%: Waste streams become valuable resources that can be converted almost 

in their entirety in a useful product. Sugar beet pulp, one of the prime feedstocks, is usually 

used as low value animal feed or disposed of at additional cost. Likewise, bagasse and mollases 

from sugarcane have a relatively low value and are abundantly available. 

PLA based bioplastics are currently produced almost exclusively from corn and grain starch. 

But given that prices for these feedstock keep rising because of their use in the production of 

ethanol, the utilization of new raw materials becomes an attractive proposal. The production 

of sugar crops, on the contrary, is outstripping demand. Both Brazil and India delivered record 

crops, and sugar prices have declined in the EU. 

The production process would reduce energy costs and as it is based on a multi-feedstock 

strategy, costs for raw materials would be substantially lower than those for traditional PLA production. 

A first range of products to be developed by Bio-On are a range of biodegradable plastics 

with natural flame retardants to be used for automotive applications: 

The planned location of the production plant is quite significant: ‚Plastic Valley‘ in Bologna, 

the region with a long tradition of developing innovative plastics, with some leading research 

organisations working on bioproducts. There, Bio-On is creating relations with universities and 

scientists, and aims to have a production facility ready by 2009. Output would be 10,000 tons. 


News 

First Commercial Launch of 

Amcor NaturePlus heat-seal 

Materbi film for Fresh Produce 

Major UK retailer Sainsburys and its potato packer Greenvale are the first to commercially 

launch Amcor NaturePlus’ heat-seal Materbi VFFS film within the fresh produce 

sector on their JS SO Organic Baby Salad Potatoes, 750g. This launch is part of the environmental 

plan set out by Sainsbury’s in September 2006, where it vowed to change traditional 

packaging across its SO organic food lines to use more environmentally friendly 

compostable packaging. 

The Amcor NaturePlus heat-seal Materbi VFFS film is manufactured from renewable 

materials and is fully compostable. The 40 micron co-extruded material is produced at 

Amcor’s extrusion site in Ilkeston in the UK and is then printed and converted at AF Ledbury 

– the centre of excellence for Fresh Produce packaging. This novel new extrusion 

offers a differential heatseal film suitable for VFFS packing of fresh produce. Conventional 

grades of MaterBi require impulse seals so are not suitable for the majority of VFFS vegetable 

pacing lines currently used by UK retail packers. 

This compliments the growing range of environmental films supplied by Amcor Flexibles 

under the Amcor NaturePlus umbrella and enhances Amcor’s position as a leading supplier 

in this growing market. 

www.amcor.com 

No mandatory deposit for 

bottles made from bioplastics 

German Cabinet Decision to Modify 

Packaging Ordinance 

The European Bioplastics industry association appreciates the German Cabinet Decision 

of Sept. 19, 2007. Within the framework of the 5th amendment to the German 

Packaging Ordinance beverage bottles made of a minimum of 75% of bioplastics shall 

be exempted from the mandatory deposit. Another prerequisite is the participation of the 

packaging producers in an appropriate waste disposal system. The association values 

this as a clear commitment by the German Government towards the support of innovation 

leading to a sustainable development. 

By this exemption, which is limited until 2010, the necessary and cost-intensive buildup 

of a sorting- and recycling-system for bioplastic bottles, normally obligatory within 

the mandatory deposit, can be delayed until a later date. Until that time the collection 

and recycling can be done via the so-called “dual systems”, such as the yellow sacks or 

yellow bins. 

“It absolutely makes sense to invest in the development of technology and marketing of 

bioplastic bottles first, and then later to create the best end of life solution”; says Harald 

Kaeb, chairman of European Bioplastics. 


www.fkur.com 

Hall 7.1 

Stand A20/A22

News 

New Zealand‘s first ever 

Bio-Bottle 

“Try Me, NZ’s first ever Bio-Bottle” reads the swing tag hanging 

from New Zealand’s first bottled water product made from PLA. 

After two years of product research and development, ‘good’ was 

launched in September by The Good Water Company. CEO Grant 

Hall claims ‘good’ is the world’s most sustainable bottled water 

package. The Good Water Company will donate 10 cents for every 

bottle sold to support The Sir Peter Blake Trust. Sir Peter Blake’s 

famous quote “good water, good life” is being used to market this 

initiative to reinforce how significant water is in sustaining quality 

of life and how we must commit to protecting the environment. 

While these bio-bottles cost more to produce, The Good Water 

Company doesn’t want to penalise the consumer at the retail end 

for making the right purchasing decision, so ‘good’ will also be 

competitively priced in relation to non-sustainable plastic rivals. 

After ‘Biota’ in the US and the UK-based ‘Belu’, Hall says ‘good’ 

uses that same technology and goes one step further by using a 

compostable wood pulp label complete with a water-based adhesive. 

The actual water itself is certified bio-gro organic and comes 

from a unique silica rich source at the Kauri Springs in Kaiwaka, 

Northland. The projects biggest challenge has been formulating an 

end of life plan for the bottles once consumers have used them. Approximately, 

14,000 tonnes of plastic bottles go to landfill each year 

and the rest go to China. The Good Water Company wants to lead 

the way on the sustainable recycling of bottles in New Zealand and 

is a foundation partner in Greenplastics Incorporated, the countries 

first ever product stewardship organisation set up to manage end 

of life options for bio-polymers. The challenge is that the end of life 

program for bio-bottles can only work if enough of them are collected, 

which means the plan needs the support of retail customers 

in enough volume to make it viable. “It’s up to the public,” says 

Hall whose sales promotion for good offers purchasers the chance 

to win a trip to Antarctica. “If enough people support this project 

then we will be able to recycle the bottle here in New Zealand and 

that would be a first for any bottled water product in the country.” 

A natural container 

for natural products 

Silita, Spanish packaging manufacturer, is working 

together with a major producer and bottler of 

edible olive oil to test the behaviour of their product 

when packed in PLA bottles. 

The company, which specialises in manufacturing 

PET containers, has produced its first bottles with 

this new material and is conducting storage trials 

with different products, including oils, water, juices 

and dairy products. 

The NatureWorks PLA material was supplied by 

Safiplast S.L. , who also helped to co-ordinate the 

project. Safiplast S.L., (Barcelona, Spain) has been 

supplying machinery and services to produce bottles 

and drums using a range of technologies and 

materials for over 40 years. This project shows its 

interest in implementing projects for bottles made 

with the new bioplastic materials. 

www.safiplast.com 

www.goodwater.org.nz 

10 bioplastics MAGAZINE [03/07] Vol. 2

Event Review 

1 st PLA Bottle Conference 

The 1 st PLA Bottle Conference hosted by bioplastics 

MAGAZINE (September 12-13, Hamburg, Germany) 

attracted over 100 experts from more than 25 countries. 

Delegates from the beverage industry as well as 

bioplastics experts came from all over Europe, North 

America and countries as far away as Hawaii, Australia, 

South Africa and even Bhutan in the Himalayas. 

In the first session speakers from Uhde Inventa 

Fischer and NatureWorks introduced the basics of 

PLA. How is starch (e.g. from corn) converted into lactic 

acid and then into PLA? What properties of PLA lead 

to which applications, including stretch blow moulded 

bottles? 

Husky and SIG Corpoplast, being the machine suppliers 

for the first commercially available PLA preforms 

and bottles, covered the issues surrounding the 

particular processing characteristics of PLA. 

Caps and labels made from bioplastics were the 

subject of the next session with contributions from 

Novamont, Netstal and Wiedmer. 

The presentations about possibilities and challenges 

were rounded off by a presentation by Bernd Merzenich 

about the successful market launch of the German 

„Vitamore“ bottle. Bill Horner of Naturally Iowa commented 

on his experience with PLA milk bottles in a 

series of video clips. 

Distilling all of the experiences discussed, it can be 

stated, that until now the most significant limitations 

to the use of PLA as a bottle material are its low heat 

resistance and the poor barrier against water vapour 

and gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide. 

However, „until now“ is an important phrase, which 

Mike Gamble of Coca-Cola also stressed in his presentation 

on „a brand owners perspective“. „A few year 

ago we might have been sitting here together and discussing 

the same questions about PET,“ he said. 

And, as the third subtitle of the conference was 

„prospects“, a presentation from Purac showed the 

possibilities to enhance the heat resistance of PLA 

by applying a stereocomplexation of PLA with PDLA. 

The presentation by SIG Pasmax on the other hand focussed 

on the prospects of improving the barrier properties 

of PLA by applying a thin glass-like (SiOx) layer 

on the inside of the bottle. This method exhibited barrier 

improvement factors (BIF) of about 90 for oxygen 

and of 4.5 for water vapour. 

The presentations were rounded off with talks by 

Polyone and Colormatrix about processing and colour 

additives. Erwin Vink of NatureWorks addressed the 

important issue of life cycle analyses and the possibilities 

to further reduce the environmental footprint 

of PLA. 

The conference ended with a panel discussion about 

possible „end of life options“. A clear conclusion to 

the question for the best option could of course not 

be found at this stage. However, the opinion that composting 

is not the best option was widely agreed. And 

as long as the (at present) limited amounts of PLA do 

not reach a critical mass for sorting and recycling, incineration 

with energy recovery seems to be a good 

solution. The technologies for sorting (e.g. via NIR = 

Near Infrared) and recycling, mechanical as well as 

chemical, are available. It is only a question of reaching 

the critical mass. 

After the conference the delegates were invited 

to visit the SIG Corpoplast and SIG Plasmax plant in 

Hamburg. Here the companies demonstrated the 

stretch blow moulding of PLA on a laboratory machine 

as well as the plasma coating of bottles. 

As the conference was considered by many – delegates 

as well as speakers, and by the organisers – as 

a great success, the second PLA Bottle Conference is 

definitely planned for 2008. However, date and place 

are still to be chosen. 

www.pla-bottle-conference.com 

bioplastics MAGAZINE [03/07] Vol. 2 11

News 

show 

preview 

Oct. 24-31, 2007 Düsseldorf, Germany 

Foams from the fields 

Biodegradable plastics and plastics based on renewable 

raw materials are a constant part of BASF’s research 

and development activities. After the market introduction 

of Ecovio ® LBX 8145 at the beginning of 2006, the first lab 

samples of the new Ecovio ® L Foam will be available in 

October 2007. The material is designed for foamed food 

trays and fast-food boxes. Like its predecessor the new 

Ecovio ® L Foam consists of Ecoflex ® , BASF’s biodegradable 

polyester, and the renewable raw material polylactide 

(PLA). 

BASF (Hall 5 - Booth B21) www.basf.com 

Biopolymers and 

natural fibrereinforced 

plastics 

M-Base is a leading supplier of material information 

systems and thus of course also engaged in the relatively 

new group of biopolymers and natural fibre materials. 

Unfortunately, only very little qualified information about 

these materials is available. M-Base is involved in a series 

of projects in this field which are to be presented at 

K‘2007: 

• www.N-FibreBase.net, is an information portal about 

natural fibre reinforced plastics including a database 

for polymers and fibres. 

• NF-Guidelines is a research project for the development 

of design catalogues and style guides for natural 

fibre reinforced plastics. 

• A campaign to industrially establish polypropylene-natural 

fibre injection moulding (PP-NF) and wood-plasticcomposites 

(WPC) 

• A biopolymer database (first public presentation at the 

exhibition). 

These projects are carried out in cooperation with a network 

of institutions such as Nova Institut Hürth, Faserinstitut 

Bremen, TU Clausthal, Fachhochschule Hannover. 

M-Base‘s goal is to create structures for the new materials 

so that information will be available equal to conventional 

materials. 

M-Base (Hall 5 - Booth F04) www.m-base.de 

At K‘2007, the world’s No. 1 plastics and rubber fair, to be 

staged from 24 to 31 October 2007 in Düsseldorf, Germany, more 

than 3,000 companies will showcase their latest developments 

for all industry segments. Among them quite a few companies 

that are busy in the field of bioplastics. In this K-show prview 

bioplastics MAGAZINE gives an overview of what visitors can 

expect in terms of bioplastics. 

