bioplasticsMAGAZINE_0901
ioplastics magazine Vol. 4 ISSN 1862-5258
Highlights:
Automotive Applications
Foam
bioplastics MAGAZINE
is read in
85 countries
Politics:
LCA Position Paper of European Bioplastics | 32
Biodegradability - facts and claims | 28
Basics:
Basics of PLA | 38
01 | 2009
Plastics For Your Future
Another New Resin For a Better World
Bio-Flex® A 4100 CL for transparent blown fi lm applications
FKuR Kunststoff GmbH | Siemensring 79 | D - 47877 Willich
Tel.: +49 (0) 21 54 / 92 51-0 | Fax: +49 (0) 21 54 / 92 51-51 | sales@fkur.com
www.fkur.com
Editorial
dear readers
I’m sure that almost everybody in the plastics industry knows that famous scene
from ‘The Graduate’ (1967) with Dustin Hoffmann, where Mr. McGuire says: “I just
want to say one word to you: Plastics … there‘s a great future in plastics”.
But who knows the scene from another Hollywood movie, this time with James
Stewart, and one that is about 20 years older? This scene even foresees the great
future of bioplastics! Please visit www.bioplasticsmagazine.de/movieclip to see the
10 second clip from ‘It’s a wonderful World’ (1946). In fact, as early as in the first
decades of the last century Henry Ford applied soy-based plastics for automotive
applications (bM 01/2007)
Now – let’s talk about this issue of bioplastic MAGAZINE. It’s almost a tradition that in
one of our first issues each year we run a special editorial focus on bioplastics in
automotive applications. And once again we are pleased to say that we can report
on new developments and applications. The second highlight in this issue is on
foams. From coloured loose fill chips used as a toy for kids through elastic foams
for the soles of shoes to E-PLA, a particle foam comparable to the polystyrene
foam that we all know well through its use in the packaging of domestic electronic
equipment etc. We have a veritable kaleidoscope of applications.
Once in a while we receive press releases about ‘biodegradable’ PET bottles
or other so called ‘oxo-degradable’ plastics. We hesitate to publish such press
releases in bioplastics MAGAZINE, as long as we are not totally convinced about
the biodegradability in terms of a proven complete assimilation of the plastics
by microorganisms. We consider plastics to be biodegradable if they fulfill the
internationally accepted standards such as ISO 17088, EN 13432, EN 14995 or
ASTM 6400. The oxo-materials might be degradable by UV or heat, but within our
declared concept they are certainly not biodegradable …
bioplastics MAGAZINE Vol. 4 ISSN 1862-5258
bioplastics MAGAZINE
is read in
85 countries
Highlights:
Automotive Applications
Foam
Politics:
LCA Position Paper of European Bioplastics | 32
Biodegradability - facts and claims | 28
Basics:
Basics of PLA | 38
01 | 2009
I hope you enjoy reading this issue of bioplastics MAGAZINE and look forward to your
comments, opinions or contributions.
Yours,
Michael Thielen
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
Content
Editorial 03
News 05
Application News 26
Event Calendar 45
Suppliers Guide 48
Glossary 46
January/February 01|2009
Award
2008 - Bioplastics Awards - 2009 09
Event review
Salone Del Gusto 10
Automotive
Bioplastics in Automotive Applications 12
Phylla – powered by sunshine 16
Materials
Innovative partnership approach for PLA production 18
From Science & Research
The availability of fermentable carbohydrate 36
Basics
Foam
Coloured loose fill – fun for young and old 21
Expanded PLA as a particle foam 22
First S-Shaped Loose Fill Made from 24
Vegetable Starch
Foamed PLA Trays 24
Flexible Foam Made of Starch Based Bioplastic 25
Significant Extrusion Throughput Rate 25
Increase for PLA Foam
Politics
Biodegradability... Sorting through Facts and Claims 28
Life Cycle Assessment of Bioplastics 32
The Current Status of Bioplastics 42
Development in Japan
Basics of PLA 38
Impressum
Publisher / Editorial
Dr. Michael Thielen
Samuel Brangenberg
Layout/Production
Mark Speckenbach, Jörg Neufert
Head Office
Polymedia Publisher GmbH
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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
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Höffgeshofweg 12
47807 Krefeld, Germany
Print run: 4,000 copies
bioplastics magazine
ISSN 1862-5258
bioplastics MAGAZINE is published 6 times a year.
This publication is sent to qualified subscribers
(149 Euro for 6 issues).
bioplastics MAGAZINE is read in more than
85 countries.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced in any form without written
permission of 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.
The views and opinions expressed by the authors
do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher
or the ditorial staff.
bioplastics MAGAZINE tries to use British spelling.
However, in articles based on information from
the USA, American spelling may also be used.
Editorial contributions are always welcome.
Please contact the editorial office via
mt@bioplasticsmagazine.com.
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
Cosun and Avantium
announce collaboration
Royal Cosun from Breda and Avantium from Amsterdam
(both the Netherlands) recently announced the start of their
collaboration. The companies join forces to develop a specific
process for the production of a new generation of bioplastics
and biofuels from selected organic waste streams.
Avantium is developing these bioplastics and biofuels under
the name ‘Furanics’. Within the collaboration, Cosun will
focus on the selection, isolation and purification of suitable
components from agricultural waste streams. Avantium
will continue to focus on the development of an efficient,
chemically catalyzed production process. The duration of
the first phase of the collaboration will be approximately two
years. With positive results, the companies intend to scale-up
the production technology and implement it on commercial
scale.
“The further optimization of the value of our agricultural
products is of great importance for our future”, said Gert
de Raaff, Director Corporate Development at Cosun.
“Agricultural products and waste streams will increasingly be
used as starting material for the production of chemicals and
materials. “
Tom van Aken, CEO at Avantium: “Our collaboration with
Royal Cosun fits in perfectly with our strategy to produce
Furanics from raw materials that do not compete with the food
chain. With this approach, we clearly distinguish ourselves
from existing biofuels and bioplastics production processes.
By collaborating with Cosun, we gain access to organic
waste streams and Cosun’s proven expertise in processing
agricultural feedstock.”
For a number of years, Avantium has been developing
“Furanics”, a new generation of bioplastics and biofuels.
Furanics can be produced from biomass such as sugars and
other carbohydrates. Avantium’s Furanics bioplastics can
be produced cheaper than oil-based plastics and they have
attractive properties with the potential to replace traditional
plastics in many existing applications. Avantium’s Furanics
biofuel program aims to develop a new generation of biofuels
with both excellent properties (such as high energy density and
mixability with conventional fuels) and competitive production
costs.
Furanics are a sustainable alternative for materials and
fuels that are currently produced from crude oil. By using
Furanics, the dependence on crude oil decreases and CO 2
emissions are reduced.
www.cosun.com
www.avantium.com
Bioplastics Pavillion
at AUSPACK 2009
News
At AUSPACK 2009, to be held at the Sydney
Showgrounds, Sydney Olympic Park, from Tuesday the
16th through to Friday the 19th of June 2009 visitors will
have the opportunity to visit a special Bioplastics Pavilion.
Biograde, BioPak, Innovia Films, NatureWorks, Plantic
Technologies and Plastral will all be exhibiting thirp
products under one roof.
BioPak will be exhibiting their range of Bioplast potato
starch based biopolymers, extruded sheet, compostable
copolyester resin, PLA packaging films, compostable
self adhesive tapes, composite biodegradable non woven
absorbent materials along with examples of commercial
applications of these materials.
NatureFlex, a flexible wood pulp based filmic
packaging material will be the key exhibit on the Innovia
Films stand - exhibiting commercial applications
featuring this material from around the world. Films
include clear, white and metalised versions that are
suitable for fresh produce, flow wrapping, labelling face
stocks, confectionary & bakery packaging and many other
packaging applications.
At AUSPACK 2009 visitors will be able to see the full
complement of commercially available Ingeo lifestyle
products on display. Such will include food packaging
solutions of every kind to food serviceware, films wrap
applications, plastic cards, as well as electrical appliance
casings. Also, a complete assortment of Ingeo applications
in apparel, home/office wear and nonwovens for personal
care and landscape textiles, demonstrates that Ingeo has
become an innovation lifestyle brand for both industry and
consumers alike.
Plastral will be exhibiting resins and products that are
made using vegetable oil and starch feedstocks. Utilisation
of these products can help reduce the environmental
impact of manufacturing and disposal of single use and
multiple use goods and also assist with the diversion of
organic waste from landfill to composting.
At their stand at AUSPACK 2009, Plantic ® will be
showing their two thermoformable sheet grades (Plantic
R1and Plantic HP1) which are significant in terms of
the environmental and functional solutions they provide
to brand owners, converters and retailers. Plantic’s
sheet products have a renewable resource content of
approximately 85%. Also on display will be a variety of
Plantic injection moulding grades which can be used
for agriculture and horticulture, medical disposables,
personal care, packaging and building and construction,
to name a few.
www.auspack.com
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
News
Bag Manufacturer to
Stop Advertising
Environmental Claims
for Oxo-Products
The US National Advertising Division of the Council
of Better Business Bureaus has recommended that GP
Plastics Corp. modify or discontinue certain advertising
claims for its PolyGreen plastic bags.
Among the criticized claims are for example:
• PolyGreen plastic bags are ‘100% oxo-biodegradable’
• PolyGreen plastic bags are ‘disposable through ordinary
channels’ and go ‘From front lawn, to waste bins to the
landfill’
• ‘Eco-Friendly Plastic Newspaper Bags’
• PolyGreen plastic bags are “environmentally friendly.”
According to GP Plastics the plastic bags are
manufactured using ‘oxo-biodegradable’ technology.
NAD noted that the advertiser’s claim that PolyGreen
bags ‘are disposable through ordinary channels’ should
similarly be supported by competent and reliable scientific
evidence that the entire plastic bag ‘will completely break
down and return to nature … within a reasonably short
period of time after customary disposal.’ However, NAD
determined that the evidence in the record did not support
that claim.
NAD recommended that the advertiser discontinue the
claim that PolyGreen bags are ‘100% oxobiodegradable’
and otherwise modify its advertising to avoid conveying the
message that PolyGreen bags will quickly or completely
biodegrade when disposed of through ‘ordinary channels,’
e.g., when placed in a landfill.
NAD further recommended that the advertiser
discontinue claims such as ‘eco-friendly’ and
‘environmentally friendly’ etc. because the claims
overstate the evidence with respect to the degradation of
the plastic bags.
GP Plastics Corp. has said it will appeal NAD’s findings
to the National Advertising Review Board.
NAD’s inquiry was conducted under NAD/CARU/NARB
Procedures for the Voluntary Self-Regulation of National
Advertising.
For more information about advertising self regulation,
please visit www.narcpartners.org.
Source: www.nadreview.org/content/pressdoc/4944PR.pdf
Two New Laws
in California
Independent testing of several so called ‘oxo
biodegradable’plastic bags in the marketplace have
shown little or no biodegradation using accelerated
aerobic test methods, such as ASTM D5338 and ISO 14855.
Moreover, the reports clearly state that these materials
do not meet the requirements of ASTM (6400), European
(EN 13432) or international (ISO 17088) specification
standards. An independent study commissioned by the
State of California’s Waste Management Board with a
California public university and under their supervision
showed that the ‘oxo-biodegradable’ bags on the market
showed no biodegradation (‘Performance Evaluation
of Environmentally Degradable Plastic Packaging and
Disposable Service Ware,’ California Integrated Waste
Management Board (CIWMB) Publications, (June 2007).
This study, and the proliferation of unsubstantiated
claims on biodegradability forced the State of California
to put in place laws
AB1972: ... prohibit the sale of a plastic bag that is labeled
as “compostable” or “marine degradable,” unless that bag
meets the ASTM Standard Specification for Compostable
Plastics D6400, the ASTM Standard Specification for Non-
Floating Biodegradable Plastics in the Marine Environment
D7081, or a standard adopted by the California Integrated
Waste Management Board, as specified. The bill also
would prohibit the sale of a plastic bag that is labeled as
“biodegradable,” “degradable,” “decomposable,” or as
otherwise specified.
A companion bill AB 2071: ...would authorize a city,
a county, or the state to impose civil liability, in specified
amounts, for violations of the above provisions and would
require any civil penalties collected to be paid to the office
of the city attorney, city prosecutor, district attorney, or
Attorney General, whichever office brought the action.
Weblinks to the mentioned documents can be found at
www.bioplasticsmagazine.de/200901a
Mark your calendar
bioplastics MAGAZINE is planning the
2nd PLA Bottle Conference to be held during
drinktec 2009 (mid September 2009) in Munich,
Germany. A ‘Call for Papers’ is now open. Send
your proposals to the editorial office.
mt@bioplasticsmagazine.com
www.pla-bottle-conference.com
www.drinktec.com
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
Use of Oxo-Additives
implicates loss
of Warranty
Dr.-Ing. Christian Bonten,
FKuR-Director Technology
& Marketing
News
Braskem, Brazilian Petrochemical Company, developer
of biobased polyolefins (Polyethylene and Polypropylene)
made from renewable raw materials, mainly sugarcanebioethanol
and with a project under construction to produce
200 Kt/y of Green PE, starting end 2010, does not warrant
the performance of its resins with additives for the so-called
‘oxo-degradation’. The use of such additives with Braskem’s
polyolefins, implicates the loss of warranted qualities of the
materials.
In a data sheet accompanying their ‘High Density
Polyethylene HF 0147’ for instance it is stated:
Braskem’s resins do not contain additives produced
from metals or other substances which have the objective
to promote oxo degradation. Such additives and the
decomposition and fragmentation of resins caused by the oxo
degradation compromise the approval of the resin regarding
requirements of the Resolution 105/99 of ANVISA (Brazilian
National Agency of Sanitary Monitoring). The use of these
additives implicates the loss of the performance warranties
described in this document.
www.braskem.com.br
Frost & Sullivan
Award for DuPont
DuPont recently received the ‘2008 European Bioplastics
Product Line Strategy Award’ from Frost & Sullivan -- a leading
market consulting company -- for its accomplishments
in rapidly developing an extremely diverse range of highperformance
materials based on renewable sources.
Several DuPont renewably sourced products already
are in the market and can be found in textile, automotive,
cosmetics, personal care and industrial applications. Adriano
Bassanini, DuPont BioMaterials leader, Europe, Middle East
& Africa, received the award on behalf of DuPont. “This is
an achievement we should be proud of. Bioplastics lie at the
heart of our growing business platform,” Adriano said.
“This diverse approach makes DuPont rather unique in the
industry, as most other companies are focusing on a narrow
range of bio-based chemistry for their biomaterials portfolio.
Frost & Sullivan is therefore proud to confer this award to
DuPont,” said Dr. Brian Balmer of Frost & Sullivan.
FKuR and
Ritter Pen
got award for innovation
Biograde ® from German FKuR Kunststoff GmbH, in
the form of the new Bio-Pen from the writing utensils
manufacturer Ritter-Pen GmbH has been granted the
award for innovation ‘Biomaterial of the year 2008’.