All-natural colour and 

additive masterbatches 

provide earth-friendly 

option for biopolymers 

A new family of all-natural colorants and additives from 

Clariant Masterbatches complements the environmentally 

friendly biopolymers that are becoming popular in “green” 

packaging and consumer goods applications. Based on 

natural materials such as flowers, the new RENOL ® -natur 

colour masterbatches and CESA ® -natur additive masterbatches 

are biodegradable and renewable, making them 

ideal for marketers who emphasize conservation and sustainability. 

Additional details on the new products can be 

expected to be announced at K2007 in October. 

Clariant Masterbatches Division (Hall 8A - Booth J11) 

www.clariant.masterbatches.com 

Masterbatches based 

on biodegradable 

polymers 

A. Schulman a global leader in masterbatches, compounds 

and distribution/trading offers a wide range of products. 

In response to market trends the range also includes 

masterbatches which are based on biodegradable polymers. 

In addition various oxy- and photodegradable formulations 

for applications in polyolefins are available. Detailed information 

upon request. A. Schulman is an independent manufacturer 

thus tailor-made solutions can be discussed! 

A. Schulman GmbH (Hall 8a - Booth D12) www.polybatch.net 

Photo: Clariant 


Biopolymer line adds injection 

molding, paper coating grades 

Telles, Lowell, MA, USA, bioplastics production joint venture between Metabolix 

Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA, and Archer Daniels Midland Co., Decatur, IL, USA, introduces 

three grades of Mirel semi-crystalline, biobased polyester: Mirel P1001, 

Mirel P1002 for injection molding applications; Mirel P2001 for paper coating. Mirel 

P1001 replaces styrenics, exhibits high modulus, high gloss, heat resistance. Mirel 

P1002 substitutes for polyolefins, offers higher flow, medium stiffness, heat resistance. 

Mirel P2001 provides an alternative to petroleum-based paper coatings, 

enables production of fully biodegradable coated paper cups, food packaging such 

as ice cream cartons. Attributes include heat sealability, good barrier properties, 

good printability, adhesion to substrates. 

News 

Telles (Metabolix/ADM) (Hall 5 - Booth G19-9) www.metabolix.com 

Photo: Telles 

DuPont‘s 

sustainable 

presence 

Highlights of the DuPont exhibit 

of the will include the latest 

developments in terms of polymer 

production from renewable 

sources. One of the early proponents 

of bio-sourced materials, 

DuPont is already processing 

corn grain to make Bio-PDO at 

a facility constructed with Tate & 

Lyle, which was officially opened 

in June 2007. DuPont is now exploring 

the refining of other cellulosic 

materials, such as corn 

stover – the residual from the 

plant that remains after the 

corn is harvested – to sugars 

for processing into value-added 

chemicals such as Bio-PDO. 

In 2008, the company is expected 

to participate in the construction 

and operation of a pilot cellulosic 

biorefinery for ethanol. “With 

the growing demand for sugars 

for industrial intermediates and 

biofuels, cellulosic conversion is 

an essential step in a biorefinery 

concept,” comments Dr. Nandan 

Rao, technology director for Du- 

Pont Performance Materials. 

DuPont (Hall 6 - Booth D27) 

www.dupont.com 

Biodegradable bags with 

Roll-o-Matic equipment 

In the past few years the plastic industry has experienced considerable product 

development – and naturally Roll-o-Matic has been a part of it. Today the market 

demands for converting equipment are higher as there is a need for innovative 

solutions that are both on the cutting edge of technology and also live up to new 

environmental standards. Roll-o-Matic too have noticed the bio-trend and applied 

the bio-principles to their converting equipment. The result is the Delta Line that 

can produce biodegradable bags on roll as well as plastic bags from standard 

material. At K-2007 Roll-o-Matic will exhibit a state-of-the-art Delta Line in order 

to demonstrate the equipment’s flexible design, running capacity, technological 

innovation and not least its ability to produce bags of various types. 

www.roll-o-matic.com Roll-o-Matic (Hall 3 - Booth D06) 

“Creative Solutions” 

for value-added plastics 

At K 2007 Sukano Products Ltd.is presenting its full range of functional and 

visually enhancing masterbatches. The spotlight will be on the latest product developments. 

Besides additives and masterbatches for “traditional“ plastics one 

highlight will be a transparent impact modifier for PLA. 

On the stand there will be full details of the well-established and successful 

range of slip/antiblock concentrates, matting agents, mould release agents and 

melt flow enhancers, antistatic agents, UV blockers, colours including black and 

white, optical brighteners, nucleating concentrates, and flame retardants, plus 

information on new applications. The main focus is on PET, PETG, PC and PLA 

applications. A particular highlight will be the PLA slip/antiblock masterbatch for 

use in biodegradable applications. In recognition of this development Sukano was 

selected as a finalist in the “Best Innovation in Bioplastics” competition at the 

28th Bioplastics Conference in Frankfurt, December 2006. 

Sukano (Hall 8A - Booth H28) www.sukano.com 


News 

Photo: Grafe 

GRAFE Advanced Polymers GmbH 

(Hall 7.1 - Booth C/25) www.grafe.com 

Masterbatches for 

biodegradable plastics 

The Grafe Group has developed biodegradable colour masterbatches available 

in the same brilliant colors and with the same technical characteristics 

as the „classic“ masterbatches. With these newly developed products, Grafe 

meets the challenges of increased environmental awareness and ever stricter 

environmental legislation. 

With immediate effect the Grafe Group will offer masterbatches for colouring 

biodegradable plastics under the brand name “Biocolen“. Plastics made from 

renewable raw materials pave the way for using closed recycling loops. 

Compostability of bioplastic products containing inorganic mineral pigments 

or organic synthetic dyes is reduced. However, products made with Biocolen 

masterbatches, which are produced with vegetable dyes, are completely biodegradable. 

“Stricter environmental legislation governing the use of plastics is bound to 

come - the political powers will see to that. Even today, we are already supplying 

the necessary raw materials to the plastics processing industry“, said 

Matthias Grafe, Manager of the Grafe Group. 

Nanostarch: the 

highlight of the year 

Novamont, leading company in the area of biodegradable 

polymers driven by its vision of “Living Chemistry for Quality of 

Life” and winner of the award “European Inventor of the Year 

2007”, will announce a further highlight at the K2007 show in 

Düsseldorf. 

Novamont has achieved a further significant technological 

breakthrough with Mater-Bi ® nanostarch, a range of products 

engineered to substantially improve the end-use performances 

of Mater-Bi grades containing starch, while maintaining 

its certified biodegradability even in home composting conditions. 

Nanostarch technology, patented by Novamont, will be a very 

powerful tool to produce super tough materials even in conditions 

of very low humidity, definitively overcoming the limitations 

of starch-based materials. Several applications will benefit 

of these new breakthrough of Novamont technologies to be 

announced at the K2007 show. 

Novamont is increasing its industrial capacity due to the new 

Biorefinery integrated in the territory 

NOVAMONT S.p.A. (Hall 6 - Booth E09) www.novamont.com 

show 

preview 

Oct. 24-31, 2007 Düsseldorf, Germany 

Plastics - made 

by Nature! ® 

Photo: FKuR 

FKuR together with Fraunhofer UMSICHT present 

their competence in the area of biodegradable films 

and compounds. “One of many highlights“ says Patrick 

Zimmermann of FKuR, “is a translucent film similar to 

HDPE“. Other examples include a wide range of biodegradable 

plastics primarily made of renewable raw 

material, e.g.: Bio-Flex ® (PLA/co-polyester-blends), 

Biograde ® (cellulose ester blends) or Fibrolon ® (Plastic-Wood-Compounds). 

Application examples are mulch 

films, waste bags, bottles made from PLA-blends and 

numerous injection moulded applications. 

FKuR Kunststoff GmbH (Hall 7-level 1 - Booth A20/A22) 

www.fkur.com , www.umsicht.fraunhofer.de 


New PHB formulation 

Biomer from Krailing, Germany introduce a new PHB 

formulation “with mechanical properties at least as good 

as polypropylene, if not better“, as Urs Hänggi of Biomer 

puts it. PHB is made of renewable resources, totally biodegradable 

(anaerobic and aerobic). Biomer‘s PHB compounds 

are free of catalysts, neither thrombogenic nor 

immunogenic. They offer a good creep resistance, faster 

cycle times and thinner walls, thus more complex structures 

become possible. The compounds are best for injection 

moulded technical applications. 

Biomer (Hall 7-Level 2 - Booth B30) www.biomer.de 

Polyethylene from 

bio-ethanol 

At the company’s Technology and Innovation Center the 

Brazilian company Braskem has developed the first internationally 

certified (ASTM D6866) polyethylene made from 

100% sugarcane based ethanol. The “green polymer“ developed 

by Braskem – a high-density polyethylene, one 

of the resins most widely used in flexible packaging – is 

the result of a research and development project in which 

already around 5 million US$ have been invested. To find 

out more, read the detailed article in this issue or meet 

Braskem at their Booth in Düsseldorf. 

New masterbatches 

PolyOne will introduce a range of new additive masterbatches 

designed to enhance the performance of biopolymers. 

Among these are 

• Enhanced impact & ductility of PLA sheet while maintaining 

transparency 

• Increase anti-fog properties for PLA film 

Besides the new masterbatches PolyOne will show the 

earlier developed color and additive masterbatches. 

The color masterbatches are especially designed to 

comply with the strict EN 13432 norm. 

The additive masterbatches offer improved processing 

and enhanced application performance 

PolyOne (Hall 8b - Booth G46) www.polyone.com 

News 

Braskem (Hall 6 - Booth E80) www.braskem.com.br 

Other companies exhibiting at K‘2007, that are involved 

in bioplastics but unfortunately did not provide us with 

detailed information in time for this issue are: 

Biotec Distribution, www.biotec-distribution.eu 

Hall 5 - Booth B13-3 and Hall 7-level 2 Booth E45 

CONSTAB Polyolefin Additives GmbH, www.constab.com 

Hall 7-level 1 - Booth C20 

Kaneka Belgium N.V., www.kaneka.be 

Hall 7a - Booth D32 

Kuraray Europe GmbH, www.kuraray.eu 


Marubeni Europe Plc, www.europe.marubeni.com 


SpecialChem, www.specialchem.com 

Hall 5 - Booth B41 

Technamation Technical Europe GmbH, www.technamation.com 

Hall 8b - Booth F8 

Toray Industries, Inc., www.toray.com 


Vanetti S.r.l. - Masterbatch, www.vanettimaster.com 

Hall 7-level 1 - Booth C03 

VTT Technical Research, Centre of Finland, www.vtt.fi 

Hall 11 - Booth C70 

Wells Plastics Limited, www.wellsplastics.com 

Hall 5 - Booth B40

Special 

“Make the difference” reusable carrier bags (Photo: Sainsbury’s) 

Photo: European Plastics News 

Interview 

with Stuart 

Lendrum, 

Sainsbury‘s 

Photo: Sainsbury’s 

stands for great products at fair prices. 

Our objective is simple; to serve customers well. 

“Sainsbury‘s 

We continually improve and develop our product 

ranges, and work hard to give customers an ever improving 

shopping experience. We also aim to fulfil our responsibilities 

to the communities and environments in which we operate.” 

(Soruce: www.jsainsburys.co.uk) 

bioplastics MAGAZINE spoke to Stuart Lendrum, Print and 

Packaging Manager of Sainsbury‘s Supermarkt Ltd. 

bpM: Mr. Lendrum, when did you start looking into bioplastics 

packaging materials? When did you actually start with your first 

products packed in biopackaging and which were these ? 

Stuart Lendrum: We first launched compostable packaging 

in 2002, certainly we were working on it some time before 

that. Predominatly that would have been trays based on palm 

leaves. 

bpM: What were the main reasons for you (for Sainsbury‘s) to 

introduce biodegradable packaging? 

Stuart Lendrum: The main reason for introducing biodegradable 

packaging was to make customers lives easier, we 

have a set of packaging brand standards; and the aim of our 

packaging brand standards, which is something that we apply 

across all our products is that we want to reduce the amount 

of packaging we use and make that packaging we do use, either 

reusable, home compostable or recyclable. So obviously 

different products are differently made and offer different opportunities 

but one of the big key strands is to introduce and 

to use home compostable packaging. 

bpM: How did the introduction start and progress? 

Stuart Lendrum: The first step to bring such products to the 

market, learn about them and get customers used to them 

was through our SO organic produce range. We see that the 

opportunity for home copostable packaging is much bigger 

than just SO organic produce for example ready meals. Last 

year we also launched the world‘s first compostable easter 

egg holder. That is a kind of a clamshell made of Plantic material. 

Concerning the progress: We have a large number of 

organic products across, we have the easter egg and we‘re 


Photo: Sainsbury’s 

Special 

just about to pack a whole chicken on a sugarcane tray 

and we are still working towards introducing the ready 

meal packaging. We are really happy with the progress we 

have made so far in terms of the introduction across our 

organic produce area and the other things we are doing. It 

is very challenging bringing new materials to the market 

place and putting them on the shelves, but we are committed 

to moving forward with these materials. 

bpM: Last year Sainsbury‘s announced the conversion of 

500 product lines or 3,550 tons respectively into biopackaging. 

How far are you at this point in time? 

Stuart Lendrum: The rollout in the ready meals category 

is taking longer than anticipated but we are pleased 

with our progress to date. 

bpM: What kind of biopackaging are you currently offering 

to your customers? 

Stuart Lendrum: We currently use sugarcane based 

materials, Natureflex – cellulose based films, Mater-Bi 

– starch based materials, Plantic – starch based water 

soluble materials and combinations of these with compostable 

labels. The only material that we do not use is 

PLA because we won‘t use any material where we can‘t 

guarantee that it is from non-GM sources. And we only 

want to offer our customers home compostable materials 

– PLA is not home compostable. 

bpM: Are you satisfied so far with the conversion to biopackaging? 

Stuart Lendrum: Yes. We‘ve done a lot and there‘s a lot 

more to do. 

bpM: What are your consumers responses? Do they accept 

it well? Do they ask for more? 

Stuart Lendrum: Certainly all the customer‘s feedback 

we get on compostable packaging is that they do like it 

and yes they do want more. But they want the packaging 

to perform as well as the existing packaging formats. 

That‘s the challenge for us: We know that materials do 

have limitations and do not always perform as per current 

materials and how customers would like them to. 

bpM: With which partners did or do you cooperate? Did or 

do you get a good support from them? How does such support 

look like? 

Stuart Lendrum: We cooperate with companies like Innovia, 

Novamont, Plantic, natura, Amcor, Telrol or Paragon 

Flexibles and of course our product suppliers. And 

yes, we do get support from all of them. We feel that everybody 

is motivated to try and make these developments. 

We do a lot of testing on products, trying to improve the 

performance. And it is only possible if all of us work together 

to make these improvements. The key thing is the 

commitment of the people involved. 

bpM: What is more important from your point of view: 

A) biobased packaging, i.e. made from renewable 

resources or 

B) compostable packaging ? 

Could you tell us why? 

Stuart Lendrum: The most important thing for us is to 

reduce the amount of packaging we use and make our 

packaging reusable, home compostable or recyclable. 

What we want to do is do all of that in a sustainable way. 

bpM: What future plans do you have? In short term (next 

365 days) – in long term (next few years)? 

Stuart Lendrum: We want to continue to introduce more 

compostable packaging and try to move forward the quality 

of what we do. All within the context of making our customer‘s 

life easier. Both short term and long term we want 

to reduce the amount af packaging we use, regardless of 

what hat material is – that would be the absolute goal. 

bpM: What are you (is Sainsbury‘s) particularly proud of (in 

terms of this overall topic)? 

Stuart Lendrum: What we are particularly proud of is 

that we are continually improving our customer offer to 

make our customer‘s life easier by offering them packaging 

that they can compost at home as opposed to send to 

landfills. 

bpM: Thank you very much. 


Special 

Compostable 

Films and Trays 

The revolution in the food 

packaging sector. 

Article contributed by 

Stefano Facco, New Business 

Development Manager 

Novamont S.p.A., Novara, Italy 

The development of compostable polymers in the 

trays and films sector has enjoyed a dramatic boost 

in recent years. We may describe it mainly based on 

two aspects. The first aspect is the technical improvement 

in terms of performance and processing: lately we have 

seen more and more “high tech” biopolymers with properties 

similar to or, in some very specific cases, even better 

than standard polymers. The second aspect is the change 

in attitude of retailers and consumers, and the approach to 

waste management issues. 

Compostable and biobased polymers have, in the last 

4 to 5 years, demonstrated a really outstanding development, 

which has enabled them to be used almost as standard 

polymers in specific packaging applications. Major 

producers are based in Europe (such as Wentus, Amcor, 

Innovia, Treophan etc), as well as in the USA. In the food 

sector in particular new packaging for different products 

has been shown to have reached performances as high 

as some standard products. Starting from thermoformed 

punnets and trays, the market today offers products which 

may be as tough as the equivalent conventional ones. Also, 

in terms of processing, standard extrusion lines such as 

used for PP may be used for bioploymers. Another important 

aspect is given by the capability of recycling these new 

materials. This is a very important aspect when considering 

extrusion and thermoforming, as some 30% of scrap 

may result from a standard thermoforming process. And 

not only toughness, but also puncture resistance and rigidity 

have reached very high levels. In terms of transparency, 

a variety of companies do offer either very transparent or 

white opalescent products. Linear shrinkage values are 

comparable to standard polymers and may vary as from 

PP to PS. The Tg values, which may be a reason to choose 


Special 

a particular polymer (depending whether a punnet is 

used under deep frozen or ambient conditions), range 

from below 0°C to above 40°C. 

If the development of rigid trays has already reached 

a very high industrial level, the expanded tray sector is 

very close to reaching similar standards. Some different 

products are starting to show up in first applications and 

there are a number of products which have been shown 

to perform quite well. The first one, very close to being 

introduced in the UK (produced by Sirap Gema), which 

is a new and very light product, has been demonstrated 

to be, in the case of packaging delicate produce, even 

better compared to a standard EPS in terms of its cushioning 

properties. It has a very soft touch, white colour 

and has been tested by a major packaging company 

which has carried out a comparable test amongst major 

producers of trays (rigid and expanded). The results 

were really astonishing, as this new material shows incredible 

performance profiles in terms of handling and 

cushioning. 

In addition some products are starting to slowly move 

into the market, although we still may not consider 

them as expanded, as they belong more to the sheets 

category, but which are lighter compared to a standard 

sheet / tray, showing an expanded core and a still-rigid 

skin. Most of these products described above do have, 

due to their morphology, a white or opaque colour. 

A very new technology is soon to be launched on the 

market, namely laminated paper / cardboard trays. In 

this case we do have different technologies available, 

either based on coatings from a solution, or laminated 

with a compostable film. A third technology is based on 

extrusion coating (Mondi Packaging). Specifically in this 

latter technology, the possibility to use such extrusion 

coated trays may open up applications such as for microwavable 

food, as it seems that the weakening and 

melting points do satisfy the needs of such “cooking 

technology”. For standard coated paper/board (for frozen 

and room temperature applications) different polymers 

are already available on the market. 

But, as a filled punnet should not loose its content, 

there is a need for specific films or nets, in order to 

complete the packaging unit. 

Compostable and biobased films started their development 

many years ago and the results are very well 

visible on the market, if we consider the very high percentage 

of biopolymers used. According to different 

studies some two thirds of the given applications in the 

biopolymers sector is covered by films. Newly introduced 

wicketed bags, films for VFFS and flow pack have 

demonstrated the very high level achieved. 

The 9th Annual 

Bioplastics Conference 

Performance through innovation 

Featuring presentations from 

■ NEC ■ Metabolix ■ FKuR ■ NNZ 

■ Utrecht University ■ Braskem 

■ PA Consulting ■ Natureworks 

■ Tianan Biologic ■ PSM 

■ Eosta / The Organic Salad Company 

Plus – includes the second 

annual Bioplastics Awards 

5 – 6 December 2007 - Hyatt Regency, Cologne, Germany 

To register - Tel: +44 (0)20 7554 5811 

(International) 0845 056 5069 (UK Only) 

Email: EPNconferences@emap.com 

Online: www.bpevent.com 

Organised by: 

2007 

Conference & Awards

Special 

There are different technologies available in order to 

complete the packaging unit with a film. Most common 

technologies are based on flow pack top seal films. 

Additionally, specifically for the packaging of food, one 

of the most common technologies is the one based on 

cling films. Today, especially based on biopolymers, 

there are different technologies available, depending 

on the needs of the product to be packed and/or the 

packaging technology. 

Most commonly used on transparent punnets are 

transparent top seal films. Different combinations in 

terms of transparency may be used, meaning a transparent 

film on an opaque punnet or vice versa, or both 

the same. The first products are meant for food that 

does not need special MAP treatment. New developments 

are proving that amongst biopolymers there are 

some, which do offer differential barrier properties 

(WVTR, N 2 

TR, O 2 

TR, CO 2 

TR) and that will open new applications 

for MAP packaging. 

Importantly, in order to obtain adequate sealing 

properties, the Tm of the sealing layer of the film does 

need to fit with the tray on which the film is sealed. 

New biopolymers which offer differential sealing properties 

seem to perfectly match such needs. 

Similar properties are given for flow pack films, in 

order to achieve both good sealing results and high 

speed processing. It is evident that for most of the applications 

good printing, COF, hot tack etc. are needed, 

whether they be top seal films or flow pack. 

For some years different development activities have 

been carried out in order to develop cling films based 

on compostable polymers. Some positive results have 

been claimed by the market, and it is expected that 

by next year some first producers will present their 

products. In this specific case the opportunity to use 

biopolymers will just enlarge the application range of 

PVC cling films, as there is already a certain trend (in 

some European countries) to replace it with PE or alternative 

polymers. 

But much of the success, on which the use of compostable 

packaging is based, is the need to find new solutions 

in terms of waste treatment, as food packaging 

means: 

• Highly food-contaminated plastic. 

• Difficult to recycle. 

• Low potential energy recovery content (due to the 

high contamination) in case of thermal recycling. 

The new opportunity given by compostable bioplastics 

has an added value for both retailers and consumers, 

as: 

• Retailers do not need any longer to separate the content 

from the packaging (when the product expires). 

• This means a space reduction in terms of waste collection 

(packaging and food may be collected and 

treated together). 

• Waste management and treatment of such products 

would save energy. 

• The consumer gets packaging, especially when he 

purchases organic produce, which is more coherent 

with the nature of the produce. 

Some European retailers are starting to adopt more 

and more such materials, as on the one hand consumers 

are starting to ask for them, on the other hand it is 

proven that recycling, meaning composting of packaging, 

when contaminated with food, offers a valuable way 

of recycling. 

It is not only the source of the biopolymers which defines 

their environmental contribution or impact, it is 

very often more the recycling system that stands behind 

them, which defines their impact. 

Conventional polymers, when clean and not contaminated 

(as in the case of industrial waste), do offer their 

highest potential (environmentally) if recycled. Biopolymers, 

when used as packaging, do offer their best profile 

when composted. 


Special 

Thermoformed trays 

Biodegradable 


Cesare Vannini, Packaging 

System R&D 

Coopbox Europe s.p.a., 

Bibbiano, Italy 

Cross-section of foam 

Expanding film 

Coopbox S.p.A., headquartered in Reggio Emilia, 

Italy, is a producer of innovative packaging solutions 

for fresh foods. Coopbox has a very long 

history in the packaging industry. Founded in 1972, the 

company, always focused on innovation, recently became 

very active in the steady development of innovative 

and environmental friendly packaging solutions for 

retailers and the modern packaging industry. 

The idea of developing biodegradable foam 

packaging for fresh food started in 2003 and the first 

step was the selection of a material from the different 

biopolymers available on the market: starch, biopolyesters, 

polylactide, etc. Finally PLA was the chosen material, 

first of all for the good mechanical properties and 

the possibility to process the material with standard 

equipment. Not only has PLA a better mechanical performance 

than alternative traditional polymers used for 

rigid packaging (PET, PS, PP) but it is 100% produced 

from annually renewable resources such as corn. From 

this base a development project started with the involvement 

of the universities of Naples, Rome and Reggio 

Emilia, and the important collaboration of NatureWorks, 

the raw material supplier, all along the way. 