Biograde is a transparent, injection mouldable
bioplastic based on cellulose. This co-developed
product from FKuR and Fraunhofer UMSICHT combines
renewable and biodegradable cellulose acetate with
special additives and coupler by means of an adapted
biocompounding process from FKuR. Biograde is
transparent (depending on grade), dyeable, scratch and
heat resistant. The cellulose acetate used is gained
from European soft wood. Bio-Pen is a new series of
writing utensils from Ritter-Pen for the ecologically
aware consumer. 80 % of the ball pen is made from the
renewable and compostable Biograde.
“With the help of Biograde Ritter-Pen is able to
develop aesthetically appealing writing utensils that
meet the consumers´ wish for eco-friendly products.
Biograde is injection mouldable, and what is more even
dyeable and printable”, says Fredy Büchler, managing
director from Ritter-Pen. “Together with Ritter-Pen we
are very pleased about the award, since it confirms that
with the development of injection mouldable bioplastics
we are in the pulse of time.”, explains Dr. Edmund
Dolfen, managing director of FKuR. Bioplastics are a
class of polymer which have properties comparable to
conventional polymers, but are made from renewable
resources or enable the biodegradability of the products
made from this material.
The innovation award ‘Biomaterial of the year 2008’
has been granted by the company Reifenhäuser GmbH
& Co. KG within the framework of the international
congress ‘Raw Material Shift & Biomaterials’ of the
nova-institute on in Cologne the 3rd /4th December.
www.fkur.com
www.ritter-pen.de
www.umsicht.fraunhofer.de
www.renewable.dupont.com
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
Award
2008 - Bioplastics
Awards - 2009
The winners of the third Bioplastics
Awards organized by European
Plastics News (EPN) were
announced in Munich, Germany, on
3 December 2008.
bioplastics MAGAZINE as a media
partner of this award presents the
winners below.
We are particularly proud that EPN
asked bioplastics MAGAZINE to be part of
the judging panel for the next awards.
So we are happy to ask our readers to
supply suggestions for the Bioplastics
Awards 2009. Your entry should say:
1. What your product, service or
development is (up to 200 words)
2. What your product, service or
development does (up to 200 words)
3. Why you think your product, service
or development should win an award
(Up to 200 words)
4. What your company or organisation
does
Your entry should also include
photographs and may be supported
with samples, marketing brochures
and/or technical documentation.
You find a pdf-form for such
entries at our website or at
www.bioplasticswards.com.
The 2008 winners are:
Best Innovation in Bioplastics
Biopolymer Network – New Zealand
Expanded PLA Foaming Process
The New Zealand-based research partnership Biopolymer Network
has developed a simple and cost effective process for producing low
density expanded PLA polymer foams suitable for many applications
currently catered for with expanded polysytrene. The development
involves a controlled process for impregnation and pre-expansion of
PLA beads using carbon dioxide as a blowing agent. Careful control
of the impregnation process conditions avoids premature foaming of
the beads, which can be stored and processed using existing EPS
processing equipment. A key attraction of the technology is its ability
both to substitute a petrochemical- based polymer with a biobased
alternative together with its elimination of hydrocarbon-based blowing
agents. Foams with densities down to 30 g/litre and with good resilience
and impact properties have been achieved using the technology
with commercially available PLA resins. No polymer pre-treatment
is required and the carbon dioxide blowing agent can be recovered
during processing. Biopolymer Network has trialled the technology
on existing
m a n u f a c t u r i n g
plant and is
currently securing
patent protection.
Best Bioplastics Processor
Gehr Plastics – Germany
Semifinished products
While bioplastics are quite widely used
in the packaging industry, access to the
materials in other sectors of industry has been
less easy. German semi-finished products
producer Gehr Plastics has taken that on
board in its EcoGehr product line, which
makes renewable and natural fibre reinforced
materials available to plastics fabricators for
the first time. Gehr Plastics has invested
considerable R&D effort into preparing itself
for the introduction of its EcoGehr product
line, which includes polymers ranging from
PLA through to castor-oil derived polyamides
such as PA 6.10 and 11. It has already
supplied products for evaluation in markets
as diverse as snow-ski core materials and
cosmetics components. As the first semifinished
plastic producer to assemble a full
range of bio-based and renewable semifinished
plastic products, Gehr Plastics has
marked itself out as a pioneer in bioplastics
processing.
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
Best Bioplastics Application – Packaging
Amcor Flexibles – UK
Compostable fresh produce pack
Amcor Flexibles worked with packaging specialist Flextrus,
to develop the packaging for the UK retailer Sainsbury’s So
Organic wild rocket salad. Sainsbury’s requirements for the
pack was to deliver a home compostable product that would
retain barrier performance and heat seal integrity in the
wet environment required for fresh salads. The companies
developed the Natureplus TDH2 product around a film structure
comprised of Innovia’s Natureflex cellulose film combined with
a proprietary compostable sealing layer. No adhesive layer is
required. The solution overcomes the moisture sensitivity of the
cellulose film, enabling it to deliver seal performance similar
to a PET/PE laminate and to run at line speeds similar to
traditional alternatives. The TDH2 film is produced by Flextrus
and converted to bags by Amcor.
Award
Best Bioplastics Application – Non-Packaging
Formax Quimiplan – Brazil
Renewable TPU shoe components
Thermogreen is the latest range of counters and toe puffs
(structural shoe components) from Brazilian footwear industry
supplier Formax Quimiplan and is the first industrialscale
application of renewable thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)
in the shoe industry. Counters and toe puffs are technically
demanding parts that reinforce the shoe structure and are
essential in maintaining them. The TPUs used to make the
Thermogreen products were developed for the application
by Merquinsa of Spain. Aside from the sourcing of renewable
materials, they also provide a lower activation temperature,
making further energy savings possible during moulding.
Bioplastics Marketing Initiative
Nestlé Confectionery – UK
Quality Street brand recycling campaign
Nestlé Confectionery’s decision to repackage its market
leading UK chocolate sweet range meant communicating the
end-of-life options for a wide variety of packaging materials.
The company’s solution was to develop its ‘Recycling Cycle’
story board. Printed on the base of every tin, it promotes how
each element in the packaging should be handled or recycled at
the end of life, including the specially developed range of home
compostable cellulose twist wrappers developed for the project
by Innovia Films. The ‘Recycling Cycle’ makes it very clear to
consumers that the plastic twist wraps will decompose on the
home compost heap.
Personal Contribution to Bioplastics
Oliver P. Peoples CSO
and co-founder, Metabolix
With the first commercial scale Mirel PHA production
plant set to begin production this year at Clinton, Iowa,
USA, Oliver P. Peoples is closer now than ever to
realising the dream of seeing biotechnology research
converted into large scale production of bioplastics. A
graduate of molecular biology from the University of
Aberdeen in Scotland, Oliver joined the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology in the US as a research scientist
in its Department of Biology in 1988. In 1992, Oliver cofounded
Metabolix with MIT microbiologist Anthony
J. Sinskey and took on the position of Chief Scientific
Officer with responsibility for all of its scientific
programmes.
Read all details about Oliver P. Peoples achievements as well
as more info about the 2008 and 2009 Bioplastics Awards at
www.bioplasticswards.com
Chris Smith (EPN) and Angela Beatriz Stroeher, Market
Development Manager Formax Quimiplan
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
Event Review
Salone
saves
and CO 2
Salone Internazionale del Gusto in Turin, Italy, is a bi-yearly
‘slow-food’ event that calls upon chefs, winemakers, caterers,
journalists and experts to focus on biodiversity and
food education. Last year the Salone set itself a new challenge
which underlines the importance of environmental impact, energy
resources and CO2 emissions.
www.novamont.com
www.salonedelgusto.com
In accordance with its philosophy, Salone del Gusto 2008 (23-
27 October) was planned with a system-designed approach
built around new strategies allowing reduction in environmental
impact, promoting eco-sustainable lifestyles and patterns of
consumption. This includes sourcing energy supplies from local
renewable resources, facilitating waste disposal and reducing
environmental impact. In this option the resources are abundant,
seasonally renewable, easily obtainable, cost effective, and have
potential re-use as fertilisers.
The Salone put newly planned solutions in place to contain
carbon emissions, and then to achieve zero emissions by offsetting
carbon levels with planting of trees in a park on the banks of the
river Po in the Turin area, to be accompanied by other initiatives
aimed at protecting the river‘s biodiversity.
This project was developed with a system-designed view by
Slow Food, Piedmont Region, the Municipality of Turin, Industrial
Design-Turin Polytechnic, Fondazione Zeri, along with Novamont
and other partners.
Several areas of the event are involved in the project, such
as the furnishings (elimination of the carpeting, etc.), waste
production (a waste disposal method aiming at 50% separation)
and packaging (biodegradable carrier bags, glass packaging for
the Presidia, collection and recycling of PET bottles, upgrading
of steel packaging, etc.). Other areas include: the utensils for
eating food in the Terra Madre and Ideale cafeterias (Mater-
Bi® tableware sets), the logistics for transporting goods and the
delegates and visitors of Terra Madre (motor vehicles with reduced
environmental impact, incentives for using public transportation,
etc.), energy resources and CO2 emissions (obtaining energy from
local renewable sources, planting local trees in the fluvial park of
the river Po in the Turin area, etc.).
Novamont, a leading company in the bioplastics sector,
contributed to this new project thanks to its many years of
experience and the results it has obtained by designing new
systems that promote the role of bioplastics. The company is
10 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
Del Gusto
Resources
Emissions
THE BIOPLASTICS FORUM AT
WORLD BIOFUELS MAKETS
EUROPE’S Event LARGEST Review BIOFUELS
CONGRESS & EXHIBITION
F O R U M
16TH MARCH 2009, BRUSSELS EXPO CENTRE, BELGIUM
MAIN CONFERENCE, 17TH – 18TH MARCH 2009
a concrete example of the active contribution that this
material is making to sustainable development and the
reinforcement of new industrial policies that can meet the
needs of the economy with sustainability and create an
integrated system of chemistry, agriculture, industry and
the environment for a „truly sustainable development“
with low environmental impact.
Novamont made its contribution to the project by
supplying the event with about 200,000 sets of tableware
made of Mater-Bi® and cellulose pulp. This exclusive
distribution of disposable biodegradable and compostable
Mater-Bi products will yield an estimated 11,000 kg
of compost from the collection of 27,000 kg of organic
refuse. This translates as a saving of about 20,000 kg in
unsorted refuse destined for landfill or incineration.
An LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) study comparing
meals served with compostable disposable products
and traditional disposable plasticware showed that
68kg of CO2 emission were saved for every 1000 meals
(the figure has been adjusted down for Turin‘s Salone
del Gusto, given probable lower levels of leftovers). The
project estimates overall carbon savings equivalent to
450 fewer vehicles moving around Turin each day for the
four days of the event (on a 50 Km per car per day basis).
In non-renewable energy terms, savings translate as 515
kWh per thousand meals served, or the switching off of
26,000 50-Watt bulbs for the four days of the event.
Featuring top industry speakers including:
RAMANI NARAYAN,
University Distinguished Professor,
Michagan State University, USA
DR. JOHN WILLIAMS,
Technology Transfer Manager, Polymers & Materials,
National Non Food Crops Centre, UK
DR BILL ORTS,
Research Leader, Bioproduct Chemistry & Engineering,
USDA
DR MARTIN PATEL,
Associate Professor,
Utrecht University, The Netherlands
CAMILLE BUREL,
Manager, Industrial Biotech Council,
EuropaBio
Register today!
For delegate registration options
(including pre conference forums), please contact
Victoria Adair on +44 (0)207 099 0600,
email Victoria.adair@greenpowerconferences.com
or fax +44 (0)207 900 1853.
Please quote reference BF15A
Organised by:
www.worldbiofuelsmarkets.com
Automotive
Ford Mustang (Photo: Ford)
Bioplastics in
Automotive Applications
CO 2
Reduction (Million Ibs.)
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0.6
Mustang
Program
5.3
Program Using
Soy Foam
in 2008
14.3
If Migrated
to all FMC
Vehicles
CO 2 reduction when using soy foam
(source: Ford)
Ford
To update ourselves on the latest bioplastics
developments in the automotive industry bioplastics
MAGAZINE spoke to Ellen Lee, Plastics Research Technical
Expert in the Materials and Nanotechnology Department
of Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan, USA.
One of Ford’s projects that is now in production is soybased
polyurethane foam with a total soy content of 5%
of the pad weight. Among the first cars that had such
products was the 2008 model of the Ford Mustang. “Today
it’s in over a million Ford vehicles,” as Ellen comments,
“including the Ford F150, Ford Mustang, Ford Focus, Ford
Escape, Ford Expedition, Lincoln Navigator and Mercury
Mariner”. The polyurethane contains soy-based polyol and
is applied to seat backs and seat cushions.
All Ford programs using soy foam in 2008 lead to a CO 2
reduction of 2,400 tons (5.3 million lbs) per year. If soy
foam technology was migrated to all Ford Motor Company
vehicles, this would result in a reduction of about 6,500
tons (14.3 million lbs) of CO 2 per year.
But it is not only the soy oil that is being exploited.
Researchers at Ford also found interest in the soy flour or
soy meal, which is the residue after extracting the oil. Ford
is investigating using these substances as reinforcements
or fillers for a lot of materials including rubber and
EPDM.
Injection Moulded
Natural Fibre PP
Components (Photo: Ford)
Ford also applies a lot of natural fiber reinforced
materials, as most automotive companies have been doing
for many years. Most of these are compression moulded
12 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
Automotive
Corn-based
headrest bag
Corn-based
fabric
Natural fiber
reinforced PP
Soy-based
PU foam
Sugarcane-based
PP side shields
Upcycled water
bottles to PBT
seat clips
Ford’s EnviroSeat (source: Ford)
kg CO 2
emissions per vehicle
applications using conventional thermoplastics. For the
Ford Taurus X, for example, the third row seat back is
made of kenaf reinforced PP (50% by weight NF loading).
In addition Ford is looking into injection moldable, natural
fiber reinforced resins – including PLA. “Research is going
on in our laboratories,” says Ellen, “that also includes
thermoset materials such as SMC with soy or corn based
matrix materials and natural fibers as reinforcement.“
In terms of PLA, besides injection moldable natural
fiber reinforced applications, Ford is evaluating the use
of films and fibers/textiles. “Currently the PLA materials
that are commercially available on a large scale don’t offer
the durability that we need for internal applications,” Ellen
points out, ”so that one of our focus points – together
with the raw material suppliers – is to try to increase that
durability for hot and humid climates.”
At NatureWorks’ ‘Innovation takes Root’ conference last
September in Las Vegas, Ellen highlighted Ford CEO Alan
100
80
60
40
20
0
-20
-40
Conventional Seat
EnviroSeat
Foam
Fabric + film Side shields Seat back Total
Environmental impact of Ford’s EnviroSeat (source: Ford)
Reduced environmental impact
Mulally’s commitment to offer their customers affordable,
environmentally friendly technologies in their vehicles.
This translates down into their fundamental work to
improve the performance specifically of Ingeo PLA
resin in injection molding via crystallinity modification.
Starting from a comprehensive review of automotive
requirements, from temperature, to moisture, to scuff,
dent, and ding resistance in exterior parts, UV weathering
characteristics, and for underhood applications, corrosion
and cyclic fatigue resistance, Ellen highlighted where Ford
sees potential for Ingeo in automotive applications in
the shorter term. In textiles, this includes, carpet, floor
mats, and upholstery; in interior parts, in injection molded
applications such as trim, knobs, buttons, and nonappearance
parts; and finally, in Ford’s own manufacturing
processes, in packaging and protective wrap.