The basic idea was to use a foam solution because 

it allows a significant weight reduction of the pack. In 

general with traditional polymers, depending on the 

application, the foam tray is 30-50% lighter than rigid 

material. It is immediately evident that a biodegradable 

foam is a double environmentally friendly solution: 

firstly because it uses raw material from a renewable 

resource and secondly because of the weight reduction 

of up to 50% that is possible to obtain with the use of a 

foam instead of a rigid foil. 

Today Naturalbox ® is the first foamed PLA tray on the 

market with worldwide patent pending. Its first public 

presentation was at Interpack 2005, in the “Innovationparc 

Bioplastics in Packaging”. Naturalbox is recognised 

as a true innovation on the market, and has received 

several awards: the “Italian Oscar Dell’Imballaggio 

2005”, the “UK Meat Industry Award 2006”, and the 


Special 

foam trays for fresh food 

“Bioplastics Award 2006” for the best biodegradable 

food packaging. 

To obtain a PLA foam, extensive tooling modifications 

were necessary in comparison to the standard extruding 

technology for XPS (Extruded Polystyrene Foam). Coopbox 

invested two years in development, together with a 

new screw profile, new die and accessory equipment - 

everything was specifically projected to obtain the first 

commercially available PLA foam tray. 

The main characteristics of the product are: density of 

300 g/l and good mechanical performance. Naturalbox 

trays are certified in line with the European food contact 

standards and comply with the European standard 

EN13432 for compostable packaging. 

Naturalbox ideally is used to pack fresh food: fresh 

meat, processed meat, fish and vegetables. Closing can 

be performed with two different packaging technologies: 

top sealing or stretch-wrapping. With the top sealing 

solution using a top film in PLA (this film has excellent 

sealing resistance, natural antifog properties and 

enhanced transparency) a 100% biodegradable pack 

is obtained. Naturalbox can be closed on standard top 

sealing machines and has a gas barrier lower than PET 

but definitely higher than PP. Another possibility is to 

use a standard stretch-wrapping machine with a standard 

stretch film. In this case high packaging speeds 

can be reached and for this application the mechanical 

properties are very important and the foam tray solution 

is very appropriate. Currently both PE and PVC film are 

used, as any biodegradable stretch film able to work on 

automatic wrapping machine is available today. 

Commercial introduction is entering a very crucial 

phase. Several trials have been, and are currently being, 

conducted all over Europe and, given the novelty of 

the product, Coopbox has encountered a lot of interest. 

The number of awards provided visibility, but only an 

entrepreneurial pioneering vision, the growth of people‘s 

consciousness about the environment and some 

legislative “effort” (as a result also of the activities of 

European Bioplastics) is now supporting the company‘s 

development. Today Naturalbox is present in Dubai (organic 

food), in Denmark (potatoes), in Italy (poultry, fish 

and cheese at the Finiper retail chain), and in France (at 

Bodin industries for organic poultry). Moreover, at the 

moment Coopbox is testing a new application for frozen 

fish for an important retailer in the UK and is approaching 

the German organic meat/poultry market developing 

a system with VC999 machines. 

Looking ahead the company foresees a 2008 full of 

opportunities, with growing interest from several promising 

prospects. 

www.coopbox.it 


Materials 

PHBV from 

Tianan-Biologic 


Dr. Jim Lunt, VP Sales & Marketing, 

Tianan Biologic Materials Co. Ltd, 

Ningbo, PR China 

and 

Ruud Rouleaux, Managing Director, 

Peter Holland bv, Zwijndrecht, 

The Netherlands 

Product examples 

Tianan Biologic Material Co. Ltd is located in Ningbo, 

one of the major cities in China’s economically dynamic 

Zhejiang Province. Ningbo is situated in the 

central part of China‘s coastline and south flank of 

the Yangtze River Delta, bordering Shanghai and Hangzhou. 

The Ningbo Economic and Technical Development Zone 

(NETD) is located in the north-east of Ningbo city, behind the 

largest deepwater port in China-Beilun port. Established in 

1984, NETD is one of the earliest and largest development 

zones at the national level in China. NETD has established a 

reputation as the most promising location for development 

in China with its strategic geographic location, numerous 

natural resources, wide variety of industries and a modern 

transportation network. 

Today, Tianan Biologic is the world’s largest producer of 

PHBV, a fully biobased and 100% biodegradable polymer 

that is derived through a completely natural fermentation 

process. PHBV is short for Poly-β-Hydroxy Butyrate-co- 

Valerate and is a crystalline biopolymer with high temperature 

resistance. After the production facility with a capacity 

of 1,000 tonnes of PHBV was installed in Ningbo China in 

December 2003, about one month later Tianan began to sell 

PHBV on a trial basis. In April 2004, Tianan was certified by 

ISO 14855. The company presently produces 1,000 tonnes of 

PHBV and by the end of November Tianan will be increasing 

capacity to 2,000 tonnes per year. 

Tianan Biologic’s mission is to become and remain a world 

leading producer of PHBV bioplastics while positively contributing 

to the world’s environment and economy. The com- 


Materials 

pany’s future plans are to grow the market for PHBV to 

create sufficient demand to install additional capacity of 

10,000 tonnes in mid 2009 and then further 

additional capacity of 50,000 tonnes to 

come on line mid 2011. 

To achieve these goals, Tianan will follow 

a disciplined and focused approach to the 

marketplace. Today the key demand for such 

products is in the USA, Canada, Europe, Japan 

Australia, and New Zealand. Over time an 

increasing demand is expected in China, Korea 

and other Asian markets as well as South 

America. 

The key targeted market segments for Tianan 

Biologic’s PHBV product can be divided into three 

general categories: 

1. Bioplastic applications, where 100% renewable 

resource and 100% biodegradability are required. 

Typical applications envisaged are in injection molded 

cosmetic containers such as lipstick casing, and other 

cosmetic products. Blow molded or injection stretch 

blow molded shampoo bottles. Paper coated products. 

2. Biodegradable products, where 100% renewable 

resource is not needed but biodegradability is still required. 

Typical products in this category are blends of PHBV 

with other biodegradable products, such as the starch 

based materials and synthetic biodegradable polyesters. 

Potential applications include thermoformed or 

injection molded non-clear containers, with improved 

flexibility and a wider property spectrum than can be 

achieved from PHBV alone, and blown film products. 

3. Biobased products for more durable applications 

where full biodegradability and 100% renewable 

resource would be preferred, but blends with non renewable 

and non biodegradable Petrochemical based 

products are an option. This may be required to achieve 

the required properties and still achieve a meaningful 

reduction in the overall use of petrochemical derived 

plastics and an improved environmental footprint. 

Typical products in this category could include: Blends 

of PHBV with non degradable impact modifiers for gift 

card /credit card applications. Blends of PHBV with natural 

fibers and petroleum based impact modifiers and 

other plastics for computer casings, automotive, cellular 

phone, Ipod and other hand held consumer devices. 

As a biopolyester, PHBV is made by bacteria, using 

natural sugars as the food source, and can be fully digested 

by naturally occurring bacteria. When finally 

disposed of in compost or bacterially rich environments 

such as soil and water, it completely decomposes into 

carbon dioxide, water and biomass 

PHBV also has high biological compatibility and good 

barrier properties to water, gas and aroma permeation. 

Potential product applications, in addition to those discussed 

above, exist for a wide range of other applications 

such as medical materials (sutures), films products 

(mulch films, shopping bags, and compost bags), 

disposable items (pens, tableware), packaging materials 

(especially for food packaging), etc. 

Tianan Biologic is accelerating its product development 

and manufacturing and marketing efforts to bring 

these goals to reality. The company is looking for dedicated 

partners who share this same vision. 

Initial quantities of Tianan’s PHBV products (less than 

200Kg), for sampling, and/or technical information can 

presently be acquired through 

r.rouleaux@peterholland.nl (for Europe) 

or directly from Tianan jl@tianan-enmat.com 

www.tianan-enmat.com 

www.peterholland.nl 


Materials 


Antonio Morschbacker, 

Innovation & 

Technology Center, 

Braskem S.A., 

Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil 

Bio-Ethanol based 

Polyethylene 

Natalie, our covergirl grew 

up in Ghana: „As kids we ate 

sugarcane just as it came. 

I‘m truly amazed that 

sugarcane today can be 

converted into plastic“ 

Braskem is a leading Brazilian company manufacturing 

thermoplastic resins in Latin America. At the company’s 

Technology and Innovation Center Braskem has 

developed the first internationally certified polyethylene 

made from 100% sugarcane based ethanol. The certification was 

conducted by Beta Analytic Inc., a leading international laboratory, 

according to the ASTM-D6866 standard. This standard describes 

how to determine the biobased content as indicated by 14 C isotope 

content (see bioplastics MAGAZINE 01/2007 p. 36ff). Polyethylene 

is the resin with the largest manufacturing capacity in the world, 

but is currently produced using fossil based raw materials such as 

naphtha or natural gas. 

The “green polymer“ developed by Braskem – a high-density polyethylene, 

one of the resins most widely used in flexible packaging 

– is the result of a research and development project in which already 

around 5 million US$ have been invested. Part of this amount 

of money was allocated to implement an ethylene pilot unit using 

a high yield ethanol dehydration technology. This is the basis for 

the production of polyethylene at Braskem’s polymerization pilot 

plants, which are already producing sufficient quantities for commercial 

development of the product. One of the biggest advantages 

of this biopolymer production route is that it will be produced in 

the same polymerization plants as regular polyethylene. It can be 

transformed into a wide variety of final products, using the same 

machines that already exist at Braskem’s customers with no need 

to invest in new industrial equipment. The stable properties of the 

ethanol-based plastic and its high energy of combustion, like any 

other polyethylene, permit it to be fully recovered through mechanical 

or energy recovery recycling at the end of its useful life. All these 

aspects indicate a very favorable life cycle analysis for the whole 

system when compared to the traditional fossil oil based resins or 

with other biobased alternatives. 


Materials 

Brazil has many natural competitive advantages for 

the development and manufacture of products made 

from renewable raw materials. Its ethanol fuel program 

was started in 1975 and is totally based on the sugar 

cane crop. Since then, the alcohol productivity has been 

growing about 2.5% per year, from 3.3 m 3 /hectare to 

6.9 m 3 /hectare. The total amount produced last season 

was 17.6 million m 3 and the projections show that there 

will be an average growth of 9% during the next 8 years, 

when the current capacity will be doubled. 

One main characteristic of the sugar cane crop is that 

it is able to fix a large quantity of carbon and its stalks 

can be harvested at least four times before they need to 

be replanted. The amount of lignocellulosic carbon in 

their leaves and fibres (the so called bagasse) is about 

twice the amount of sucrose carbon. This feature allows 

the ethanol process to be self-sufficient in biobased energy 

with a surplus of 20-30%, when burning just the 

bagasse. Additionally, a part of the leaves that can be 

recovered will supply an extra source of energy that can 

be used in the ethylene process and in the polymerization 

step of an integrated plant. 

The project, with an annual productive capacity of 

200,000 tonnes, is now under technical and economic 

specification process and the start up of the “green 

polyethylene“ production on an industrial scale is expected 

at the end of 2009. For this first unit Braskem is 

evaluating the production of some grades from its huge 

ethylene polymers portfolio, including high density, low 

density, linear low density, very low density and ultra 

high molecular weight grades. The plant will be located 

in Brazil in a place to be determined within the next few 

months. As the process requires 2.3 m 3 of ethanol to 

make 1 metric ton of the new plastic, the ethanol consumption 

will be just a small proportion of the total Brazilian 

production capacity. 

The company’s production of plastics from ethanol 

seeks to supply the main international markets that require 

products with superior performance and quality, 

in particular for the automotive, food packaging, cosmetics 

and personal hygiene industries. Braskem has 

contacted many leading brands in Brazil and around the 

world about the possibility of integrating the “green“ 

plastic into their product lines, enabling them to offer 

a modern product for the modern needs of millions of 

consumers. 

José Carlos Grubisich, Braskem´s CEO, said: 

“Braskem´s leadership in the green polyethylene project 

confirms our commitment to innovation and sustainable 

development and points to the extremely positive 

prospects for the development of plastic products made 

from renewable raw materials”. 

Photo: Hannes Grobe (Wikipedia) 


Applications 

Trays made 

from sugarcane 

By Thomas Isenburg 

The previous article is just one example that shows that there is considerable 

potential in growing sugarcane to extract the building block sugar – not only 

to produce ethanol – and to exploit the potential that can be found in the 

stalks and leaves – the bagasse. 

Natura Verpackungs GmbH from Rheine in Germany has focused its activities on 

this particular area. In addition to sugar, a large amount of bagasse, the biomass 

remaining after the stalks are crushed, is produced during the sugar refining process. 

Bagasse is used as energy source and also to produce paper, cardboard and 

packaging material due to its high cellulose content. According to Natura‘s sales 

director, Patrick Gerritsen, the company has been manufacturing sugarcane trays 

for some time. 

The sugarcane trays are not made from bioplastic, but rather from a pulp made 

of plant fibres. Therefore the stalks and leaves (the bagasse) are crushed and then 

the fibrous pulp is compression moulded into trays 

Being used as a substitute for polystyrene trays based on renewable raw materials, 

sugarcane trays are greenhouse gas neutral. When they are incinerated, the 

same amount of carbon dioxide is released as was absorbed by photosynthesis 

when the plant was growing. The product is fully biodegradable in accordance with 

the EN 13432 standard. The material breaks down completely within six to twelve 

weeks – even in home comosting. This means consumers can dispose of the product 

on their garden compost heap. 

Sugarcane trays are used mainly in packaging for fruit, vegetables, potatoes, 

meat products and industrial packaging. The material has many advantages: Unlike 

conventional plastic packaging, the trays are permeable to water vapour and 

oxygen. It has been observed that this considerably prolongs the shelf life of fruit. 

Sugarcane products retain their shape, which allows them to be processed more 

easily. Compared with products made from paper-pulp, they are considerably more 

waterproof and have a price advantage. Sugarcane trays are more expensive than 

polystyrene products, but this situation could change with rising oil prices. 

In order to service the growing market better, Natura has made a vertical backwards 

integration in the supply chain by co-operating with Earth Buddy in China. 

Earth Buddy is the world’s largest manufacturer of sugarcane products with all 

necessary certifications in place. There are plans to quadruple production in China 

within two years. The target is to produce one billion trays per year. Natura is developing 

its own machines, in order to satisfy customer requirements and, in view of 

the depletion of oil supplies, an even greater market potential is anticipated in the 

future. Furthermore Natura has established with Natura ASP in the UK, Natura- 

Modiplast in Israel and Natura Iberia in Portugal and Spain a supplier network in 

Europe and the Middle East to serve their customers throughout all the seasons. 

Further subsidiaries in key areas will follow soon. 


Applications 

Universal Closures Limited, 

headquartered in Tewkesbury, 

UK, in collaboration with 

Plantic Technologies Limited 

from Altona (VIC) Australia, have 

developed a barrier closure with 

printed Plantic ® liners. 

New Closures for 

beverage Bottles with 

Printed Plantic 

Barrier Liners 

Universal Closures’ new barrier closure is 

based on a three-component closure design 

– closure shell, barrier liner and closure 

liner are made from different materials with 

the barrier liner being made from Plantic ® . The barrier 

liner is sandwiched between the closure liner and the 

closure shell, thereby providing enhanced gas barrier 

protection to the contents, and effective in-mold decoration. 

Barrier closures with Plantic barrier liners are a 

technological breakthrough in packaging, complementing 

the existing functional properties of barrier bottles 

which are currently used for applications where extended 

shelf-life is targeted. The new barrier closures 

facilitate CO 2 

retention, beneficial for carbonated drinks 

and prevent oxygen ingress which can cause certain 

products such as sauces, preserved fruits, juices and 

beer to degrade. 

Plantic barrier liners are made from non-genetically 

modified renewable resources – high amylose corn 

starch. They are high resolution printable and excellent 

gas, taint and odor barriers. They are also anti-static , 

sealable and laser etchable. The barrier liners are dis- 


Applications 

persible and biodegradable in water, and therefore comply 

with European draft standards. Plantic materials are 

certified with AIB-Vincotte’s “OK Biodegradable Water” 

conformity mark. 

The new barrier liners allow for efficient in-mold decoration, 

enabling high resolution printing of promotional 

and branding images. This presents many commercial 

benefits for Plantic Technologies, as the gas barrier materials 

it seeks to replace for this application do not possess 

high resolution printing capabilities. 

Mr. Rod Druitt, Managing Director of Universal Closures 

said, “The combination of factors such as excellent gas 

barrier properties, efficient in-mold decoration and high 

resolution printability present an innovative offering to 

global food and beverage industries that is differentiated 

from current barrier closure systems.” 

Amylose molecule 

Additionally, Plantic barrier liners offer a cost-effective 

and environmentally friendly alternative to established 

barrier liners. Currently the recycling and recovery rates 

of PET – particularly PET bottles – are the highest of any 

other plastic. Some European countries boast a 60-70% 

recovery rate of PET bottles 1 . Since recycled PET is repeatedly 

used to make new bottles and fibres, keeping the 

PET recycling stream clean is of paramount importance. 

This requirement restricts the use of EVOH barrier closures 

because they contaminate the recycling stream with 

“black specks”. The new barrier liners, however, produce 

flakes in the recovery process which disperse and simply 

“wash away”, allowing for uncontaminated PET recycling. 

In commenting, Plantic’s Innovation Manager, Dr. Frank 

Glatz said, “The market potential for these barrier closures 

is significant. Through our strategic alliance with 

Universal Closures, Plantic has been able to offer an innovative 

product to the food and beverage industries. This 

innovation demonstrates our commitment to offering end 

users key functional benefits in using sustainable Plantic 

packaging material.” 

1 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2006) 

Improving Recycling Markets, OECD Publishing, p. 124. 

www.plantic.com.au 

www.universalclosures.com 


Politics 

Overview of the 

Current Biopolymers 

Market Situation 

In the late eighties and early nineties new biopolymers 

on the basis of starch or polyhydroxyalkanoates 

produced by fermentation were first introduced 

onto the market. Despite initial enthusiasm 

and favourable predictions this first generation of biodegradable 

biopolymers was not able to establish itself 

commercially. This could at least partially be attributed 

to the material properties, some of which were not yet 

fully developed, but also to unfavourable political and 

commercial conditions, and to the fact that there was 

simply not enough ecological pressure on the decision 

makers in politics and industry to respond to unfavourable 

conditions at that time. 

A strong increase in the research and development of 

biopolymers was prompted by important developments 

in recent years, most of all by changing political conditions, 

a rising awareness of the limitation of petrochemical 

resources and soaring prices for raw materials, and 

of course by a growing ecological awareness among the 

general public, politics, industry and consumers. These 

second generation biopolymers currently established 

on the market are comparable to petrochemically-produced 

commodity plastics as far as their manufacture, 

processing and utilisation properties are concerned. 

Rising oil prices and ecologically motivated political 

support have been leading to price advantages for biopolymers, 

especially with regard to raw materials and 

disposal. Consequently, the remaining economic disadvantages 

due to limited production capacity can be 

compensated and biopolymers are becoming more and 

more competitive compared to conventional plastics, 

especially in the packaging industry. Meanwhile, the 

production of some of these second generation biopolymers 

has reached an industrial scale (Table 1). 

Article contributed by: Hans-Josef Endres, 

Andrea Siebert, Yordanka Kaneva*, 

University of Applied Sciences and Arts, 

Hanover, Germany Department of 

Bio Process Engineering 

*Supported by the German DBU 

(German Foundation for the Environment) 

Table 1: Current stage of development (2007) 

of thermoplastic biopolymers 

At the same time efforts are being made to retain the 

conventional processing methods used for petrochemical 

polymers, applying them to natural raw materials, 

e.g., bio-based alcohol for synthesis of polyethylene 

(Bio-PE) and polyamides (Bio-PA) or polyurethanes 

(Bio-PUR) 


Politics 

Capacity [1000t/a] 



1.500 

1.250 

1.000 

750 

500 

250 

0 

500 

450 

400 

350 

300 

250 

200 

150 

100 

50 

0 

35 

30 

25 

20 

15 

10 

5 

0 

100 

90 

80 

70 

60 

50 

40 

30 

20 

10 

0 

Petrochemical raw material base 

Petrochemical additives/Blend components 

Renewable raw material base 

44 

81 

189 

2000 2007 2010 

Table 2: Dynamic progress of manufacturing capacities of 

biodegradable, thermoplastic polymers (2000 – 2007 – 2010) 

Starch/Starch-Blends 

Table 3: Availability of materials 2007 

and expected potential 2010 

Cellulose regenerates 

Polylactides (PLA) 

Producers 

Types 

Others 

Table 4: Overview of the numbers of commercial 

material types and producers 

USA 

PLA/Polyester-Blends 

Degradable Celluloseesters 


Polyhydroxyalkanoates 

Polycaprolactones 


Degradable Polyesters 

Water soluble/degradable PVAL 







Others 




West Europe 

Asien 

Australien 

Table 5: Main production countries of thermoplastic biopolymers 





110 

368 

901 

Capacity 2007 

Caoacity 2010 



Others 


Manufacturing capacities have grown significantly 

in recent years due to the rapidly increasing 

market demand. As of August 2007, the 

worldwide annual capacity for biodegradable 

polymer materials adds up to 315,000 tonnes. 

(Source: own investigations, personal communication, 

manufacturers‘ information, European 

Bioplastics). Based on statements by different 

raw material suppliers capacities are expected 

to reach approximately 1,400,000 tonnes by 2010 

(Table 2). 

To get a precise picture and to avoid double 

counting, those fractions of biopolymers that 

are simply blended with other components to 

form “new” biopolymers would have to be subtracted. 

Therefore, the actual availability as 

shown in table 2 is somewhat less than generally 

published. It is difficult however to present 

exact data because the particular amounts of 

production and composition of material types 

are not revealed. 

Basically, both renewable and petrochemical 

raw materials, especially petrochemically-based 

additives, are used in so-called natural-based 

biopolymer blends. Because the percentage of 

these additives and of the petrochemical blend 

components is not exactly known, as mentioned 

before, it could not be separated from the biopolymers 

blends that are based on renewable 

resources. Therefore, based on careful 

estimates, 30% by weight of the natural-based 

biopolymers blends were assigned to the petrochemical 

raw materials (light blue area in table 

2). Hence the real percentage of renewable raw 

materials for production of biopolymers is less 

than generally assumed. 

It should be noted that this paper only deals 

with those partially biodegradable polyvinyl alcohol 

(PVAL) and cellulose acetate (CA) materials 

that are used explicitly as biodegradable 

materials. Also, only those cellulosic materials 

are considered, which are known to be used explicitly 

as biodegradable films in the packaging 

industry. Not considered in this paper are other 

cellulosic applications and in particular cellulosic 

fibres as used in, for instance, textile applications. 


The general availability of the biopolymers can be divided 

into different material types. The most important 

are starch, polylactide (PLA) and polyester polymers, 

plus blends made out of these. Table 3 shows the different 

currently available types of biopolymer materials 

(including blends), and their potential by 2010. 

From an application viewpoint there is a significant 

diversity in the number of currently commercially available 

material types and the number of manufacturers 

(Table 4). 

Based on a detailed investigation it can be established 

that there are 26 commercial producers of biopolymers. 

In addition many more companies and 

research entities are currently active at the R&D level 

and/or operate on the Asian market only. Altogether, 

approximately 60 companies are currently known to be 

active in the field of biopolymers. 

The most important countries producing biodegradable, 

thermoplastic biopolymers on an industrial level 

include the USA, Western Europe, the Far East and 

Australia (Table 5). Various countries have their own 

priorities concerning the material types. This may be 

attributed to their particular R&D history, the local 

availability of raw materials or simply the company location. 

Looking at the future, there is reason to assume that 

the market for biopolymers will continue to expand 

rapidly and undergo further changes in the coming 

years. While the second generation of biopolymers was 

developed almost exclusively for use as biodegradable 

packaging, a third generation will be developed for application 

in other fields, e.g., the automotive industry, 

consumer electronics, textiles or building, etc. Beside 

the utilisation of renewable raw materials and their 

different end of life options additional new technical 

questions will have to be addressed, including heat deflection, 

fogging, colouring, impact behaviour, UV-stabilisation 

etc. And finally the search for new biopolymer 

additives and refined manufacturing technologies will 

continue. 