Other biobased materials which Ford is currently
working on include thermoset polyesters with bio and
recycled contents, Polyolefins derived from renewable
resources (e.g., sugarcane) and more. The picture above
shows Ford’s so called ‘EnviroSeat’, a study of which
parts of a seat could be made of materials coming from
renewable resources.
Toyota
Toyota Motor Corporation have announced plans to
increase the use of plant-derived, carbon-neutral plastics
in more vehicle models, starting with a new hybrid vehicle
this year. Carbon-neutral in Toyota’s understanding
means zero net CO 2 emissions over the entire lifecycle of
the product. Toyota’s newly developed plastics, collectively
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4 13
Automotive
referred to as ‘Ecological Plastic’, are to be used in scuff
plates, headliners, seat cushions and other interior vehicle
parts. By the end of 2009 Toyota aims for Ecological Plastic
to account for approximately 60 percent of the interior
components in vehicles that feature it.
Lexus 2010 HS 250h (Photo: Lexus)
Table1: Ecological plastic
application and materials used
There are basically two types of Ecological Plastic: the
first is produced completely from plant-derived materials
and the second from a combination of plant-derived and
petroleum-derived materials. Because plants play a role
in either type, Ecological Plastic emits less CO 2 during a
product‘s lifecycle (from manufacture to disposal) than
plastic made solely from petroleum; it also helps reduce
petroleum use, as stated by Toyota.
Ecological Plastic adequately meets the heat-resistance
and shock-resistance demands of vehicle interiors
through the use of various compounding technologies,
such as those allowing molecular-level bonding and
homogeneous mixing of plant-derived and petroleumderived
raw materials. And being equal to conventional
plastics in terms of quality and productivity means that it
can be used in the production of vehicles.
Interior vehicle parts using
Ecological Plastic
Scruff plates, cowl side trim,
floor finish plate, toolbox
Headliner, sun visors,
pillar covers
Trunk liner
Door trim
* non-food source
Where used
Pland-derived
Combined raw materials
Petroleum-dwerived
Throughout Polylactic acid Polypropylene
Covering
(fibrous portion)
Covering
(fibrous portion)
Base material
Plant-derived polyester
Polylactic acid
Kenaf fibre* and
Polylactic acid
Seat cushion Foam portion Polyol derived
from castor oil*
Polyethylene
terephtylene
Polyethylene
terephtylene
(not used)
Polyol, isocyanate
(cross-linking agent)
Lexus 2010 HS 250h (Photo: Lexus)
Toyota make clear that they will continue to develop
various advanced technologies aimed at realizing
sustainable mobility and that they believe that it is
important to increase the availability of such technologies
in the marketplace. Toyota intends to pursue research
and development and practical applications that result in
expanded use of Ecological Plastic in vehicle parts.
Lexus
A few weeks ago Lexus revealed the 2010 HS 250h, the
world’s first dedicated luxury hybrid vehicle, at the North
American International Auto Show in Detroit. The HS 250h
will be Lexus’ fourth hybrid and the most fuel-efficient
vehicle in its lineup. It will also be the first Lexus to proactively
adopt plant-based, carbon-neutral ‘Ecological
Plastic’ materials (as known from Toyota, see above) in a
new futuristic cockpit and interior design.
Among the areas of utilization will be an industry-first
14 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
Automotive
use in luggage-trim upholstery. Other areas are the cowlside
trim, door scuff plate, tool box area, floor-finish
plate, seat cushions, and the package tray behind the rear
seats. Overall, approximately 30 percent of the interior and
luggage area is covered with Ecological Plastic. Over the
estimated lifecycle of the vehicle, the HS 250h will have
approximately 20 percent less carbon-dioxide emission as
a result of utilizing the Ecological Plastic trim pieces.
Mazda
Last year Mazda introduced its innovative bioplastic
internal consoles and bio-fabric seats in its Mazda 5
model (in some countries also marketed under the brand
name Premacy).
Up to 30 percent of the interior parts in the Mazda 5
will be made of bio-material components, as Takahiro
Tochioka, Senior Research Engineer from Mazda Motor
Corporation‘s Technical Research Centre mentioned
within the framework of EcoInnovasia 2008 last October
in Bangkok. “We want to show that Mazda is committed to
saving the environment,“ he said.
Bioplastics used for vehicles need to have higher
strength and heat thresholds than ordinary plastics, as
Mr. Tochioka explained. Thus Mazda set out to correct
bioplastic‘s well-known weak points. “It needs to be
highly elastic to prevent breaks in accidents and it needs
to be able to tolerate high temperatures from sunlight.
Bioplastic is well known for its rather inadequate heatresistant
qualities,“ Mr Tochioka said.
Mazda’s bio-materials used in the Premacy have
been specially designed to meet such requirements.
According to Mazda, the next step is to develop the
materials to allow for bioplastic use on the car‘s exterior.
(source: www.bangkokpost.com)
Honda
At the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show in mid-November
Honda revealed the Honda FC Sport design study model, a
hydrogen-powered, three-seat sports car concept.
According to Honda: “The glacier white body color
conveys the FC Sport‘s clean environmental aspirations
while the dark wheels and deeply tinted glass provide
a symbolic contrast befitting the vehicle‘s unique
combination of clean power and high performance.”
Green construction techniques further contribute to a
reduced carbon footprint. An organic, bio-structure theme
is carried through to the body construction where exterior
panels are intended to use plant-derived bio-plastics.
Mazda Premacy (Photo: Mazda)
█Mazda_Premacy.jpg█
Hydrogen fuel cell-powered Honda FC Sport design study model
shown at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show (Photo: Honda)
www.ford.com
www.toyota.co.jp
www.lexus.com
www.mazda.com
www.honda.com
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4 15
Automotive
powered by sunshine
Phylla –
Last summer the Northern Italian Region of Piedmont
presented its ‘Veicolo Urbano Multi-Ecologico e
Sostenibile’ (Multi-ecological City Car) project
‘Phylla’. The innovative, zero-emission concept car,
that captures solar energy to power its electric motors,
presents many environment friendly technologies. It was
developed by CRF (Fiat Research Centre) and designed
by two Turin-based colleges - Istituto Europeo di Design
(IED) and Istituto di Arte Applicata e Design IAAD.
The 2+2 seat sub-A-segment concept car is only 2.99
metres long and weighs about 750 kg. It has a lightweight
body consisting of an aluminium frame and outer
trim components made of a bioplastic material from
Novamont. One special feature of the vehicle is its flexible
‘split-frame’ architecture, where the passenger cabin is
separated from the frame. This makes it possible to use
different body styles on the same platform. The bioplastic
materials support the lightweighting of the car and in
addition take into account the EU Directive scheduled to
come into force in mid 2010. This Directive demands that
all new vehicles must be up to 85% recyclable and up to
95% reusable. As most of the plastics used for the Phylla
are either compostable or recyclable these specifications
can be easily fulfilled.
The car is propelled by solar-powered, electric battery
motors that drive all four of its wheels. That is one of the
reasons for the name ‘Phylla’ which means ‘leaf‘ in ancient
Greek and communicates its ability to convert solar light
into energy. The range of the Phylla of approximately
145 km with a lithium ion battery can be boosted to 220 km
when a lithium polymer battery is used.
In addition to the bioplastics for the car body Novamont
has contributed to the design of this innovative vehicle
by providing its technology and experience in the
manufacture of bio-tyres. Using renewable resources of
agricultural origin Novamont has created a bio-filler which
replaces the carbon black and silica of traditional tyres,
guaranteeing innumerable advantages from the economic
and environmental points of view.
Even with ‘traditional’ cars the new Novamont tyres save
on fuel consumption thanks to their lower rolling resistance
(over €150 savings on 15,000 km driven in a year). They
also reduce tread wear and CO 2 emissions (10 g/km) and
thus atmospheric pollution, as well as combating noise
and noise pollution and lowering levels of energy used in
the manufacturing process. Technically, the tyre weight is
also reduced and safety performance improved thanks to
excellent road-holding in wet conditions.
The multi-ecological city car project is perfectly in line
with the mission of Novamont, which has from the outset
striven to provide solutions to the urgent problems of
environmental pollution by using renewable resources of
agricultural origin, minimising post-manufacture waste
by-products and developing low environmental impact
processes.
www.regione.piemonte.it
www.novamont.com
www.fiatgroup.com
16 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L P L A S T I C S S H O W C A S E
W E S P E A K Y O U R L A N G U A G E .
international
competition
produced by
Materials
Innovative partnership
approach for
PLA production
PURAC from Gorinchem, The Netherlands, a pioneer in the
field of lactic acid and lactide, team up with Sulzer Chemtech
and other plastics industry-partners to offer a unique approach
that lowers the entry barrier and development time for the
production of PLA.
Purac has been producing lactic acid and derivatives for a variety of
applications for more than 70 years. “It is the innovative capabilities
that enable us to offer products in a very high purity so that our
qualities have set the standards” says Ruud Reichert, Business
Manager of Purac. Today Purac is the market leader with over 65%
market share in lactic acid. In addition, Purac has been producing
lactide and PLA for bio-medical applications for 18 years. These
PLA types stand out due to their high molecular weight, controlled
microstructure, crystallinity and the high purity, resulting in superior
mechanical and thermal properties, as Ruud points out.
PLA production partnership
About two years ago, Purac decided to make a major shift in the
company’s strategy to extend the portfolio from lactic acid into D- and
L-lactides for the production of PLA for industrial use. This should
make it easier for potential customers to produce their own PLA.
Lactides are cyclic lactic acid dimers (ring-molecules consisting
of two lactic acid molecules), or better PLA monomers, which can
be polymerized to PLA by ring-opening-polymerization. Purac’s
process for lactide production allows to keep racemization low1
and therefore the amount of mesolactide formed in the process low.
“Compared to the process of direct polycondensation of lactic acid to
PLA, this intermediate step via lactide allows us to create significantly
higher quality of PLA,” explains Hans van der Pol, Purac’s Marketing
Manager.
Knowing about the PLA-quality and the high purity of L and D
lactides 1 customers started to ask if Purac could supply a process to
make PLA from their lactide. The fit of technologies from the Swiss
company Sulzer Chemtech with the Purac concepts promted both
companies to start a partnership for PLA technology development
based on Purac lactides.
One of the drivers was the proven static mixer technology of Sulzer
Chemtech. Based on this technology and the experience with lactide,
the two companies together developed a new cost effective process.
18 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
Materials
SULZER
“The process consists of two steps:” says Hans van der Pol, “the
polymerization and the devolatilization, where residual monomers
are removed from the polymer. The Sulzer Chemtech’s system offers
a very mild process with a good temperature control and a very
efficient high vacuum devolatilization process. “The process allows
for flexibility in the end-product architecture and allows for high
molecular weight, controllable polydispersity and a low color,“ as
Hans points out. “This allows our partners the flexibility to produce
relatively pure and high quality PLLA and PDLA with superior physical
properties, or amorphous grades of PLA.”
Unique business model
“Due to its strong technology position in lactic acid production and
processing, it is a logical step for Purac to extend its position one step
further in the value-chain, thereby facilitating polymers and plastics
producers to make the step into bio-plastics production. Because the
economy of scale effect of lactide production is much higher than the
scale effect of the polymerization, polymer producers can invest in
smaller plants. Step by step integration as the market grows allows
for a phased approach and reduced risks.” says Ruud Reichert.
In order to be able to offer a complete solution for polymerization
to its lactide customers, Purac and Sulzer Chemtech in close
collaboration have developed a polymerization process that works
uniquely with Purac lactides. “By combining these Lactides in new
and creative ways, the improvement of the PLA heat-stability through
stereocomplexation concepts– one of its key issues – can become a
reality,” Hans van der Pol says. “Purac’s Innovation center has recently
demonstrated the ability to produce cups with a heat-stability of over
100°C by injection moulding using less than 5% of PDLA.”
PLA production partners are ideally companies that are already
active in the field of polymerization, compounding and processing of
plastic materials. Based on the use of lactides from Purac, clients
can licence the polymerization process from Sulzer Chemtech
Hans Keist, General Manager Sales EMA, Sulzer Chemtech adds:
“This business model creates something new with a high user value.
Especially because the entry barrier into the PLA market for smaller
producers of plastics has come down. We received a lot of interest
from potential PLA producers.”
PLA Quality
Within the framework of this new business model, customers can
obtain the equipment, raw materials and know-how to produce high
quality PLA in different grades for different applications.
“Most PLA grades that are currently available on the market are
what we call amorphous types (A-PLA), says Hans van der Pol. “These
grades have relatively high amounts of random D-lactic acid units in
the chains and their HDT is relatively low.”
High temperature PLA
A better PLA grade that can be produced with almost 100% pure
L(+) lactic acid (PLLA with less than 2 % D(-)) shows a melting point
of about 180°C. “If we now produce pure PLLA chains and pure
PDLA chains and eventually can combine these to stereo-block-
Lactide and PLA technogogy
PURAC
The total PLA solution
scPLA
Stereo-block PLA
PLLA
PLA
A-PLA
sc-PLA
High
pure PLA
Lactides
Stereo-complex Technology
PLA Process Technology
D-Lactic Unit
PLA is actually a family of (co-)polymers
of D- and L-lactic units
% D
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
2
Coating film
Injection moulding
Fiber
Bottle
Fiberfill
Fiber
PLA grades and applications
Plant design
Polymerization technology
L-Lactic Unit
PLA
Producers
crystalline
230°C
200°C
180°C
130°C
amorphous
No T m
increasing T m
2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
Relative viscosity
Foam
Thermoforming
Pharma
Biax film
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4 19
Materials
60000
copolymers by transesterification it is possible to achieve
melting points of 200°C,” as Hans explains, “and the top
of the list of possible variations is the stereocomplex type
(scPLA) with melting points of 220-240°C.” And he adds:
“It is so important to have the possibility to produce these
different types of PLA because different applications ask
for different properties and thus for different grades.
Purac has produced D-lactic acid last year for the first
time on an industrial scale and will dedicate a whole lactic
acid plant to its production. “This is a real breakthrough,”
says Ruud Reichert.
Expanded PLA (particle foam)
The first PLA producer that signed a partner contract to
produce their own PLA is the Dutch company Synbra from
Etten-Leur, a company that has been producing E-PS
(expanded Polystyrene – particle foam) for many years.
As customers from Synbra are increasingly looking for
environmentally benign and sustainable solutions, Synbra
wanted to find a biodegradable alternative based on
renewable resources. Their newly developed E-PLA foam
offers comparable or even better properties compared to
E-PS (see a more detailed report on page 22).
Market Potential …
The picture on this page shows that the base scenario
with the current PLA grades and the limited properties
is not very attractive. Hans van der Pol predicts that the
plastics industry will be involved to create more value
added products and application areas. “You need that
in the current stage in order to make PLA a sustainable
business for the long term.”
Considering this, Purac sees a potential of 500,000
tonnes by 2015. And that is clearly not only packaging.
“We see a huge potential outside the packaging area. New
value added applications are for example electronics, e.g.
phones or flat screens, fibers (where scPLA is necessary
for the processing but also for many applications), hot fill
applications and even in the automobile sector, where
we are seeing sustainability becoming an increasingly
important trend,” says Hans van der Pol.