The project on which this paper is based (see bioplastics 

MAGAZINE 01/2007 p. 12) is carried out in cooperation 

with M-Base, Aachen, Germany and supported by 

the German BMELV (German Federal Ministry of Food, 

Agriculture and Consumer Protection), represented by 

FNR (Professional Agency for Renewable Resources). 

Week 1 

Week 2 

Week 3 

Week 4 

BIODEGRADATION PROCESS 

EcoWorks ® 

www.EcoFilm.com 

info@CortecVCI.com 

1-800-4-CORTEC 

St. Paul, MN 55110 USA 

© Cortec Corporation 2006 

70® 

100% 

Biodegradable EcoWorks 

Replacement for Plastic and Polyethylene 

Up to 70% Bio-based With 

Annually Renewable Resources 

From thick rigid plastic cards to fl exible protective wrap, 

EcoWorks ® 70 by Cortec ® Research Chemists offers universal, 

biodegradable replacement to traditional plastic 

and polyethylene films. This patent pending breakthrough 

meets ASTM D6400 and DIN V 54 900. EcoWorks ® 70 

does not contain polyethylene or starch but relies heavily 

on renewable, bio-based polyester from corn. 100% 

biodegradable, it turns into water and carbon dioxide in 

commercial composting. 

EcoWorks BioPlastic.indd 1 8/2/06 8:44:40 


Basics 

PHA 

Bioplastics 

and how 

they’re made 


Daniel Gilliland, Business 

Development Director of Telles, 

the joint venture between Metabolix 

Figure 3, Mirel is formed into numerous items 

in a variety of conversion processes 

and Archer Daniels Midland, 

Cambridge, MA, USA 

Years ago, scientists noticed that micro-organisms 

utilized a different “nutrient buffer” system than humans 

did. Instead of storing fat in their cells like we 

humans do, they stored a naturally occurring plastic in 

their cells, polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA). This interesting 

material was discovered in the 1920s and has been 

vigorously investigated for the past 30 to 40 years in attempts 

to understand it and to commercially exploit its 

potential. Most recently, companies have begun using 

this material as a substitute for traditional plastic derived 

from petroleum or fossil fuel. Clearly, much has 

changed in the past 80 years and this paper will try to 

explain, in layman’s terms, how PHA like Mirel is made 

today and the environmental impact it can make on the 

world. 

PHA is really a family of polymers. The polymers 

differ from one another by the nature of the pendant 

groups or side chains attached to the polymer. Large 

pendant groups tend to break up crystalinity and form 

more rubber like properties with lower melting points 

and low glass transition temperatures (Tg). Polyhydroxyoctanoate 

(PHO) is one such material. Short chain 

pendant groups such as polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) are 

more highly crystalline with higher melting points and 

higher Tg. This results in higher melting points, higher 

levels of stiffness and higher heat distortion temperatures. 

Methods for making these various types of PHAs are 

becoming well understood due to the intense effort by 

scientists at assessing metabolic pathways. Scientists 

can use different micro-organisms and different feed 

stocks to create a cellular factory that efficiently produces 

the right polymer. A variety of naturally occurring, 

renewable feed stocks ranging from glucose, dextrose, 

fatty acids, and vegetable oils can be used, depending 

upon the type of PHA desired. Figure 1 shows a microphotograph 

of PHA accumulating in cells of a microbe. 

The PHA is the large white nodules. This particular 

microbe grows to over 80% plastic in just a few hours! 

For those wishing a detailed understanding of the cellular 

biology and enzyme pathways to the various PHAs, 

please see Oliver People’s article in Chemtec 1 . 

Now that the biology discussion is over, we can talk 

about why these PHAs are good for us. To understand 

the impact of PHA on us, we need to understand society’s 

needs for plastics. First, society has come to rely 

upon plastic for its many advantages over more traditional 

materials like paper, steel, aluminum: keeping 

food safe, protecting products in shipping, replacing 

heavy materials, etc. Secondly, responsible consumers 

want the plastic to be easy to dispose of at the end 

of its usefulness or to not persist in the environment. 

Third we would like plastic that does not create harm- 


Basics 

Figure 1, microscopic thin 

section of microbes with 

white nodules of PHA. The 

microbe is 80% plastic, 

just prior to recovery. 

Figure 2, parts made of 

Mirel before and after 

60 days submersion in 

the ocean. 

1: Chemtec, Biodegradable 

Plastics from plants, 1996, 

38-44, Oliver Peoples et al 

2: American Chemical Society, 

ACS Symposium Series 939 

June 2006, Ramani Narayan 

ful emissions, such as greenhouse gases like carbon 

dioxide, during its manufacturing and disposal. Finally, 

we want plastic that minimizes the use of “non-renewable” 

resources like fossil fuels. Before we discuss the 

functionality of PHA, we should summarize the environmental 

aspects: 

• They can reduce greenhouse gases: since PHAs are 

made from renewable resources, they can be produced 

and used in ways that can actually remove 

greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, not just reduce 

emissions! In most end of life scenarios, use 

of the right PHA instead of a fossil based plastic will 

reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% to 100%. 

For a more complete discussion of the carbon cycle, 

please read Ramani Narayan’s treatise 2 on the 

subject. It is important to understand the life cycle 

assessment of both the process used to make PHA 

and the usage of the material to understand its true 

impact on greenhouse gases. Early processes used 

to make PHA were energy intensive and released 

significant amounts of greenhouse gases, but new 

processes have superseded them, resulting in breakthroughs 

that make PHA economically and environmentally 

viable. 

• PHAs will quickly return to nature at the end of their 

usefulness: since PHAs are made by the “cousins” 

of naturally occurring microbes found broadly in nature, 

and since these cousins already have the enzymes 

required to digest PHA, they will be digested 

and returned to nature in virtually any environment 

supporting a healthy microbial population such as 

soil, lakes, rivers, oceans, home and industrial composting 

systems. Figure 2 shows samples of Mirel 

bioplastic, made from PHA, before and after 60 days 

submersion in the ocean. Though these Mirel bioplastics 

quickly return to nature, they are durable in 

use. 

• PHAs can considerably reduce fossil energy usage. 

Depending upon how they are manufactured, PHAs 

can significantly reduce the amount of fossil energy 

used to produce them compared to the traditional 

plastic they replace. Mirel Bioplastics reduce fossil 

energy usage by over 90% in some applications. 

The future seems even brighter, since this remaining 

fossil energy is used to harvest the feed stocks, and 

much of this fossil energy can and probably will be 

converted to renewable fuels in the future. 

Mirel bioplastic is a family of PHA resins that can replace 

fossil fuel based plastics in a growing variety of 

applications. There are various grades of Mirel being 

developed. Some have “film like” properties with the 

look and feel of low density polyethylene. Other grades 

perform more like polystyrene or polypropylene in injection 

molded applications such as soil stabilization 

stakes, caps and closures, food containers or cosmetic 

cases. Grades have been developed for coating paper 

board to replace polyethylene in cups and food containers 

and still other grades for sheet used in thermoforming 

applications such as storage containers, lids, and 

other food service items. Future grades are being developed 

for foam and fiber applications replacing polystyrene 

and polyester. Figure 3 depicts some common 

applications under development. 

Beyond the production of PHA in microbial bio-factories, 

research is continuing to find ways to make PHA 

commercially viable using waste products as feed stock 

or by growing the plastic in sugar cane or in non food 

crops such as switch grass. Although these potential 

pathways are most likely years from commercialization, 

they demonstrate the variety and environmental potential 

some of the production methods for this new family 

of plastics. 


Basics 

Industrial 

Composting: 

An Introduction 

Article contributed by Bruno De Wilde, 

Organic Waste Systems n.v., Gent, Belgium 

Biofilter (Photo: OWS) 

Industrial composting – Curing phase (Photo:VLACO vzw, Belgium) 

One of the major advantages of many 

bioplastics is the fact these are compostable. 

To support this claim one 

can use the European EN 13432 or American 

ASTM D.6400 standards. Yet these norms specifically 

refer to industrial composting which 

is just one, albeit the most important, option 

for biological (solid) waste treatment. Other 

options include home composting and biogasification. 

Industrial composting refers to 

centralised composting facilities where large 

amounts of biological waste, collected from 

many sources, are treated. The technological 

level can be rather different from one plant to 

another but they all have in common the fact 

that large volumes are treated and hence high 

operating temperatures can be maintained. 

Home or backyard composting refers to composting 

at (individual) household level. In contrast 

to composting in which oxygen plays an 

important role in the degradation of waste and 

which is therefore called “aerobic” biodegradation 

(aerobic = in the presence of oxygen), 

biogasification is a biological waste treatment 

system in the absence of oxygen, called 

“anaerobic” biodegradation. 

All these systems are “bio-inspired”, as in 

nature waste is also degraded either aerobically 

(e.g. in surface waters or on soil), or 

anaerobically (e.g. at the bottom of rivers 

and lakes where oxygen is depleted). Microorganisms 

consisting of bacteria and, in the 

case of aerobic conditions also fungi and actinomycetes 

(a kind of filamentous bacteria), 

will degrade waste (e.g. leaves of trees, dead 

animals, and other biomass) and convert it 

partially into new micro-organisms and humus 

but mainly into CO 2 

and water, and in the 

case of anaerobic conditions also into methane 

(CH 4 

). Under aerobic conditions the biodegradation 

process will also release a certain 

amount of energy in the form of heat, which is 

mostly dispersed immediately and hence not 

measurable. However, when large quantities 

of biowaste are aerobically degrading (e.g. 

as in industrial composting) significant temperature 

increases can be measured. Under 

anaerobic conditions the energy is released 

in the form of methane and much less heat is 

generated. As methane can be used as a fuel 

for heating or for electricity production, biowaste 

in such cases is converted not only to 

compost but also to (useful) energy. 


Basics 

Home composting (Photo: OWS) 

Biogasification plant, Brecht (Belgium) (Photo: OWS) 

Composting of municipal solid waste (MSW) is not 

really new. In the 1960s for example several composting 

plants were built for the treatment of mixed MSW. Yet 

this was never really successful as landfill was much 

cheaper and the compost produced was of inferior quality. 

Later, in the 1970s, several mass-burn incinerators 

were also built, offering another relatively cheap option 

for waste treatment. Only in the 1980s after some 

heavily publicised dioxin scandals which caused massburning 

to become very unpopular, was composting reconsidered. 

Nevertheless, it quickly became apparent 

that high-quality compost was an essential prerequisite 

and that this could only be obtained by source-separated 

waste collection - clean feedstock going in, clean 

product coming out. In areas of several countries (The 

Netherlands, Germany, etc.) biowaste was collected 

separately and composted to produce a high-quality 

compost. Biowaste was defined as kitchen and garden 

waste which comes directly from natural origin (“biogenic”). 

Anything “man-made” was forbidden in order 

not to compromise the quality of the compost. 

As mentioned already, the technology of industrial 

composting systems is quite variable. At the low-tech 

end windrow systems are being used in which the waste 

is aerated by placing it in long heaps to facilitate air diffusion 

into the waste. These windrows can be turned 

with different types of turning machines at different 

frequencies, again to promote aeration and accelerate 

degradation. Nowadays windrow systems are mainly 

used for garden waste. For biowaste, which includes 

also kitchen waste, more advanced systems are being 

used in order to avoid problems with odour and vermin. 

They mostly include an initial phase of some weeks of 

intensive forced aeration which is done either in “bay” 

or table systems, tunnels or containers. Afterwards 

this is followed by a maturing or curing phase in which 

the “semi-ripe“ compost is further gently aerated, either 

forced or by diffusion. In all systems a screening 

step is also included, which can be at the beginning, at 

an advanced stage or at the end, and which serves to 

retrieve non-compostable contaminants as well as objects 

too big to compost in a given time frame such as 

branches of wood. The goal is to obtain a nice, crumbly 

homogeneous compost. Because of the large quantities 

of waste, high temperatures are achieved (60-65°C) 

which are also needed to kill off pathogens in the waste. 