Purac’s production sites
Purac runs lactic acid plants in Brazil and in the USA
as well as in in Netherlands and in Spain. At all these
locations Purac also produces lactic acid derivatives such
as salt solutions, esters or powder products.
End of 2007 in Thailand a new very efficient plant for L(+)
lactic acid with a capacity of 100,000 tonnes/a was opened.
This enabled Purac to convert its plant in Spain from L(+) to
a dedicated factory for the fermentation of D(-) lactic acid
Volume [Mt]
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
2005 2010
and lactides. “This is now the first step, but we expect that
by 2015 our partner model will result in factories where
PLA production from sugar is integrated with lactic acid
fermentation and lactide production on a 100 kton scale”
comments Hans van der Pol.
www.purac.com
www.sulzerchemtech.com
www.synbra.com
2015
PLA market forecast with plastics technology
With Plastics Technology
- High added value
- Positive PLA margins
Base Scenario
- Low added value appl.
- Negative margins for
PLA producers
Plastics Technology is critical factor for sustainable PLA growth
1: Lactic acid molecules exist either in a L(+) Form (levorotatory
form (the (+)-form) or in a D(-)/form dextrorotatory form (the (-)-
form). The L(+) form tends to transform into D(-) in a process called
racemization. Purac is successful in reducing the racemization to a
minimum in order to achieve very pure L and D-lactides.
Purac produces pure L-lactides (or L(+) lactides consisting of two
L(+) isomers of lactic acid) and pure D-lactides (or D(-) lactides
consisting of two D (-) isomers of lactic acid) (with a purity of about
99%). Lactides consisting of an L(+) and an D(-) isomer are called
meso-lactices.
PLLA is obtained by polymerization – that is connecting the lactic
acid molecules – of very pure L-lactide. Similarly, PDLA is obtained
from D-lactide monomer.
Stereocomplex PLA is a special kind of PLA with a melting point
of more than 200°C. It is made by mixing PLA and PDLA in a 1 to 1
ratio. Compare it with 2 component glue: the individual components
are soft and plastic, while the mixture hardens to become a strong
and stiff material.
20 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
Foam
Coloured loose fill –
fun for young and old
Coloured loose fill packaging chips have been available
for quite a while already. Just before the
Christmas period German discounter Aldi sold a
product under the brand name Bioplay. The box, marked
‘Automobilset’, showed pictures of cars, traffic lights etc.
The coloured loose fill chips in the box were made from
pure starch rather than the usual polystyrene foam and
were supplied to Aldi by German Pantos Produkt & Vertriebsgesellschaft.
safe, being made of starch and coloured with food dyes.
Even Tiziano Mori, cover-hero of this issue of bioplastics
MAGAZINE and bar-tender at the European Bioplastics
booth, loved the coloured chips. “I was amazed at all the
bioplastics products I saw during my job at interpack. But
these coloured chips were the biggest fun for me” he said.
During interpack 2008 (Düsseldorf, Germany, April 2008)
two large groups of kindergarten kids visited the special
show ‘bioplastics in packaging’. Sponsored by Novamont,
the children were given loads of coloured loose fill chips
to play with, and discovered this as a kind of toy - totally
(Photo: Philipp Thielen)
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4 21
Foam
Expanded
PLA as a
particle foam
The product development team of Synbra, Matthijs
Gebraad, Jürgen de Jong and Hans van Sas showing the
largest BioFoam part moulded to date
The first PLA producer that signed a partner contract
with Purac and Sulzer Chemtech (see page 18) to
produce their own PLA is the Dutch company Synbra
from Etten-Leur, a company that has been producing
EPS (expanded Polystyrene – a mouldable styrenics
based particle foam) for many years. Now as customers
from Synbra are increasingly looking for environmentally
benign and sustainable solutions, Synbra wanted to find a
biodegradable alternative based on renewable resources.
Together with the University of Wageningen, The Netherlands,
Synbra had already developed a process for E-PLA
using CO 2 instead of pentane as a blowing agent. Thus the
E-PLA does not contain any volatile organic compounds
(VOCs). The E-PLA foam, now marketed under the brand
name BioFoam ® offers comparable or even better properties
compared to EPS in properties like shock absorption,
insulation value and moulding shrinkage. In order to
better distinguish BioFoam from EPS and other particle
foams, Synbra’s E-PLA plans to colour it in a light green
tone.
Although the situation seems to have eased, at the
time they could not buy PLA. Synbra decided to make it
themselves. “NatureWorks told us at that time to come
back in three years“ says Jan Noordegraaf, Managing
Director of Synbra and we would not wait so long”. Earlier
in their polystyrene business Synbra had decided to go one
step further in the value chain and polymerise their own
Polystyrene, so now it was a logic step for them to do the
same with PLA. “Then we found Purac, the market leader
for lactic acid was only 40 km away from us. And Purac
together with Sulzer were offering exactly what we were
looking for, so it was clear for us what we had to do,” adds
Jan Noordegraaf.
22 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
Foam
In addition, until recently, PLA couldn’t be applied to
applications such as expanded bead foam. The thermal
properties as well as its brittleness did not allow reheating
and expansion, but a solution was found for this. Additional
opportunities are also identified since Purac started a new
D-Lactide production last year, Synbra envisages now
to also to use a stereocomplex PLA made from Purac’s
new D-lactide monomer, yielding foam with microwavable
capabilities. The first results are extremely promising and
prototypes were made.
The prestigious NRK sustainable innovation award 2008/2009
was handed over by MVO chairman Wim Lageweg to Synbra’s
Lex Edelman, Jan Noordegraaf and Wout Abbenhuis
A big advantage is that BioFoam can be custom expanded
to densities between 20-40 grams per litre (g/l), without
a limitation in moulded size. Achievable densities are far
lower than with continuously extruded PLA (in an XPS like
process) which hovers around 100-150g/l. “No wonder,“
Noordegraaf says, ”that particle foam E-PLA is perceived
to be superior to X-PLA and he adds “because E-PLA foam
creates the highest amount of parts per kilo.”
The main markets for BioFoam are for example specialty
packaging for consumer goods and cushion filling made
from biobased materials. The maker of the famous Fatboy
beanbag furniture, the dutch company Fatboy the Original
bv, is about to use BioFoam beads for filling.
For the cold chain transport sector DGP-Group of York
(UK) is the leading launch customer.
End of last year Synbra started up a demonstration and
product development plant located at Sulzer Chemtech
in Switzerland. This unit, for the time being only available
to partners of Purac, shall facilitate both product and
process development to meet various application and
customer demands. A production plant in Etten-Leur, the
Netherlands with a capacity of 5,000 t/a is targeted to be
operational by the end of 2009. Synbra intends to assume
a leading position in Europe as supplier of biologically
degradable foamed polymers from renewable sources and
plans to expand the PLA capacity to 50,000 t/a.
Starting in Europe, Synbra already has plans to bring
their BioFoam to North America in a partnership with
a US based company. “BioFoam will be global,” as Jan
Noordegraaf puts it.
In January 2009 Synbra was awarded the prestigious
PRIMA ondernemen gold innovation award by the Dutch
rubber and plastics association (NRK) for its exemplary
innovative and sustainable development.
www.synbra.com
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4 23
Foam
Foamed PLA Trays
Depron, from Weert, The Netherlands (a former Hoechst
division) supplies trays of approx. 600 different models for
food packaging, i.e. meat, poultry and vegetable & fruit trays,
for dry, MAP and fresh applications. About 600 million trays
are produced per year. Depron serves the Benelux (market
leader), Germany and France.
First S-Shaped
Loose Fill Made
from Vegetable
Starch
Pelaspan Bio is an innovative new product of
Storopack from Metzingen, Germany. The packaging
chips made of vegetable starch have a resilient S-
shape. Thus the individual chips interlock each other
to form an effective padding around the packaged
product, wedging and consequently locking it in
place. Pelaspan Bio is totally biodegradable and
compostable according to EN 13432 without any risk
of ground water contamination.
Pelaspan Bio was developed by Storopack in the
USA for companies aiming to demonstrate their
environmental credentials with a new alternative
to loose fill made of crude oil based plastic. Based
on the success of the polystyrene version, the aim
was to transfer the benefits of the S-shaped chip
to packaging chips made of vegetable starch. This
entailed engineering work to modify the extruder, as
vegetable starch is conventionally produced only in a
simple cylindrical format. The US team determined
the optimum balance between contour and material
density to ensure that the product demonstrated the
right degree of protective resilience, a good blocking
effect and the capability to withstand high contact
pressure. The product has been available in the
Benelux states for quite a while and is now available
in Germany and France too. Other countries are to
follow.
Currently supplying mainly trays made of extruded and
thermoformed polystyrene, Depron started experimenting
with bio degradables in its laboratories in 2003. The first
trays were thermoformed in 2004. Alternative raw materials
such as potato- or corn starch were tested as well, resulting
in the final decision to pursue the usage of Ingeo raw
material as supplied by NatureWorks in 2005. Reasons
were the good characteristics (stability) of Ingeo during the
thermoforming process and the looks of this new food tray,
from the consumer point of view.
Depron expects a definite change towards bio products /
food trays in the next 10 years, whereby the substitution
rate towards bio degradable / fully compostable products
is difficult to predict at this point in time. “We expect the
start of a new Ingeo product generation to be in the fruit
& vegetable packaging with one of the leading fruitpackers
in Europe,” says Siebe A. Sonnema, General Manager of
Depron, estimating a potential of 120 million trays per year
per 2010. “Depending on the emerging ‘green policy’ at the
major retailers in the Benelux and government fiscal policy
(i.e. tax on packaging material per 2008) the change towards
bio products will be enhanced,” he says.
Depron decided to use NatureWorks’ Ingeo because
besides the excellent features of the material in the extrusion
and thermoform process, the sustenance from NatureWorks
was impressive, regarding among others the Process Guide,
Q&A facilities with engineers, cross references with other
producers experimenting with PLA and very important as
well, the introduction to Fogarty turbo screws, an essential
part supplier of the extruding process as Bas Zeevenhoven,
Head of R&D emphasizes.
www.depron.nl
www.storopack.com
24 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
Foam
Significant Extrusion
Throughput
Rate Increase for
PLA Foam
Flexible Foam Made of
Starch Based Bioplastic
Glycan Biotechnology Co.,Ltd from Jhongli City, Taiwan
offers different starch and cellulose based bioplastics.
Besides grades such as for injection moulding (Glycan JT-030),
extrusion blow moulding (Glycan JT-035, e.g. for tubes, bottles
or toys) or film blowing (Glycan FT-075, e.g. for shopping bags
or garbage bags) the company also has two flexible starch
based materials for foaming in their product portfolio.
Whereas Glycan ET-045 is suitable for making mattresses,
the second type Glycan WT-065 is ideal for shoes and sandals.
“Even if our material is not as strong as EVA or rubber types
usually used it can be applied for sandals, walking- or sport
shoes as Dr. Robin, Technical Director of Glycan Biotechnology
points out. “Shoes and sandals have a natural character,” he
says, “they are lightweight, comfortable and in winter they can
warm up your feet fast.”
Available colours ore rather soft and can of course be
customized. According to Glycan Biotechnology the foam
is an ‘eco-product’ that – in the right environment – shows
biodegradation after 90 days. “And in waste-to-energy plants
the material burns odorless, non-toxic and without any black
smoke,” Dr. Robin adds.
Glycan Biotechnology, who look back to almost 20 years of
development in their laboratories, have signed international
contracts on environmental protection.
“Our goal is to offer products,
services and solutions of ‘green
technology’ that are hightech
with less cost to meet
the customer’s needs for
various applications”, as
stated by Glycan.
www.glycan-biotech.com
Plastic Engineering
Associates Licensing,
Inc. (PEAL), from Boca
Raton, Florida, USA
recently announced new
trial results. The technical
team has increased
the throughput rate for
NatureWorks Ingeo ® biopolymer
(PLA) extruded
foam by an impressive
40% on a 4.5” x 6.0”
tandem extrusion system.
PEAL expects further
and significant throughput
rate increases as the
Turbo-Screws ® technology
continues to advance
the state of the art of Ingeo biopolymer foam extrusion.
Turbo-Screws technology for PLA foam extrusion is
commercially operating and is available & ready for
the foam food packaging industry today. PEAL is a
preferred equipment supplier to NatureWorks LLC
and Turbo-Screws technology has been recognized
by NatureWorks as the preferred technology for foam
extrusion of NatureWorks’ Ingeo biopolymers.
Last November PEAL announced its first European
license of its Turbo-Screws technology foam feed
screws for the production of PLA foam sheet & food
containers. “This licensee is a major player in the
European food packaging industry.” said Dave Fogarty,
president of PEAL. “Our new customer told us they
were unhappy with the quality of the PLA foam food
packaging trays currently being made in Europe. They
saw an opportunity to introduce much higher quality
PLA foam food containers. We are very excited to be
a part of the introduction of PLA foam food containers
into the European market. It’s a real win-win for
both companies.” stated Bill Fogarty, V.P. of Plastic
Engineering Associates Licensing, Inc..
www.turboscrews.com
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4 25
Application News
Salomon Ski-
Boots with
Biobased
Hytrel RS
The collar of the new
Salomon ‘Ghost’ freerider
alpine ski-boot constitutes
one of the first commercial
uses worldwide of DuPont Hytrel ® RS (renewably-sourced)
thermoplastic elastomer. Providing all the traditional performance
characteristics of Hytrel for such a demanding winter sports application
– including impact resistance and flexibility at low temperatures – the
particular grade of Hytrel RS used contains 27 wt % renewably-sourced
material.
Already familiar with the properties of Hytrel the recent launch of
the renewably-sourced grades caught Salomon’s attention as it sought
to increase the environmental credentials of its latest alpine skiboots.
“We already knew Hytrel could offer the required performance
for the collar of our new ‘Ghost’ freerider boots as an alternative to
polyurethane,” confirms Pascal Pallatin, alpine boot & advanced
research project manager at Salomon (Annecy, France). “The fact that
we could now access a grade of the high performance material with
a significant renewable content is an additional selling point for our
boots.”
Hytrel RS thermoplastic elastomers provide all the performance
characteristics of traditional Hytrel materials, while offering a more
environmentally friendly solution than petroleum-based products.
Containing between 20% and 60% renewably-sourced material, Hytrel
RS thermoplastic elastomers are made using renewably-sourced polyol
derived from corn or other renewable source – and are, as moulding
for Salomon confirmed, easily processed by conventional thermoplastic
methods. The properties of Hytrel RS of particular relevance to this
ski-boot collar application include excellent flex fatigue and flexibility
at temperatures as low as -20°C (versus polyurethane) and high impact
resistance. The collar is injection moulded as a single piece and
coloured white using masterbatch. The Salomon ‘Ghost’ motif is added
to the collar using pad printing.
Comprehensive field testing by Salomon freeriders has demonstrated
that Hytrel RS best fulfils all requirements for the ski-boot collar in
terms of elasticity, impact resistance, strength and stiffness. “The
freeriders returned with very positive comments on the boot’s behaviour
at low temperatures as well as its consistent behaviour over a wide
temperature range,” concludes Pascal Pallatin.
New PLA
Clamshell
Especially
Designed
for Pears
At Fruit Logistica, the international trade
fair for fruit and vegetable marketing Berlin,
Germany (4-6 Feb 2009) Italian packaging
manufacturer ILIP from Bologna introduced
a new packaging designed for pears. Made
from PLA, the practical ILIP clamshell
has four pockets which accommodate
the pears, protecting them from bruising,
and is available in two formats, one for
medium-sized fruit (65-75 cm) and one for
larger fruit (75-85 cm). The base has been
designed so that the tray is suspended
above the bottom of the container, to keep
the fruit in a more protected position. Even
the label bearing the Valfrutta brand is
made from PLA, resulting in a package that
is 100% biodegradable.
At the same exhibition an agreement
signed earlier this year between ILIP and
Valfrutta Fresco was announced. As of this
year, all Valfrutta fresh produce will be sold
in fully biodegradable packs, exploiting
the completeness of the ILIP range of
PLA packaging for the fruit and vegetable
sector.
“We are extremely satisfied with this
partnership with Valfrutta,” declared
Riccardo Pianesani, legal representative of
ILPA srl, ILIP Division, “because it allows
us to start 2009 focusing on the issue
which is closest to our hearts, namely
environmental protection, while involving a
leading fruit and vegetable producer in the
use of our eco-compatible materials.”
www.ilip.it
www.valfruttafresco.it
www2.dupont.com/Plastics/en_US/Products/Hytrel/Hytrel.html
www.salomonsports.com
26 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
Application News
In-Mould-
Decorated Thin-
Walled Injection
Moulded Packaging
Europlastiques from Laval, France has invested
many years in collaborative research into
bioplastics from renewable resources. Thus the
company has acquired sound knowledge about their
characteristics and their processing conditions.
This advance enabled the company to select a
compostable bioplastic material (PLA based) suited
for food contact: Together with Biotech (Sphere
Group) Europlastiques developed a material
type and the processing conditions for injection
moulding it into rigid, thin-walled packing.
“Now we are confident that we are without doubt
among the top European companies in thin-walled
injection moulded industrial packaging for the
food industry,” as Benjamin Barberot, Directeur
Industriel of Europlastiques points out.
In addition these new packages can be decorated
by in-mould-labelling (IML), the printed label itself
being a bioplastic material.
The first commercial products using this kind of
‘bio’-materials are just about to be launched to the
market.
“Upstream of our processing efforts, the
agrochemical industry as well as some of the large
petrochemical companies are heavily investing.
Too,” says Benjamin Barberot, “the industry is
intensively researching to find possible alternatives
to fossil materials. And with ‘euroBIO’, Europlast is
contributing its share by optimizing the processing
to best meet the food packaging specifications”
www.europlastiques.com
Plush Chocolates Launch
Fairtrade Chocolates with
Plantic Packaging
Plush Chocolates from Long Compton, UK, a new 100% Fairtrade
company, have just launched their product ranges with ‘eco
friendly’ packaging for their Luxury Fairtrade English and Belgian
Chocolate collections, made possible through Plantic’s sustainable
polymer technology.
Plush Chocolates are known for being made using the finest
Fairtrade ingredients. Plush Chocolates chose the Plantic ® tray,
made from non-GM high amylose corn starch, for its unique
combination of functional and environmental benefits. The
compostable Plantic trays have a renewable resource content of
approximately 85% and offer anti-static and odour barrier solutions,
essential for chocolate packaging.
Plush Chocolates wanted their packaging to do three things:
reflect the high quality of the chocolates inside by being desirable,
tasty and good-looking; show that chocolates made with Fairtrade
ingredients can be just as exciting and dynamic as other products;
and be ethically sound. Plantic packaging ensured all of these
requirements were upheld.
In commenting, Sarah Hobbs, Joint Founding Director said,
“We are so excited about our ‘eco-friendly’ trays and proud to
be among the first people in the UK to sell chocolates in trays
made from Plantic. What is particularly impressive about Plantic
packaging is that it can be disposed of in a home compost and its
energy requirement is approximately half that of petrochemical
polymers.”
Brendan Morris, Chief Executive Officer, Plantic Technologies,
commented, “We are pleased that Plush have chosen to use
Plantic biodegradable packaging for their chocolate trays. In
doing so, Plush are actively leading the way in sustainable-driven
technology, demonstrating their strong commitment to reducing
waste and waste management costs, while providing function and
performance to their customers”.
www.plushchocolates.co.uk.
www.plantic.com.au
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4 27
Politics
Biodegradability...
Article contributed by
Ramani Narayan
University Distinguished Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science
Michigan State University,
East Lansing, MI, USA
Biodegradability is an end-of-life option that allows
one to harness the power of microorganisms
present in the selected disposal environment to
completely remove plastic products designed for biodegradability
from the environmental compartment via the
microbial food chain in a timely, safe, and efficacious
manner.
Because it is an end-of-life option, and harnesses
microorganisms present in the selected disposal
environment, one must clearly identify the ‘disposal
environment’ when discussing or reporting on the
biodegradability of a product – like biodegradability under
composting conditions (compostable plastic), under
soil conditions, under anaerobic conditions (anaerobic
digestors, landfills), or under marine conditions.
Specifying time to complete biodegradation or put in
a better way time to complete microbial assimilation of
the test plastic in the selected disposal environment is an
essential requirement – so stating that it will eventually
biodegrade or it is partially biodegradable or it is
degradable is not acceptable.
High school or college biology/biochemistry teaches
that microorganisms utilize/consume carbon substrates
by transporting the material inside its cell, oxidizing the
carbon to CO 2 , which releases energy that it harnesses
for its life processes (discussed in more detail later in
the paper). So a measure of the evolved CO 2 is a direct
measure of the ability of the microorganisms present in
that disposal environment to utilize the carbon plastic
product.
Unfortunately, there is a growing number of
misleading, deceptive, and scientifically unsubstantiated
biodegradability claims proliferating in the marketplace.
This is causing confusion and skepticism among
consumers, end-users, and other concerned stakeholders
– in turn this is bound to hurt not only the fledgling
bioplastics industry, but the plastics industry as a whole.
Some examples of manufacturer’s product claims are
shown below – the direct quotes from the manufacturer’s
web site or product brochure are shown in italics.
Biodegradable PVC product claim
“Biodegradation process begins only when the bio PVC
film is introduced into an environment (compost, both
commercial and home, trash dump, the ground, lakes, rivers
and the ocean) that allows microorganisms, which break
down matter, to come into constant contact with the bio PVC
film. Once that happens the ‘special ingredients’ attract the
microorganisms that begin to break the hydrogen carbon
chain that exists in the PVC. Once the chain is broken, this
allows oxygen to enter which will attach itself to the hydrogen
and carbon creating H 2 O and CO 2 . The lone chlorine atom
bonds to a hydrogen atom creating a very weak salt that
does not have any adverse effect on the ecosystem. The
biodegradation process works in both aerobic and anaerobic
conditions. So the absence of oxygen or water will not keep
the bio PVC film from biodegrading. All that is needed are the
microorganisms”
There is no scientific data provided to substantiate
the complete breakdown and utilization of the PVC by
the microorganisms present in the disposal system
resulting in CO 2 and water as claimed. Furthermore, the
proposed mechanistic chemistry describing the process
would not pass muster in a high school honors chemistry
classroom. However, a major corporation has adopted
the biodegradable PVC card as an environmentally
responsible ‘green’ solution because it is claimed to be
‘biodegradable’.
Biodegradable PET product claim
“By having a more earth friendly PET biodegradable
container and becoming a partner in helping to develop
effective recycling programs, we can stem the rising tide
of plastic pollution and leave our world a better place for
future generations. Our bottles are 100% biodegradable in
anaerobic (no oxygen, no light), aerobic and compostable
environments and can be intermingled with standard PET
during recycling. Our patented pending process allows our
bottles to be metabolized and neutralized in the environment,
turning them into inert humus (biomass), biogas (anaerobic)
or CO 2 (aerobic)”
Again, no scientific data showing the 100% carbon
conversion to biogas in an anaerobic environment or CO 2
in an aerobic environment using well established standard
test methods in literature whether from the OECD, ISO,
ASTM, or EN was presented.
28 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
Politics
Sorting through Facts
and Claims
Oxo-biodegradable polyethylene (PE) film claims
”The technology is based on a very small amount of
prodegradant additive being introduced into the manufacturing
process, thereby changing the behavior of the plastic and the
rate at which it degrades. The plastic does not just fragment,
but is then consumed by bacteria and fungi and therefore
continues to degrade to nothing more than carbon dioxide,
water and biomass with no toxic or harmful residues to soil,
plants or macro-organisms”.
“Designed to interact with the microorganisms present
in landfills, composters, and almost everywhere in nature
including oceans, lakes, and forests. These microorganism
metabolize the molecular structure of the plastic breaking it
down into soil”.
“Combined with an oxo-biodegradable proprietary
application method to produce films for bags. This product,
when discarded in soil in the presence of microorganisms,
moisture, and oxygen, biodegrades, decomposing into simple
materials found in nature. Completely breakdown in a landfill
environment in 12-24 months leaving no residue or harmful
toxins and have a shelf life of 2 years”.
In each of the above cases no scientific data showing
carbon conversion to CO 2 using established standard test
methods is documented.
Another company claims a biodegradable plastic based
on an additive technology different from the oxo-degradable
additive class. Their claims reads “Plastic products with
our additives at 1% levels will fully biodegrade in 9 months
to 5 years wherever they are disposed like composting, or
landfills under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions”.
However, the graph of percent biodegradation against
time in days shows the biodegradation curve reaching a
plateau around 20% using a 50% additive master batch. In
the final film samples, the recommended level of additive
is only 1%. So the observed 20% would be even lower.
However, the claim is made that “the results of the aerobic
biodegradation tests, indicate, that in time, plastics produced
using the 1% additive will fully biodegrade.”
There are many more such examples of misleading
claims. Several offer weight loss and other chemical
evidence for the break down of the polymer into
fragments. However, little or no evidence is offered
that these fragments are completely consumed by the
microorganisms present in the disposal environment in a
reasonable defined time period. In a few cases evidence
presented shows partial biodegradation, after which the
biodegradation curve plateaus. However, if one obtains
only 5% or 30% or even 40% biodegradation, there is
serious health and environmental consequences caused
by the non-degraded fragments as it moves through eco
compartments as discussed later.
Fundamental Principles in Biodegradable Plastics
Microorganisms (billions of them per gram of soil)
are present in the environment. Figure 1 shows a low
temperature electron micrograph of a cluster of E. Coli
bacteria. Designing plastics and products to be completely
consumed (as food) by such microorganisms present in
the disposal environment in a short time frame is a safe
and environmentally responsible approach for the end-oflife
of these single use, short-life disposable packaging
and consumer articles. The key phrase is ‘complete ‘
– if they are not completely utilized, then these degraded
fragments, which may even be invisible to the naked eye,
pose serious environmental consequences.
Microorganisms utilize the carbon product to extract
chemical energy for their life processes. They do so by:
1. breaking the material (carbohydrates, carbon product)
into small molecules by secreting enzymes or the
environment (temperature, humidity, sunlight) does it.
2. Transporting the small molecules inside the
microorganisms cell.
3. Oxidizing the small molecules (again inside the cell) to
CO 2 and water, and releasing energy that is utilized by
the microorganisms for its life processes in a complex
biochemical process involving participation of three
metabolically interrelated processes (tricarboxylic
acid cycle, electron transport, and oxidative
phosphorylation).
Figure 1 (Source: http://emu.arsusda.gov/)
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4 29
Politics
Unfortunately, all the focus is on demonstrating the
break down or degradation of the carbon product (like
weight loss, or oxidation levels) but no data on how much
and in what time frame did the microorganisms present
in the disposal environment consume the carbon food.
This is how it gets misused and abused – by focusing only
on the degradation but no data showing the utilization
of the fragments by the microorganisms present in the
disposal environment. Break down (decomposition) by
non-biological processes or even biological processes,
generates fragments that is utilized by the microorganisms,
but also leaves behind fragments (and in some cases 50-
80% of the original weight) which in many cases has been
shown to be detrimental and toxic to the ecosystem.
This constitutes only degradation/fragmentation, and
not biodegradation. As will be shown later, hydrophobic
polymer fragments pose great risk to the environment,
unless the degraded fragments are completely consumed
as food and energy source by the microorganisms present
in the disposal system in a very short period (one year)
that is the degraded fragments must be completely
removed from the environment by safely entering into the
food chain of the microorganisms.
Measurement of Biodegradability
Microorganisms use the carbon substrates to extract
chemical energy that drives their life processes by
aerobic oxidation of glucose and other readily utilizable C-
substrates:
C - substrate + 6O 2
→ 6CO 2
+ 6H 2
O, ∆G 0 = - 686 kcal/mol
(CH 2
O) x
; x = 6
Thus, a measure of the rate and amount of CO 2 evolved
in the process is a direct measure of the amount and rate
of microbial utilization (biodegradation) of the C-polymer.
This forms the basis for various international standards
for measuring biodegradability or microbial utilization
of the test polymer/plastics. Thus, one can measure the
rate and extent of biodegradation or microbial utilization
of the test plastic material by using it as the sole added
carbon source in a test system containing a microbially
rich matrix like compost in the presence of air and under
optimal temperature conditions (preferably at 58°C
– representing the thermophilic phase). Figure 2 shows
a typical graphical output that would be obtained if one
were to plot the percent carbon from the plastic that is
converted to CO 2 as a function of time in days. First, a lag
phase during which the microbial population adapts to the
available test C-substrate. Then, the biodegradation phase
during which the adapted microbial population begins to
utilize the carbon substrate for its cellular life processes,
as measured by the conversion of the carbon in the test
material to CO 2 . Finally, the output reaches a plateau when
utilization of the substrate is largely complete. Standards
such as ASTM D 6400 (see also D 6868), EN 13432, ISO
17088 etc. are based on this principle.
The fundamental requirements of these world-wide
standards discussed above for complete biodegradation
under composting conditions are:
1. Conversion to CO 2 , water & biomass via microbial
assimilation of the test polymer material in powder,
film, or granule form.
2. 90% conversion of the carbon in the test polymer to CO 2 .
The 90% level set for biodegradation in the test accounts
for a +/- 10% statistical variability of the experimental
measurement; in other words, there is an expectation
for demonstration of virtually complete biodegradation
in the composting environment of the test.
3. Same rate of biodegradation as natural materials –
leaves, paper, grass & food scraps
4. Time – 180 days or less; (ASTM D6400 also has the
requirement that if radiolabeled polymer is used and the
radiolabeled evolved CO 2 is measured then the time can
be extended to 365 days).
Two further requirements are also of importance :
Disintegration -
Politics
% C conversion to CO 2
(% biodegradation)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
lag
phase
biodegradation degree
biodegradation phase
plateau phase
Polymer chains with
susceptible linkages
Environment - soil,
compost,waste water
plant, marine
Hydrolytic
oxidative
Enzymatic
Oligomers & polymer fragments
Complete
microbial
assimilation
defined time
frame, no
residues!!!