On the other hand, temperatures of 55-65°C as well as 

a relative humidity of almost 100% are needed for the 

population of micro-organisms to live and grow and do 

an efficient “bio-conversion job”. 

The consequences of adding bioplastics to biowaste 

and industrial composting include a potential threat but 

also some significant benefits. The major threat is obviously 

a decrease of the feedstock quality. It should be 

ascertained that only truly compostable materials are 

coming in, and not visually similar but non-compostable 

plastics or packaging. Hence, the importance of the 

communication aspect and the different compostability 

logo systems. Some composting systems might also 

need to be slightly technically modified (most often 

shifting the screening step in the process from the beginning 

or an intermediate stage to the end). 

The first benefit lies in a higher volume to be composted 

and hence higher income for the composting 

plant. In some cases the use of bioplastics will have a 

kind of snowball effect and convert larger volumes of 

waste from non-compostable into compostable (e.g. catering 

waste). On a more technical level the addition of 

bioplastics will increase and improve the C/N (carbon/ 

nitrogen) ratio of the biowaste leading to easier odour 

control (less ammonia production). Also the density of 

the biowaste will be decreased making aeration easier 

and more efficient and decreasing the need for the addition 

of structural material and energy input for aeration. 

Industrial composting plants are able to cope with large 

volumes of bioplastics as long as they are well mixed 

with other material such as kitchen and yard waste. As 

for all living organisms a balanced and varied diet is 

needed to stay healthy! 


Basics 

A certain number of products made from bioplastics are already on 

the market. Almost all of them are labelled with some kind of a logo 

that tells the consumer about the special character of the plastic 

material used. In this series of articles these logos and their background 

are introduced by bioplasticsMAGAZINE. Here we will address 

such questions as: What is the origin and history of a logo? What does 

it mean? Which type of legislation or regulation is it concerned with? 

Logos Part 5: 

Waste Bags 

Misc. 

Civil Eng. 

11% 

GreenPla Logo & 

Agricultural 

17% 

38% 

Packaging 

Labelling System 

“GreenPla” logo of the Japan BioPlastics Association (JBPA) 

Printing 

Textile 

Daily Goods 

Food Ware 

Shopping Bags 

13% 

Stationary 

In Japan biodegradable plastics are called „GreenPla“, 

and there is a GreenPla Identification and Labelling System 

established in June 2000 by the JBPA (formerly BPS) 

to distinguish biodegradable plastics from ordinary plastics. 

Plastic products that meet certification standards for product 

composition, biodegradability, environmental safety, 

etc., will be certified as GreenPla products. 

GreenPla as described here means a substance or a product 

consisting of biodegradable organic components that 

may be degraded by microorganisms in a natural environment 

and may finally be decomposed to carbon dioxide and 

water. 

The utilization of biodegradable plastics is one of the key 

issues to promote the establishment of a sustainably based 

society and JBPA has been making various efforts to promote 

the popularization and the business development of 

biodegradable plastic products. Most of the products made 

from biodegradable plastics look like their counterparts 

made from conventional plastics. And clear differentiation 

and recognition by everybody is most required to encourage 

the popularization of biodegradable plastics. The special 

properties of biodegradability can be displayed and be 

recognized by the presence of the “GreenPla“ logo on the 

products itself or the package of the products. 

JBPA has been operating the GreenPla identification and 

labelling system for more than seven years and the number 

of registered GreenPla products now exceeds 800. 

Especially in agricultural and horticultural use and civil 

engineering, the GreenPla logo is recognized as the certificate 

of reliable, eco-friendly products which can utilize biodegradability 

as one of the main product performances. 

The GreenPla Identification and labelling system is based 

on 

• A positive list system for all components of the products 

• Biodegradability specification based on Japanese and 

international standard analytical methods 

• A safety certificate for all components 

and no hazardous effect to the soil even after 

biodegradation 

Registered products in the GreenPla logo system 

The distribution of registered products is shown in the pie 

chart. 

Besides the products for which biodegradability is a key 

requirement, such as films for agricultural use or waste bag 

applications, about two thirds of the registered products are 

general packaging, stationery and broad general applications 

which are recognized as environmentally friendly even 

at the waste stage, as they can be finally bio-recycled to carbon 

dioxide and water and will not leave permanent plastic 

waste in the natural environment. 

Global harmonization 

To proceed with global harmonization JBPA (formerly BPS) 

established a co-operation with BPI (USA) and DIN CERTCO 

(EU) in 2001 and with BMG (China) in 2004. JBPA will continue 

to establish co-operation with other Asian countries. 

www.jbpaweb.net 


Article contributed by Gaëlle Janssens, 

Prevention & R&D Manager 

FOST Plus, Brussels, Belgium 

Opinion 

Careful 

use of terms 

Gaëlle Janssens 

like “Biodegradable 

and compostable” 

In the world of packaging, bioplastics are one of 

the most exiting innovations. The consumers seem 

motivated for “greener“ shopping and like the idea 

of biopackaging… . But they are very confused: in 

a recent consumer survey in Belgium, to the question 

“what is a biopackaging?”, the majority would answer 

“a packaging that is better for the environment”. A quite 

broad concept. When prompted further, most consumers 

(62%) are driven by motivations related to renewable 

resources– reduce CO 2 

emissions, promote local agriculture 

and use renewable resources. 

But even though it may have nothing to do with it, the 

word used by the consumers, as well as the by industry, 

to name a renewable resource based packaging is ‘biodegradable 

packaging’. 

The big problem with the word biodegradable is that 

it may lead to problems of litter: 27% of the consumers 

agree that “you can throw away biodegradable packaging 

into the environment and it will disappear without 

any human help”. It is interesting to note that, to avoid 

this problem, Belgian law will forbid the use of the term 

‘biodegradable’ on packaging. An interesting suggestion 

for the rest of Europe or even for all of the countries 

in the world? 

Another problem is that a ‘biodegradable’ packaging 

supposes an end-of-life treatment, which is, for most 

of the people, obviously compost. This is not a problem 

for home compostable packaging, except for the 

understanding of the logo: for 73% of the consumers, 

a ‘compostable’ logo means they may dispose of the 

packaging in their garden compost… and they will still 

see it 2 years later! Let’s change the logo to avoid confusion 

and use ‘compostable’ only for ‘home compostable’ 

and ‘industrially compostable’ for packaging that needs 

a high degradation temperature, moisture and certain 

microorganisms. 

Regarding industrially compostable packaging, only 

very few consumers worldwide have access to organic 

waste collection and, when they do have access, packaging 

is generally not welcome (risk of pollution with conventional 

plastic and strict norms). As green consumers 

watch very closely the claims of green marketing, the 

risk of negative publicity is very high if ‘compostable’ is 

used without any composting solution. By the way, the 

composting property may be very interesting in some industrial 

applications, where communication to the consumer 

is not needed – tomato clips, organic waste from 

distributors, medical ties,… 

The option of incineration is considered by more and 

more producers as the most ecological solution as it 

produces energy, but the infrastructure has to exist locally. 

Landfill doesn’t meet the composting condition in 

terms of oxygen, humidity and micro-organisms. 

As we can see, the end-of-life treatment is certainly 

not so obvious! So, as long as no industrial composting 

solution exists for the majority of citizens, and as long 

as compost is not proved to be the best local end-of-life 

treatment for packaging, we should communicate about 

compostability only in the case of home compostable 

packaging and concentrate communication on renewable 

resources, which is tomorrow’s biggest issue. 

Therefore, the industry should develop a new, recognized 

certification and an easily marketable name. 

www.fostplus.be 


Basics Glossary 

Glossary 

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. 

Amylopectin 

Polymeric branched starch molecule with very high 

molecular weight (biopolymer, monomer is à Glucose). 

Amylose 

Polymeric non-branched starch molecule with high 

molecular weight (biopolymer, monomer is à Glucose). 

Biodegradable Plastics 

Biodegradable Plastics are plastics that are completely 

assimilated by the à microorganisms present a defined 

environment as food for their energy. The carbon of the 

plastic must completely be converted into CO 2 

.during the 

microbial process. For an official definition, please refer 

to the standards e.g. ISO or in Europe: EN 14995 Plastics- 

Evaluation of compostability - Test scheme and specifications. 

[bM* 02/2006 p. 34f, bM 01/2007 p38]. 

Blend 

Mixture of plastics, polymer alloy of at least two microscopically 

dispersed and molecularly distributed base 

polymers. 

Cellophane 

Clear film on the basis of à cellulose. 

Cellulose 

Polymeric molecule with very high molecular weight 

(biopolymer, monomer is à Glucose), industrial production 

from wood or cotton, to manufacture paper, plastics 

and fibres. 

Compost 

A soil conditioning material of decomposing organic 

matter which provides nutrients and enhances soil structure. 

Compostable Plastics 

Readers who know better explanations or 

who would like to suggest other explanations 

to be added to the list, please contact the editor. 

Explanantions we are currenty looking for 

are for example “organic“ or “renewable“ 

[*: bM ... refers to more comprehensive article previously 

published in bioplastics MAGAZINE) 

Plastics that are biodegradable under “composting“ 

conditions: specified humidity, temperature, à microorganisms 

and timefame. Several national and international 

standards exist for clearer definitions, for example 

EN 14995 Plastics - Evaluation of compostability - Test 

scheme and specifications [bM 02/2006 p. 34f, bM 01/2007 

p38]. 

Composting 

A solid waste management technique that uses natural 

process to convert organic materials to CO 2 

, water and 

humus through the action of à microorganisms. 


Basics Glossary 

Copolymer 

Plastic composed of different monomers. 

Fermentation 

Biochemical reactions controlled by à microorganisms 

or enyzmes (e.g. the transformation of sugar into 

lactic acid). 

Gelatine 

Translucent brittle solid substance, colorless or slightly 

yellow, nearly tasteless and odorless, extracted from 

the collagen inside animals‘ connective tissue. 

Glucose 

Monosaccharide (or simple sugar). G. is the most important 

carbohydrate (sugar) in biology. G. is formed by 

photosyntheses or hydrolysis of many carbohydrates e.g. 

starch. 

Humus 

In agriculture, “humus“ is often used simply to mean 

mature à 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 waterresistant and weatherproof or that absorbs 

water such as Polyamide (PA)). 

Hydrophobic 

Property: “water-resistant“, not soluble in water (e.g. a 

plastic which is waterresistant and weatherproof, or that 

does not absorb any water such as Polethylene (PE) or 

Polypropylene (PP)). 

Microorganism 

Living organisms of microscopic size, such as bacteria, 

funghi or yeast. 

PCL 

Polycaprolactone, a synthetic (fossil based), biodegradable 

bioplastic, e.g. used as a blend component. 

PHA 

Polyhydroxyalkanoates are linear polyesters produced 

in nature by bacterial fermentation of sugar or lipids. The 

most common type of PHA is à PHB. 

PHB 

Polyhydroxyl buteric acid (better poly-3-hydroxybutyrate), 

is a polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), a polymer belonging to the 

polyesters class. PHB is produced by micro-organisms apparently 

in response to conditions of physiological stress. 

The polymer is primarily a product of carbon assimilation 

(from glucose or starch) and is employed by micro-organisms 

as a form of energy storage molecule to be metabolized 

when other common energy sources are not available. 

PHB has properties similar to those of PP, however it is 

stiffer and more brittle. 

PLA 

Polylactide, a bioplastic made of polymerised lactic acid. 

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 . 

Starch 

Natural polymer (carbohydrate) consisting of à amylose 

and à amylopectin, gained from maize, potatoes, heat, 

tapioca etc. 

Sustainable 

An attempt to provide the best outcomes for the human 

and natural environments both now and into the indefinite 

future. One of the most often cited definitions of sustainability 

is the one created by the Brundtland Commission, 

led by the former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem 

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 non-human 

environment). 

Thermoplastics 

Plastics which soften or melt when heated and solidify 

when cooled (solid at room temperature). 

Yard Waste 

Grass clippings, leaves, trimmings, garden residue. 


Suppliers Guide 

Simply contact: 

Tel.: +49-2359-2996-0 or suppguide@bioplasticsmagazine.com 

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. 