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Time (days)
Figure 2: Test method to measure the rate and extent of
microbial utilization (biodegradation) of biodegradable plastics
Figure 3: Complete biodegradation
CO 2
+ H 2
O + Cell biomass
concentrate these chemicals, resulting in a toxic legacy in
a form that may pose risks in the environment. Japanese
researchers (Mato et al., 2001) have similarly reported
that PCBs, DDE, and nonylphenols (NP) can be detected
in high concentrations in degraded polypropylene (PP)
resin pellets collected from four Japanese coasts. This
work indicates that plastic residues may act as a transport
medium for toxic chemicals in the marine environment.
Therefore, designing hydrophobic polyolefin plastics,
like polyethylene (PE) to be degradable, without ensuing
that the degraded fragments are completely assimilated
by the microbial populations in the disposal infrastructure
in a short time period, has the potential to harm the
environment more than if it was not made degradable.
These concepts are illustrated in Figure 3 which shows
that heat, moisture, sunlight and/or enzymes shorten
and weaken polymer chains, resulting in fragmentation
of the plastic and some cross-linking creating more
intractable persistent residues. It is even possible to
accelerate the breakdown of the plastics in a controlled
fashion to generate these fragments, some of which could
be microscopic and invisible to the naked eye. However,
this degradation/fragmentation is not biodegradation per
see and these degraded, hydrophobic polymer fragments
pose potential risks in the environment unless they are
completely assimilated by the microbial populations
present in the disposal system in a relatively short period.
Summary
The take home message is very simple --
Biodegradability is an end-of-life option for single
use disposable, packaging, and consumer plastics
that harnesses microbes to completely utilize the
carbon substrate and remove it from the environmental
compartment -- entering into the microbial food chain.
However, biodegradability must be defined and constrained
by the following elements:
• The disposal system – composting, anaerobic digestor,
soil, marine.
• Time required for complete microbial utilization in the
selected disposal environment – short defined time
frame, and in the case of composting the time frame is
defined as 180 days or less.
• Complete utilization of the substrate carbon by
the microorganisms as measured by the evolved
CO 2 (aerobic) and CO 2 + CH 4 (anaerobic) leaving no
residues.
• Degradability, partial biodegradability, or will eventually
biodegrade is not an option! – Serious health and
environmental consequences can occur as documented
in literature.
• Measured quantitatively by established International,
and National Standard Specifications -- ASTM D6400
for composting environment, ASTM D6868 for coatings
on paper substrates in composting environment, ASTM
D7081 marine environment, European specification,
EN13432 for compostable packaging, and International
ISO 17088 for composting environment.
• If other disposal environments like landfills, anaerobic
digestor, soil, and marine are specified, then data
must be provided showing time required for complete
biodegradation using established standardized ASTM,
ISO, EN, OECD methods.
• All stakeholders should review biodegradability claims
against ‘data’ and if necessary use a third party
independent laboratory to verify and validate the data
using established standardized test methods and
specifications, and based on the fundamental principles
and concepts outlined in this paper.
narayan@msu.edu
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4 31
Politics
Life Cycle Assessment
Extract from a Position Paper
of European Bioplastics e.V.
Berlin, Germany
of Bioplastics
Introduction
Topics such as sustainable development, fossil and
natural resources availability, global climate change and
waste reduction are increasingly dominating political
and industrial agendas. Therefore, the relevance of the
environmental performance of processes, products
and services in decision-making is rapidly growing. The
relatively new group of materials called bioplastics 1 does
offer new opportunities to contribute to these debates.
A wide range of bioplastics is currently available on the
market. (…)
This growing market has also led to an increasing
interest in the sustainability 1 of these new materials. (…)
The key measurement tool to assess products’
or services’ environmental impact is the Life Cycle
Assessment (LCA). Through LCA it is possible to account
for all the environmental impacts associated with a
product or service, covering all stages in a product’s life,
from the extraction of resources to ultimate disposal. LCA
is the tool that allows measurement of and reporting on
current impacts, alternative scenarios and improvements
achieved.
LCA can provide data:
• to improve the general understanding of the life cycle
of products;
• to substantiate environmental and economical decisions
concerning e.g. process and products improvements,
selection of products or services, selection of feedstock,
energy carriers and raw materials, and selection of
production locations and waste management systems;
• for corporate environmental and waste management
policies as well as for regulatory and legislative
measurements;
• on how to position (promote) products in the market;
• to the users and the final consumers to enable them to
make more informed choices; and
1: for a definition, please refer to the Glossary on pages 46 f
• which is necessary for the identification and steering of
future developments.
32 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
Politics
LCA results are increasingly being considered as a key
input in decision making processes, therefore European
Bioplastics has taken this opportunity to outline its
position on the LCA tool and its relationship to bioplastics
as follows.
European Bioplastics supports LCA and Life Cycle
Thinking
European Bioplastics supports LCA and Life Cycle
Thinking in order to promote, quantify and substantiate
the environmental sustainability of products. It is crucial to
take the complete product life cycle into account, because
products may have totally different environmental impacts
during different stages of their life cycle. Life Cycle Thinking
(LCT) is concerned with analysing complete systems and
avoiding problems being shifted from one life cycle stage
to another, from one geographic area to another and from
one environmental medium to another.
LCA provides data to allow better informed
decisions, but being a complex tool it needs careful
and knowledgeable use
LCA is a tool to assess products and generates one of
the many inputs in decision making processes. Despite
the existence of ISO standards, the number of degrees of
freedom for conducting LCAs remains significant. During
a study the LCA practitioner has to make many choices
and define criteria which can significantly influence the
final results.
LCA also has a clear subjective dimension: its results
always require a weighing of the impact category scores
and a final interpretation of the results.
LCA is a vital tool, but when using it as a basis for
decisions it is necessary to keep in mind its limitations and
partly subjective character. LCA enables substantiation
and justification of a decision, but never delivers the ‘final
result’ or the decision itself.
Despite these limitations LCA is the most comprehensive
and reliable tool available to assess the environmental
performance of products or services.
Besides the outcome of the LCA, it is advised to also
consider other aspects in the life cycle of products such
as safety, consumer use and hygiene.
‘LCA derived measures’ in politics or legislation as well
as strong media statements on individual LCA results can
have a significant impact on economic or social systems
as well as for companies. It is very important that all
available information is taken into account and not simply
a discrete result of one single LCA. The complexity of the
issue – as outlined in this paper - does not allow simple
conclusions.
Industry should be involved in LCA studies
Experts from industry should be involved in LCA studies
from an early stage. They are able to deliver specific
knowledge and insights that external experts need in
order to conduct the LCA in a correct manner. This also
applies to the bioplastics sector.
‘THE’ life cycle assessment of bioplastics does not
exist
There is no such thing as ‘THE Life cycle assessment
of bioplastics’. LCA applies to specified products (goods
and services), taking into consideration their complete
life cycle. The final conclusions about the environmental
performance of bioplastic applications depend on
many different parameters. These include the type of
bioplastics used, the raw materials used, the production
and conversion technology, the product, transport media
and distances and the consumer use phase as well as the
used waste collection and disposal or recycling system(s).
There are no simple answers. It is not possible to make
generalisations such as “bioplastics are better or worse
than other materials”.
The optimisation potential for bioplastics is huge.
This potential should be included in the LCA,
otherwise it becomes a tool which tends to hinder
innovation
Bioplastics are still in their early stage of development.
They are produced in small scale or singular facilities and
transport, conversion, product design and final disposal
are not being optimised. They are however quite often
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4 33
Politics
compared with mature materials whose life cycles have
been optimised over several decades. This often leads to a
biased comparison.
LCA practitioners should always include possible
optimization steps for innovative materials. By not including
future outlooks for new materials, LCA is becoming a tool,
which tends to hinder innovation in its early stage. This
has never been the intention of this tool.
It is the key responsibility of the LCA practitioner to
provide a balanced view. It is also recommended that the
final user of the LCA results check whether improvement
options have been taken into account. (…)
‘Newcomers’ are often scrutinized, while existing
materials are often much less questioned. This
should be more balanced in LCAs
New materials and products derived from them, such
as bioplastics are often closely scrutinized, while many
existing products ‘on the shelf’ are much less thoroughly
examined. Within their life cycle bioplastics are often
‘put under the microscope’ while the impact of e.g. oil
or gas production is often modelled using fewer details
(using data from generic databases) or sometimes totally
ignored (accidents with oil tankers and their impact on
the environment). A more balanced approach is required.
European Bioplastics recognizes that novel products
require careful analysis, but mature and young innovative
products should be compared on an equal basis.
Comparative product LCAs should ensure that only
products with the same function are compared
One of the key preconditions in comparative LCAs is
that only products which have exactly the same function
in the market place are compared – an aspect of LCA
which is often underestimated. Only packaging for the
same product and for the same delivery system may be
compared. Sometimes in LCA studies generic categories
of packaging are compared with no attention to their
functions.
Renewable carbon accounting should form part of
an LCA
Bioplastics using renewable feedstock do offer an
intrinsic reduced carbon footprint depending on the amount
of renewable carbon in the product. Biobased plastics
use renewable or biogenic carbon as a building block.
This biogenic carbon is captured from the atmosphere
by plants during the growth process and converted into
the required raw materials. When the product is being
incinerated at the end of its useful life, the biogenic carbon
is returned to the atmosphere – or in other words, cycled
in a closed biogenic CO 2
loop, referred to as being carbonneutral.
Therefore the term ‘carbon-neutral’ only refers to
the biogenic carbon.
Automatic consideration of bioplastics as ‘carbonneutral’
and consequently leaving out the biogenic carbon
from the life cycle inventory is not supported for many
reasons. (…)
Hence biogenic carbon must be considered in a LCA,
just like any other input or output and not be omitted from
the study.
Bioplastics offer new recovery and final disposal
options. LCA can help to evaluate these new
options
Bioplastics can be treated in many different waste
management systems such as energy recovery,
mechanical recycling, composting, anaerobic digestion
and chemical recycling. This means that bioplastics can
offer more recovery options than traditional products that
are not suitable for composting. As with any material,
landfill should be avoided since this represents a loss of
useful material and energy.
The optimum choice depends on various factors such
as the composition of the bioplastic, the application, the
volume on the market and the available (from a technical
and legislative point of view) regional waste management
infrastructure for collection and processing. Therefore the
end of life of bioplastics can be rather complex and LCA
should provide the required information to make the best
choice.
The selected recovery or final disposal option will
influence the outcome of an LCA. Therefore it has to be
set up most carefully, also considering possible indirect
beneficial effects. These include for instance, the possibility
of obtaining homogeneous organic waste streams
suitable for organic recycling in the case of compostable
bioplastics, or the possi-bility of producing green energy
in the case of incineration of renewable bioplastics.
LCA is an analytical tool, not a communication tool
LCA is a good tool with which to assess the environmental
performance of products. However, it is too complex to use to
communicate the environmental performance of products
to final consumers. The ‘translation and interpretation’
of the outcome of LCAs into environmental messages,
which are commonly understandable calls for other tools.
This is an extract of the Position Paper. (…) indicates
where paragraphs had to be dropped for space reasons.
The full text of this Position Paper can be downloaded
from
www.european-bioplastics.org/media/files/docs/en-pub/
LCA_PositionPaper.pdf
34 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
Mark your calendar !
2 nd PLA Bottle
Conference
14-16 September 2009
Munich, Germany
Holiday Inn City Centre
At the same time
as drinktec 2009
Stay updated at
www.pla-bottle-conference.com
Call for papers
contact: mt@bioplasticsmagazine.com
From Science & Research
Article contributed by
Toby Heppenstall, Lucite Intl.,
Southampton, UK
The availability of
fermentable carbohydrate
as a feedstock for bio-based platform chemicals and bioplastics
Price [€/t]
Many chemicals and plastics manufacturers are
beginning to consider the opportunities presented
by Industrial Biotechnology; the biosynthesis
of bulk and fine chemicals mainly by fermentation processes
from renewable agricultural feedstocks.
Due to the widespread commercial interest in
bioethanol, much has been written about feedstock type
and availability forecasts. In general however, studies have
estimated feedstock quantities by computing ‘necessary
amounts’ from demand-side projections. A new study
by a manager in the chemical industry attempts for the
first time to derive a supply-side view of the availability
in Europe of fermentable feedstocks for the biosynthetic
industries.
Quantitative results are provided by two models developed
for the study. The first is an interactive model of potential
surplus cereal supply (including straw) based on gross
shifts in population and land usage. The second is a supply
curve for Miscanthus, a potential ‘energy crop’ feedstock
for second generation lignocellulosic fermentation. The
Miscanthus supply curve is based upon a cost model over
the whole production cycle (perennial grass crops have
very different economics to annual arable crops). Input
variables include the opportunity cost of land in different
parts of Europe, and critically, the achievable yield on
€160,00
€ 120,00
€ 80,00
€ 40,00
2.36m ha
€ 0,00
0 50.000
Figure 1, Supply
curve for Miscanthus
in Europe, with lower
section magnified.
Price [€/t]
€ 80,00
€ 70,00
€60,00 Supply Quantity / ktes
€ 50,00
30m ha
2.36m ha
2.36m ha
€ 40,00
0 10.000 20.000 30.000 40.000 50.000
Supply Quantity [t]
different qualities of land 1 . The resulting minimum entry
price for cultivation in each region can be plotted against
cumulative quantity resulting in a supply curve as below.
The supply curve derived is consistent with the
current situation. With current prices just above €40/t,
the maximum that can afford to be paid by the power
generation industry, it is unsurprising that little more
than ‘research and development’ quantities have been
brought into cultivation in Europe. This result also
provides independent support for the commonly held view
that in the current paradigm at least; Miscanthus has
the potential to become a minor crop but not a leading
agricultural commodity.
To make predictions, these models must be placed in
some sort of context. The majority of platform chemicals
relevant to bioplastics will be produced by fermentation
and as such only fermentable feedstocks were the subject
of this study. However, the economic driver for the sector
will be the production of liquid transport fuel. The lion’s
share of output from biorefineries will be biofuels.
Therefore the mix of feedstocks available to fermentation
buyers will be determined by the optimum input for the
biofuel production process that becomes dominant,
whether or not this process is fermentation.
Framing the uncertainty in this
way sheds light on the issue from the
perspective of technological evolution.
Recognising that industrial biosynthesis
is in a period of intense and uncertain
technological upheaval, a battle for
dominance is underway. The key defining
element for all players is the dominant
design of the fuel biorefining process and
the widely accepted theory of dominant
design postulates that only one of these
processes will ultimately prevail.
Using this insight, three plausible
scenarios are derived, based on the
mutually exclusive dominance of either
2nd generation (lignocellulosic) ethanol,
2nd generation biodiesel (derived from a
36 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
From Science & Research
low cost and low impact oil such as algae), and thermodynamic syndiesel. A fourth
scenario of low oil price was also considered, in which progress to ‘2nd generation’
technology biofuels is entirely absent.
Principal Biorefinery
Process
Crude
Price
HIGH
LOW
Fermentation
Dominant
‘Gasohol’
Scenario
Esterification
Dominant
‘The Algae Age‘
Scenario
‘Technology Stagnation’ Scenario
Thermochemical
Dominant
‘Synfuels’ Scenario
Figure 2: Interplay of the three Critical Uncertainties in the scenario structure
The econometric models are then tailored to each scenario: For example in
the gasohol scenario, the vast demand for carbohydrate for fermentation would
drive increased supply of both 1st generation (starchy) and 2nd generation (grassy)
crops. Assumptions are made for incorporation into the supply models, about
resulting shifts in land availability and usage, and government policy support for
growers in this context.