1. Raw Materials 

1.1 bio based monomers 

Du Pont de Nemours International S.A. 

2, Chemin du Pavillon, PO Box 50 

CH 1218 Le Grand Saconnex, 

Geneva, Switzerland 

Phone: + 41(0) 22 717 5176 

Fax: + 41(0) 22 580 2360 

thomas.philipon@che.dupont.com 

www.packaging.dupont.com 

1.2 compounds 

R.O.J. Jongboom Holding B.V. 

Biopearls 

Damstraat 28 

6671 AE Zetten 

The Netherlands 

Tel.: +31 488 451318 

Mob: +31 646104345 

info@biopearls.nl 

www.biopearls.nl 

BIOTEC Biologische 

Naturverpackungen GmbH & Co. KG 

Werner-Heisenberg-Straße 32 

46446 Emmerich 

Germany 

Tel.: +49 2822 92510 

Fax: +49 2822 51840 

info@biotec.de 

www.biotec.de 

FKuR Kunststoff GmbH 

Siemensring 79 

D - 47 877 Willich 

Tel.: +49 (0) 2154 9251-26 

Tel.: +49 (0) 2154 9251-51 

patrick.zimmermann@fkur.de 

www.fkur.de 

1.3 PLA 

Uhde Inventa-Fischer GmbH 

Holzhauser Str. 157 - 159 

13509 Berlin 

Germany 

Tel.: +49 (0)30 43567 5 

fax: +49 (0)30 43567 699 

sales.de@thyssenkrupp.com 

www.uhde-inventa-fischer.com 

1.4 starch-based bioplastics 

BIOTEC Biologische 

Naturverpackungen GmbH & Co. KG 

Werner-Heisenberg-Straße 32 

46446 Emmerich 

Germany 

Tel.: +49 2822 92510 

Fax: +49 2822 51840 

info@biotec.de 

www.biotec.de 

Plantic Technologies Limited 

Im Tanzbühl 15 

77833 Ottersweier 

Germany 

Tel.: +49 657 195 1248 

Tel.: +44 794 096 4681 (UK) 

Fax: +49 657 195 1249 

info@plantic.eu 

www.plantic.eu 

1.5 PHA 

1.6 masterbatches 

PolyOne 

Avenue Melville Wilson, 2 

Zoning de la Fagne 

5330 Assesse 

Belgium 

Tel.: + 32 83 660 211 

info.color@polyone.com 

www.polyone.com 

1.7 reinforcing fibres/fillers 

made from RRM 

2. Additives / 

Secondary raw materials 

Du Pont de Nemours International S.A. 

2, Chemin du Pavillon, PO Box 50 

CH 1218 Le Grand Saconnex, 

Geneva, Switzerland 

Phone: + 41(0) 22 717 5176 

Fax: + 41(0) 22 580 2360 

thomas.philipon@che.dupont.com 

www.packaging.dupont.com 

3. Semi finished products 

3.1 films 

Maag GmbH 

Leckingser Straße 12 

58640 Iserlohn 

Germany 

Tel.: + 49 2371 9779-30 

Fax: + 49 2371 9779-97 

shonke@maag.de 

www.maag.de 

Treofan Germany GmbH & Co. KG 

Am Prime Parc 17 

65479 Raunheim 

Tel +49 6142 200-0 

Fax +49 6142 200-3299 

www.biophanfilms.com 

www.earthfirstpla.com 

www.sidaplax.com 

www.plasticsuppliers.com 

Sidaplax UK : +44 (1) 604 76 66 99 

Sidaplax Belgium: +32 9 210 80 10 

Plastic Suppliers: 1 866 378 4178 

3.1.1 cellulose based films 

4. Bioplastics products 

natura Verpackungs GmbH 

Industriestr. 55 - 57 

48432 Rheine 

Tel.: +49 5975 303-57 

Fax: +49 5975 303-42 

info@naturapackaging.com 

www.naturapackagign.com 

Veriplast Holland BV 

Stadhoudersmolenweg 70 

NL - 7317 AW Apeldoorn 

www.veripure.eu 

Info@veripure.eu 

4.1 trays 

5. Traders 

5.1 wholesale 

6. Machinery & Molds 

Molds, Change Parts and Turnkey 

Solutions for the PET/Bioplastic 

Container Industry 

284 Pinebush Road 

Cambridge Ontario 

Canada N1T 1Z6 

Tel.: 001 519 624 9720 

Fax: 001 519 624 9721 

info@hallink.com 

www.hallink.com 

SIG CORPOPLAST 

GMBH & CO.KG 

Meiendorfer Str. 203 

22145 Hamburg, Germany 

Tel. 0049-40-679-070 

Fax 0049-40-679-07270 

sigcorpoplast@sig.biz 

www.sigcorpoplast.com 

7 Ancillary equipment 

8. Services 

9. Research institutes / Universities 

Transmare Compounding B.V. 

Ringweg 7, 6045 JL 

Roermond, The Netherlands 

Phone: +31 (0)475 345 900 

Fax: +31 (0)475 345 910 

info@transmare.nl 

www.compounding.nl 

Sukano Products Ltd. 

Chaltenbodenstrasse 23 

CH-8834 Schindellegi 

Phone +41 44 787 57 77 

Fax +41 44 787 57 78 

www.sukano.com 

INNOVIA FILMS LTD 

Wigton 

Cumbria CA7 9BG 

England 

Contact: Andy Sweetman 

Tel.: +44 16973 41549 

Fax: +44 16973 41452 

andy.sweetman@innoviafilms.com 

www.innoviafilms.com 


Internet survey 

Potential 

of 

bioplastics 

In the last issue we published the results of an 

internet poll carried out by the German internet 

portal „plasticker“. As this was a „German only“ 

poll asked to the whole plastics industry, we promised 

to expand that survey globally to all ouf our 

readers and visitors to our website. Below you see 

the result of „our“ poll. Obviously our readers are 

more optimistic. 67% think that bioplastics will play 

a big role in many application areas (56% in the 

german survey) and even 9% (6%) believe that they 

will substitute most of todays commodity plastics. 

9 

A 

67 

B 

21 

C 

4 

D 

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 

A) They will substitute most of 

today‘s commodity plastics 

B) They will play a major role in 

many application areas 

C) They will remain niche products 

D) The hype, and with it the 

materials, will disappear

Companies in this issue 

Company Editorial Advert 

A. Schulman 12 

AIB Vincotte 30 

Amcor 8, 17, 18 

Archer Daniels Midland 13,34 

BASF 12 2 

Beta Analytics 26 

Bio-On 6 

Biomer 15 

biopearls 23,42 

bioplastics24.com 15 

Biotec 21,42 

BMELV 33 

BMG 38 

Bodin Industries 23 

BPI 38 

Braskem 15,26 

Clariant 12 

Coca-Cola 11 

Colormatrix 11 

Coopbox Italia 22 

Cortec 33 

DBU Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt 31 

DINCertco 38 

DuPont 13 42 

Earth Buddy 28 

European Bioplastics 8 

European Plastics News 16 19 

Fachhochschule Hannover 12,31 

Faserinstitut Bremen 12 

Finiper 23 

FkuR 14 9,42 

FNR 33 

FOST Plus 39 

Fraunhofer UMSICHT 14 

german bioplastics 11 

Good Water 10 

Grafe 14 

Hallink 42 

Husky 11 

Ihr Platz 11 

Innovia 17,18 42 

JBPA Japan BioPlastics Assiciation 38 

Livan 5 

Company Editorial Advert 

M-Base 12,33 

Maag 42 

Metabolix 13,34 

Mondi Packaging 19 

natura 17,28 42, 47 

Naturally Iowa 11 

NatureWorks 10, 11, 22 

Netstal 11 

Nova Institut 12 

Novamont 11, 14, 17, 18 48 

OWS Organic Waste Systems 36 

Paragon Flexibles 17 

Peter Holland 24 

Plantic 17,29 42 

Plastic Suppliers 42, 43 

plasticker 43 33 

PolyOne 6, 11, 15 42 

Purac 11 

Roll-o-Matic 13 

Safiplast 10 

Sainsbury‘s 16 

Sidaplax 42, 43 

SIG Corpoplast 11 42 

SIG Plasmax 11 

Silita 10 

Sirap Gema 19 

Sukano 5,13 42 

Tate & Lyle 13 

Telles 13,34 

Telrod 17 

Tianan Biologic 24 

Transmare 42 

Treofan 18 

TU Clausthal 12 

Uhde Inventa Fischer 11 7,42 

Universal Closure 29 

University of Reggio Emilia 22 

University of Rome 22 

Univesity of Naples 22 

Veriplast 42 

VLACO 36 

Wentus 18 

Wiedmer 11 

Next Issue 


Films, trays 

03 | 2007 

Vol. 2 ISSN 1862-5258 

For the next issue of bioplastics MAGAZINE 

(among others) the following subjects are scheduled: 

Special: 

Basics: 

Events: 

Next issues: 

Bags 

Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) 

Logos part 6 

review: K‘2007 

different conferences 

04/07 December 2007 

01/08 January 2008 

02/08 March 2008 

03/08 April 2008 

04/08 June 2008 

K‘2007 preview | 13 


Logos, Part 5 | 38 

bioplastics MAGAZINE 


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Events 

Event-Calendar 

October 17-18, 2007 

Renewable Raw Materials for Industry: 

Contribution to Sustainable Chemistry 

Thon Hotel Bruxelles City (former Tulip Inn), 

Brussels, Belgium 

www.greentech.eu 

October 17-19, 2007 

BioEnvironmental Polymer Society 14 th Annual Meeting 

INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON POLYMERS AND THE 

ENVIRONMENT: EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE 

Hilton Vancouver Hotel, Vancouver, Washington 

Call for Papers: gmg@pw.usda.gov 

October 24-31, 2007 

K‘2007, International Trade Fair 

No 1 for Plastic and Rubber Worldwide 

Düsseldorf, Germany 

www.k-online.de 

Come and see us at K’2007. 

bioplastics MAGAZINE would be happy to 

welcome you in hall 7, booth 7C09. 

November 21-22, 2007 

2nd European Bioplastics 2007 

Convention Centre Newport Bay Club 

Disneyland Paris, France 

http://conference.european-bioplastics.org 

November 29-30, 2007 

InterTech Pira: Bioresins 2007 

Doubletree Guest Suites Atlanta / 

Galleria - Atlanta, Georgia USA 

www.intertechpira.com 

December 4-5, 2007 

Zweiter Deutscher WPC-Kngress 

Maritim Hotel, Köln, Germany 

www.wpc-kongress.de 

December 5-6, 2007 

Bioplastics 2007 

including Bioplastics Awards 2007 

Frankfurt/Main, Germany 

www.bpevent.com 

for the awards contact chris.smith@emap.com 

February, 18-20, 2008 

Agricultural Film 2008 

Fira Palace Hotel, Barcelona, Spain 

www.amiplastics.com 

March 3-4, 2008 

3rd International Seminar on 

Biodegradable Polymers 

Valencia, Spain 

http://www.azom.com/details.asp?newsID=7345 

June 18-19, 2008 

7th Global WPC and Natural 

Fibre Composites 

Congress and Exhibition 

Kongress Palais, Stadthalle, 

Kassel, Germany 

www.wpc-nfk.de 


A real sign 

of sustainable 

development. 

There is such a thing as genuinely sustainable development. 

Since 1989, Novamont researchers have been working 

on an ambitious project that combines the chemical 

industry, agriculture and the environment: “Living 

Chemistry for Quality of Life”. Its objective has been to 

create products that have a low environmental impact. 

The innovative result of Novamont’s research is the new 

bioplastic Mater-Bi ® .The Mater-Bi ® polymer comes from maize starch and 

other vegetable starches; it is completely biodegradable and compostable. 

Mater-Bi ® performs like plastic, but it saves energy, contributes to reducing 

the greenhouse effect, and at the end of its life cycle, it closes the loop by 

changing into fertile humus. Everyone’s dream has become a reality. 

Living Chemistry for Quality of Life. 

www.novamont.com 

Mater-Bi ® : certified and recommended biodegradability and compostability.

bioplasticsMAGAZINE_0703

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