The resulting output suggests that an aggregate supply of between 43 and
175 million tonnes (depending on the scenario) of fermentable carbohydrate 2 is
feasible. These quantities represent an equivalent amount of ethanol to replace
between 7 and 20% of all transport fuel and would be sufficient to supply likely
total demand for bio-bulk chemicals, between eight times and forty times over.
SCENARIO Miscanthus Straw Surplus
Cereal
Others-Sugar
Others - Ryegrass
Total
‘Gasohol’ 89.7 M 55.7 M 25.7 M 9.3 M 180.4 M
‘Algae Age’ 55.7 M 13.6 M minor 68.8
‘Synfuels’ 20.9 M 55.7 M 13.6 M 90.2 M
‘Tech Stagnation’ 22 M 21.7 M 43.7 M
Figure 3: Total Supply of fermentable carbohydrate (not tonnes of commmodity) in
each scenario
As a digression it is interesting to consider the maximum purchase prices that
might be feasible for Miscanthus, depending on the relevant end-use industry
in the different scenarios; bioethanol, bio-bulk chemicals, and thermochemical.
Theoretical price points can be derived from the market price of the relevant
end-product, taking account of total production cost in each case and the cost
proportion of the feedstock. Price points are overlaid as ‘demand functions’ on the
Miscanthus supply curve as below:
Price [€/]
€100,00
€ 90,00
€ 80,00
€70,00
€ 60,00
€ 50,00
€ 40,00
€ 30,00
0 10.000 20.000 30.000 40.000 50.000 60.000 70.000 80.000 90.000 100.000
Supply Quantity / kt
Poss Price for Bulk Chems
Figure 4: Supply curve for Miscanthus in Europe with price points
Max Price for Bioethanol
(benchmark current ethanol)
Max Price for Thermochemical (benchmark diesel, oil at $126/bbl)
Max Price for Bioethanol (benchmark petrol, oil at $126/bbl)
Price to POWER Industry
Other conclusions from the MBA thesis as well as a list of references can be
found at www.bioplasticsmagazine.de/200901
1: The author is indebted to John Clifton
Brown of IGER, Aberystwyth UK for
sharing raw yield data of Miscanthus
for all NUTS2 administrative regions in
the EU. Cultivation cost data is based
on primary research with Miscanthus
producers in th UK in 2008.
2: Note the unit mass of fermentable
carbohydrate. Different feedstock crops
have different carbohydrate content.
The assumption is made that 1 tonne
of plant carbohydrate (Starch, cellulose,
or hemiocellulose) yields 1 tonne
fermentable sugar (glucose, sucrose,
dextrose, xylose), which is a little crude
but holds theoretically true.
The author is not an economist nor a
professional research scientist. This
article summarises an MBA thesis
which drew on the body of existing
literature on industrial biosynthesis
as well as primary research with
supply-side industry professionals.
The analysis is original. The author’s
intention is to add information and
stimulate discussion in the area, not to
claim absolute accuracy.
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4 37
Basics
Basics of PLA
Figure 1: Methods of PLA Recycling
Total Fossil Energy [GJ/ t plastic]
Industrial composting
•
•
Article contributed* by
Dr. Rainer Hagen,
Vice President and Product Manager,
Uhde Inventa-Fischer GmbH,
Berlin, Germany
Most attractive method of disposal based on public acceptance
No recovery of material and energy
Mechanical recycling
•
•
Loss of product properties cannot be recovered
‘Downcycling’
Burning (energy recycling)
• Recovers ‘green energy’
Chemical recycling
•
•
Back into polymerisation
Collecting and sorting to be solved yet
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
fossil fuel
PA 6
fossil raw material
HDPE
Source: M. Patel, R. Narayan, in Natural Fibers, Biopolymers and Biocomposites, A.
Mohanty, M. Misra, L. Drzal, Taylor & Francis Group, 2005, Boca Raton.
PET
Figure 2: Consumption of Fossil Resources by PLA vs.
Polymers from Fossil Feedstock - ‘cradle to gate’
PLA
Introduction
Polylactide or Polylactic Acid (PLA) is a synthetic, aliphatic
polyester from lactic acid. For industrial applications, such
as fibres, films and bottles, the chain length n should be
between 700 and 1400. This is significantly higher than
with partially aromatic polyesters like PET and PBT where
n is between 100 and 200. Therefore, the requirements on
both raw material purity and technical effort are much
higher.
At temperatures below its glass transition point (e.g.
55°C, depending on comonomer content) PLA is as stable
as PET or PBT. Only in an industrial composting facility,
the high temperature (60°C) and humidity required for the
hydrolysis are achieved. After hydrolysis, PLA is biologically
degradable by common micro-organisms. Lactic acid, the
monomer building block of PLA can frequently be found
in plants and animals as a by-product or intermediate
product of metabolism. Lactic acid is non-toxic.
Non-depleting properties of PLA
Lactic acid can be industrially produced from a number
of starch or sugar containing agricultural products.
Competition between human food, industrial lactic acid
and PLA production is not to be expected: For example,
using PLA as substitute for 5% of the German packaging
plastics consumption requires only 0.5% (sugar beet)
to 1.25% (wheat) of the agricultural area available. At
the same time, approximately 30% of the available area
lies fallow mainly for economic reasons. Research is in
progress on processes and micro-organisms that produce
lactic acid from cellulose coming from agricultural
residues such as maize stalks or straw.
Several recycling methods can be applied to waste PLA
(Fig. 1). Composting allows only moderate benefits. In
future, sorting, purification of PLA waste and re-feeding
into the polymerisation plant seems to be the most
attractive way of recovery.
PLA – like other biopolymers – is often criticised for the
need of process energy from fossil resources. Even if this
is the case at present, 1 kg of PLA represents less energy
equivalents than 1 kg of polymers from petrochemical
38 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
Basics
feedstock (Fig. 2). Consequently, PLA producers can also
reap financial benefits by trading CO 2 emission certificates
(Fig. 3).
If process energy is supplied by biomass, e.g. biogas,
the fossil energy required for 1 kg PLA can be cut by half,
thus duplicating the benefits from trading CO 2 emission
certificates. Additionally, significant potential exists
for saving process energy by improving lactic acid and
polymerisation technologies.
Process Routes to PLA
Several Process Routes have been developed or are
practised on industrial scale: Ring Opening Polymerisation
(ROP), Direct Polycondensation in high boiling solvents
(DP S), and Direct Polymerisation in bulk followed by chain
extension with reactive additives.
ROP is the route which delivers by far the highest
proportion of PLA chips available on the market. The
other routes produce only minor amounts or did not get
past the pilot scale. Figure 4 depicts the steps of a ROP
process, starting from lactic acid. In the first part lactide
is formed, which – after fine purification – is converted by
ROP to PLA.
Processing of PLA
A major advantage of PLA is the possibility to process
the polymer on common process equipment. Especially
the converters of polyolefins do not require a change
to other process equipment. They only need to change
the handling of granulate. It is very important to dry the
polymer before processing otherwise it will degrade.
Water and high temperatures (up to 240°C) facilitate fast
degradation.
PLA is a polymer which can be processed by:
• injection moulding
• sheet extrusion
• extrusion blow moulding
• thermoforming
• stretch blow moulding
• injection stretch blow moulding
• fibre spinning
• non woven spinning, spun bonding
Properties of PLA
PLA is a crystal clear, transparent material when
amorphous that becomes the hazier the higher the
crystallinity. Crystallized material is opaque. When
producing lactide, meso-lactide is formed as a by-product.
It is difficult to separate the meso-lactide from the L-
lactide in the purification step. When polymerizing L-
[kg CO 2 eq/kg]
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
PA 6
HDPE
Source: M. Patel, R.N arayan, in Natural Fibers, Biopolymers and Biocomposites, A.
Mohanty , M. Misra , L. Drzal, Taylor & Francis Group, 2005, Boca Raton.
Figure 3: CO 2 Emissions by PLA vs. polymers from fossil
feedstock - ‘cradle to gate’
Water to
Hydrolysis
Purge
Concentrated Lactic Acid
Oligomers
Pre-polymer
Crude Lactide
Highly Purified Lactide
Polylactide with Monomer
Lactic Acid
Figure 5: Ring opening Polymerisation
PET
Evaporation/Distillation
Pre-condensation
Formation of Cyclic Dimer
Lactide Purification
Ring Opening Polymerisation
Demonomerisation/Stabilisation
Polylactide
see Fig. 5
Figure 4: Steps of a PLA Process with Ring
Opening Polymerisation
PLA
Water,
Lactic Acid
Dilactide
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4 39
Basics
Table 1: Properties of PLA Types
Type T m
T g
σ n
E b
PLLA 160-180 °C 55-65 °C 45-55 Mpa 3-5 %
PL / DLA 55 °C 50-200 %
sc PLA 220-230 °C 60 °C 3-5 %
sbc PLA 185-195 °C 55 °C 5-10 %
T m - melting temperature
T g - glass transition temperature
E b - elongation at break
σ n - tensile strength at break
lactide with small contents of meso-lactide a co-polymer
is formed. Increasing meso-lactide leads to decreasing
crystallinity. With more than 10-15% meso-lactide the
polymer is amorphous.
By varying the amount of meso-lactide the properties of
the polymer can be adjusted for specific applications.
One of the reasons for the limited consumption of PLA
up to now is the low thermal resistance. The Tg (glass
transition temperature) is about 55°C depending on
comonomer content to a small extent (Table 1).
Methods of improving thermal resistance are to prepare
a stereo complex (sc PLA) or a stereo-block copolymer
(sbc PLA). Melting point and heat distortion temperature
(HDT) will increase significantly.
Improving the thermal properties can extend the
applications of PLA considerably in the future.
There are also various additives that improve the
properties of PLA with respect to impact strength, melt
viscosity, HDT, crystallinity etc.
Perspective
PLA combines all prerequisites of sustainability with
important properties of well established polymers.
Applications have already been found in many niches of
packaging and textile products. Within those niches fast
growth of consumption is expected to continue depending
on the availability of PLA polymer.
High research activity is dedicated to overcome typical
weaknesses of PLA – low impact strength and low heat
distortion temperature – and to develop tailor-made
PLA grades in order to serve special applications. These
activities will conquer new niches for PLA and will help to
increase PLA consumption at high velocity.
Other growth factors are the availability and prices of
crude oil, agricultural products and production plants and
technology.
Within the foreseeable future PLA will not become a
commodity polymer like PE, PP, PS – this is considered to
be an advantage both for PLA producers and converters.
However, this could change in the long term.
www.thyssenkrupp.com
*: The article is based on a contribution to a book, submitted
for publication in T. Haas, M. Kircher, T. Köhler, G. Wich, U.
Schörken, R. Hagen, White Biotechnology, in R. Höfer, Ed.,
Sustainable solutions for modern economies, The Royal
Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, forthcoming 2009, ISBN
9781847559050.
40 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
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Politics
The Current Status
of Bioplastics Development
in Japan
Article contributed by
Isao Inomata,
Adviser, JapanBioPlastics Association,
Tokyo, Japan
Fig 1: Envelopes with a biomass-based plastic window
Fig 2: Packaging of fresh food
Introduction
Today global warming is a major concern for many people
all over the world. That is why bioplastics is the subject of a
good deal of attention. Bioplastics are the key material which
will contribute to the sustainable supply of useful plastics for
everyday life without increasing carbon dioxide concentration in
the air (Carbon Neutral Concept). In various business sectors
in Japan many companies have undertaken efforts to utilise
biomass-based plastics in their product lines.
Japan BioPlastics Association (JBPA) was established in 1989,
initially as biodegradable Plastics Society (BPS). With about
240 member companies JBPA today continues to promote the
recognition and the business activities of biodegradable plastics
and biomass-based plastics.
JBPA is working hard on a global networking cooperation with
other areas in the world. Cooperation already started with BPI
(USA) and European Bioplastics e.V (Europe) in 2001, with BMG
(China) in 2004, and with TBIA (Thailand). One declared goal is
to establish a globally harmonised standard and certification
system for biodegradable plastics and biomass-based plastics.
The definition of bioplastics
Bioplastics in JBPA’s definition comprises both biodegradable
plastics and biomass-based plastics. As in many other countries,
there is still some confusion in Japan about the different concepts
of Biodegradable plastics and Biomass-based plastics.
Basically the two concepts are completely independent of
each other. Some bioplastics are biobased and others are
biodegradable. Many bioplastics however, such as PLA or PHA
meet both criteria.
The group of biomass-based plastics is constantly growing
and, because of the recent developments in biochemistry, many
monomer chemicals for plastics will be able to be manufactured
from biomass resources at a similar cost to petroleum based
plastics in the near future.
The development of polyolefins from bio-ethanol, so-called
bio-polyethylene and bio-polypropylene, is a typical example and
their market relevance will significantly increase in the future.
42 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
Politics
Fig 3: membership cards
Fig 4: Kids‘ shoes: mixed PLA/PET fabric (upper) and
soft PLA compound (sole)
Fig 5: wrapping film cutter
Big concern of Japanese government
about the bioplastics
In 2002 the Japanese government decided on two
strategic policies called ‘Biotechnology Strategy
Guidelines’ and ‘Biomass Nippon Strategy’.
In the ‘Biotechnology Strategy Guidelines’ the Japanese
government set down a clear target for a remarkable
increase in the demand for biomass-based plastics. In
response to this strategy many products were launched
onto the market.
Many producers are now using biomass-based materials,
especially for everyday packaging products, and are
confident of finding a high level of consumer acceptance.
For example, a postal envelope with a biomass-based
plastic window (Fig. 1) was the first registered biomassbased
plastic product to be listed in the ‘Green Purchasing
Law’ of the Environment Ministry of Japan. It is now widely
used by municipal offices and companies in Japan that
have a high level of environmental concern.
The packaging of fresh food (Fig. 2) however, is one of
the ideal fields of applications for biodegradable plastics.
Here compostability can be used as just one of their end
of life options. On the other hand, due a lack of sufficient
composting infrastructure in Japan, preference is given in
many cases to the concept of biomass-based products.
Some of the products, such as shrink sleeves and
cap seals, have succeeded in utilising the characteristic
properties of biomass-based plastics. These are the
results of an improvement in the material itself as well as
the processing technology of the biomass-based plastics.
Most of the technological development has been done to
utilise PLA as the base plastic.
BiomassPla certification systems
To respond to market concerns and the requests from
the industry, JBPA started the BiomassPla certification
system in 2006 to clearly distinguish between products on
the market made from biomass-based plastics and those
made from petroleum based plastics, and to promote
BiomassPla product development (see bM 02/2008, p.
38/39).
In this system the definition of biomass-based plastics
is:
“High-polymer materials produced from raw materials
which can be obtained by chemical or biological synthesis
and that contain substances derived from renewable
organic resources. (Excludes chemically unmodified nonthermoplastic
natural organic high-polymer materials.)“
The most important aspect of JBPA’s definition is to
utilise the biomass resources as raw materials for their
production, not for simply compounded mixtures.
JBPA’s system is based on:
1) The positive list system for all biomass-based plastics
and their compounds, film etc.
2) Biomass-based plastic ratio requirement: minimum
25% of the products measured by C 14 measurement
(ASTM D6866-05)
3) No components having any non-usable material as
decided by JBPA
At present more than 60 products are already registered
in this system.
Biomass-based plastics products in
the Japanese market
The first product registered according to the BiomassPla
Certification system is the membership card of the main
sales chain of automobile related products (Fig. 3). This
also shows the high level of concern regarding the ‘Carbon
Neutral Concept’ in the Japanese automobile industry.
The kids‘ shoes shown in (Fig. 4) are made from a mixed
PLA/PET fabric in the upper part. The sole is made of a
soft PLA compound with good elastic properties.
A full body shrink-sleeve for beverage bottles was
launched on the market in spring 2008. It is now one of the
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4 43
Politics
Fig 6: Textile applications Fig 8: Mobile phone housing Fig 9: Note book PC housing
most popular products made of biomass-based plastics
which can be found in most convenience stores in Japan.
Fig. 5 shows a wrapping film cutter that was originally
made of steel. It was then produced from PLA because of
its excellent cutting performance together with its safety,
and the advantage of having no metal parts to dispose of.
In the field of textile applications many high grade
products have been launched on the market as shown in
Fig. 6.
Fig 7: Needle carpet made of PLA
(at G8 World Summit Meeting Hokkaido 2008)
At the G-8 world summit meeting and the related
conference in Hokkaido, Japan, a needle carpet made of
PLA caught the attention of the top politicians worldwide
(Fig. 7).
Applications in durable products
A most impressive area of application in Japan is in the
field of durable products.
Japanese companies have been making significant
efforts to utilise biomass-based plastics for durable
products such as consumer electronics and automobile
products on the basis of the latest material chemistry and
processing technology improvements.
The housing for the NTT DOCOMO mobile phone (Fig. 8)
is made of a kenaf-fibre-reinforced PLA composite
developed by Yunitika. Fujitsu presented a notebook PC
with a housing made of a PLA/PC nano-blend developed
by Toray (Fig. 9)
Fuji-Xerox launched a copying machine for which PLA
blend materials were used in the movable parts.
One of the first automobile related products was a PLAbased
floor mat presented by Toyota in 2003.
And many Japanese car manufactures are continuously
developing and launching various products (as can
be seen in this and previous ‘automotive’ issues of
bioplastics MAGAZINE).
www.jbpaweb.net
44 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
Events
February 25-27, 2009
GPEC (Global Plastics Environmental Conference)
Disney‘s Coronado Springs Resort
Orlando, Florida, USA
www.sperecycling.org
March 02-04, 2009
Sustainability in Packaging
Rosen Plaza Hotel
Orlando, Florida, USA
www.sustainability-in-packaging.com
March 11-13 , 2009
9 th International Automobile Recycling Congress
The Westin Grand Munich, Arabellapark
Munich Germany
www.icm.ch
March 12, 2009
Conference on sustainable packaging within
the framework of Anuga FoodTec
Kölnmesse, Cologne Germany
www.sustainable-packaging.de
March 16-18 , 2009
World Biofuels Markets
Brussels Expo
Brussels, Belgium
April 23 , 2009
Bioplastics Processing and Properties
Loughborough University, UK
www.soci.org/SCI/events/details.jsp?eventID=EV1297
June 22-26, 2009
NPE2009: The International Plastics Showcase
McCormick Place
Chicago, Illinois, USA
www.npe.org
September 9-10, 2009
7th Int. Symposium „Materials
made of Renewable Resources“
Messe Erfurt
Erfurt, Germany
www.narotech.de
www.worldbiofuelsmarkets.com
www.biopolymersummit.com
Anz_SusPack_4c_210x148_en:09-01-26 27.01.2009 11:32 Uhr Seite 1
September 2009
2 nd PLA Bottle Conference
hosted by bioplastics MAGAZINE
within the framework of drinktec
Munich / Germany
September 28-30, 2009
www.pla-bottle-conference.com
Biopolymers Symposium 2009
Embassy Suites, Lakefront - Chicago Downtown
Chicago, Illinois, USA
You can meet us!
Please contact us in advance by e-mail.
www.sustainable-packaging.de
©iStockphoto.com | Ernesto Solla Domínguez | Oktay Ortakcioglu | Hanquan Chen
Conference on
sustainable packaging
March 12 th 2009
Koelnmesse, 09:00 – 17:00
In the course of the
Anuga FoodTec
With simultaneous
translation
The future of
food packaging
Entrance
Conference incl. catering 350€ plus
VAT. With the purchase of the ticket
you will receive a free pass for the
international trade fair Anuga Food-
Tec (March 10 th – 13 th 2009)
Contact
Dominik Vogt
Phone: +49 (0) 22 33 – 48 14 49
dominik.vogt@nova-institut.de
The discussions about environmental protection, recycling and resource
shortages during the last few years have enhanced the search for “sustainable
packaging solutions”. The conference aims at giving the participants
an overview of the political framework, market developments, influence
factors, new options and ecological assessments.
Organiser
Partners
Media partner
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4 45
nova-Institut GmbH | Chemiepark Knapsack | Industriestrasse | 50354 Huerth | Germany | www.nova-institut.de/nr
Basics
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.
Bioplastics (as defined by European Bioplastics
e.V.) is a term used to define two different
kinds of plastics:
a. Plastics based on renewable resources (the
focus is the origin of the raw material used)
b. à Biodegradable and compostable plastics
according to EN13432 or similar standards
(the focus is the compostability of the final
product; biodegradable and compostable
plastics can be based on renewable (biobased)
and/or non-renewable (fossil) resources).
Bioplastics may be
- based on renewable resources and biodegradable;
- based on renewable resources but not be
biodegradable; and
- based on fossil resources and biodegradable.
Amylopectin | Polymeric branched starch
molecule with very high molecular weight (biopolymer,
monomer is à Glucose).
Amyloseacetat | Linear polymeric glucosechains
are called à amylose. If this compound
is treated with ethan acid one product
is amylacetat. The hydroxyl group is connected
with the organic acid fragment.
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.
Carbon neutral | Carbon neutral describes a
process that has a negligible impact on total
atmospheric CO 2 levels. For example, carbon
neutrality means that any CO 2 released when
a plant decomposes or is burnt is offset by an
equal amount of CO 2 absorbed by the plant
through photosynthesis when it is growing.
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 | 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
[bM 03/2007].
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 photosynthesis or
hydrolyse 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.
46 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
Basics
Readers who know better explanations or who
would like to suggest other explanations to be
added to the list, please contact the editor.
[*: bM ... refers to more comprehensive article
previously published in bioplastics MAGAZINE)
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 or Polylactic Acid (PLA) is
a biodegradable, thermoplastic, aliphatic
polyester from lactic acid. Lactic acid is made
from dextrose by fermentation. Bacterial fermentation
is used to produce lactic acid from
corn starch, cane sugar or other sources.
However, lactic acid cannot be directly polymerized
to a useful product, because each polymerization
reaction generates one molecule
of water, the presence of which degrades the
forming polymer chain to the point that only
very low molecular weights are observed.
Instead, lactic acid is oligomerized and then
catalytically dimerized to make the cyclic lactide
monomer. Although dimerization also
generates water, it can be separated prior to
polymerization. PLA of high molecular weight
is produced from the lactide monomer by
ring-opening polymerization using a catalyst.
This mechanism does not generate additional
water, and hence, a wide range of molecular
weights are accessible (bM 01/2009).
Saccharins or carbohydrates | Saccharins or
carbohydrates are name for the sugar-family.
Saccharins are monomer or polymer sugar
units. For example, there are known mono-,
di- and polysaccharose. à glucose is a monosaccarin.
They are important for the diet and
produced biology in plants.
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, wheat, tapioca
etc. When glucose is connected to polymerchains
in definite way the result (product) is
called starch. Each molecule is based on 300
-12000-glucose units. Depending on the connection,
there are two types à amylose and
à amylopectin known.
Starch (-derivate) | Starch (-derivates) are
based on the chemical structure of à starch.
The chemical structure can be changed by
introducing new functional groups without
changing the à starch polymer. The product
has different chemical qualities. Mostly the
hydrophilic character is not the same.
Starch-ester | One characteristic of every
starch-chain is a free hydroxyl group. When
every hydroxyl group is connect with ethan
acid one product is starch-ester with different
chemical properties.
Starch propionate and starch butyrate |
Starch propionate and starch butyrate can
be synthesised by treating the à starch with
propane or butanic acid. The product structure
is still based on à starch. Every based à
glucose fragment is connected with a propionate
or butyrate ester group. The product is
more hydrophobic than à starch.
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).
Sustainability | (as defined by European
Bioplastics e.V.) has three dimensions: economic,
social and environmental. This has
been known as “the triple bottom line of
sustainability”. This means that sustainable
development involves the simultaneous pursuit
of economic prosperity, environmental
protection and social equity. In other words,
businesses have to expand their responsibility
to include these environmental and social
dimensions. Sustainability is about making
products useful to markets and, at the same
time, having societal benefits and lower environmental
impact than the alternatives currently
available. It also implies a commitment
to continuous improvement that should result
in a further reduction of the environmental
footprint of today’s products, processes and
raw materials used.
Thermoplastics | Plastics which soften or
melt when heated and solidify when cooled
(solid at room temperature).
Yard Waste | Grass clippings, leaves, trimmings,
garden residue.
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4 47
Suppliers Guide
1.3 PLA
1.6 masterbatches
3.1.1 cellulose based films
1. Raw Materials
BASF SE
Global Business Management
Biodegradable Polymers
Carl-Bosch-Str. 38
67056 Ludwigshafen, Germany
Tel. +49-621 60 43 878
Fax +49-621 60 21 694
plas.com@basf.com
www.ecovio.com
www.basf.com/ecoflex
Division of A&O FilmPAC Ltd
7 Osier Way, Warrington Road
GB-Olney/Bucks.
MK46 5FP
Tel.: +44 1234 88 88 61
Fax: +44 1234 888 940
sales@aandofilmpac.com
www.bioresins.eu
1.4 starch-based bioplastics
PolyOne
Avenue Melville Wilson, 2
Zoning de la Fagne
5330 Assesse
Belgium
Tel. + 32 83 660 211
info.color@polyone.com
www.polyone.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
4. Bioplastics products
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
Tel. + 41 22 717 5428
Fax + 41 22 717 5500
jonathan.v.cohen@che.dupont.com
www.packaging.dupont.com
1.2 compounds
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 2154 9251-26
Tel.: +49 2154 9251-51
patick.zimmermann@fkur.de
www.fkur.de
Transmare Compounding B.V.
Ringweg 7, 6045 JL
Roermond, The Netherlands
Tel. +31 475 345 900
Fax +31 475 345 910
info@transmare.nl
www.compounding.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
Plantic Technologies GmbH
Heinrich-Busold-Straße 50
D-61169 Friedberg
Germany
Tel. +49 6031 6842 650
Tel. +44 794 096 4681 (UK)
Fax +49 6031 6842 656
info@plantic.eu
www.plantic.eu
1.5 PHA
Telles, Metabolix – ADM joint venture
650 Suffolk Street, Suite 100
Lowell, MA 01854 USA
Tel. +1-97 85 13 18 00
Fax +1-97 85 13 18 86
www.mirelplastics.com
Tianan Biologic
No. 68 Dagang 6th Rd,
Beilun, Ningbo, China, 315800
Tel. +86-57 48 68 62 50 2
Fax +86-57 48 68 77 98 0
enquiry@tianan-enmat.com
www.tianan-enmat.com
Sukano Products Ltd.
Chaltenbodenstrasse 23
CH-8834 Schindellegi
Tel. +41 44 787 57 77
Fax +41 44 787 57 78
www.sukano.com
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
Tel. + 41(0) 22 717 5428
Fax + 41(0) 22 717 5500
jonathan.v.cohen@che.dupont.com
www.packaging.dupont.com
3. Semi finished products
3.1 films
Huhtamaki Forchheim
Herr Manfred Huberth
Zweibrückenstraße 15-25
91301 Forchheim
Tel. +49-9191 81305
Fax +49-9191 81244
Mobil +49-171 2439574
Maag GmbH
Leckingser Straße 12
58640 Iserlohn
Germany
Tel. + 49 2371 9779-30
Fax + 49 2371 9779-97
shonke@maag.de
www.maag.de
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
alesco GmbH & Co. KG
Schönthaler Str. 55-59
D-52379 Langerwehe
Sales Germany: +49 2423 402 110
Sales Belgium: +32 9 2260 165
Sales Netherlands: +31 20 5037 710
info@alesco.net | www.alesco.net
Arkhe Will Co., Ltd.
19-1-5 Imaichi-cho, Fukui
918-8152 Fukui, Japan
Tel. +81-776 38 46 11
Fax +81-776 38 46 17
contactus@ecogooz.com
www.ecogooz.com
Forapack S.r.l
Via Sodero, 43
66030 Poggiofi orito (Ch), Italy
Tel. +39-08 71 93 03 25
Fax +39-08 71 93 03 26
info@forapack.it
www.forapack.it
Minima Technology Co., Ltd.
Esmy Huang, Marketing Manager
No.33. Yichang E. Rd., Taipin City,
Taichung County
411, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
Tel. +886(4)2277 6888
Fax +883(4)2277 6989
Mobil +886(0)982-829988
esmy325@ms51.hinet.net
Skype esmy325
www.minima-tech.com
natura Verpackungs GmbH
Industriestr. 55 - 57
48432 Rheine
Tel. +49 5975 303-57
Fax +49 5975 303-42
info@naturapackaging.com
www.naturapackagign.com
48 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
NOVAMONT S.p.A.
Via Fauser , 8
28100 Novara - ITALIA
Fax +39.0321.699.601
Tel. +39.0321.699.611
Info@novamont.com
Pland Paper ®
WEI MON INDUSTRY CO., LTD.
2F, No.57, Singjhong Rd.,
Neihu District,
Taipei City 114, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Tel. + 886 - 2 - 27953131
Fax + 886 - 2 - 27919966
sales@weimon.com.tw
www.plandpaper.com
8. Ancillary equipment
9. Services
Bioplastics Consulting
Tel. +49 2161 664864
info@polymediaconsult.com
www.polymediaconsult.com
Marketing - Exhibition - Event
Tel. +49 2359-2996-0
info@teamburg.de
www.teamburg.de
10. Institutions
10.1 Associations
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.
Wiedmer AG - PLASTIC SOLUTIONS
8752 Näfels - Am Linthli 2
SWITZERLAND
Tel. +41 55 618 44 99
Fax +41 55 618 44 98
www.wiedmer-plastic.com
6. Machinery & Molds
BPI - The Biodegradable
Products Institute
331 West 57th Street
Suite 415
New York, NY 10019, USA
Tel. +1-888-274-5646
info@bpiworld.org
FAS Converting Machinery AB
O Zinkgatan 1/ Box 1503
27100 Ystad, Sweden
Tel.: +46 411 69260
www.fasconverting.com
Molds, Change Parts and Turnkey
Solutions for the PET/Bioplastic
Container Industry
284 Pinebush Road
Cambridge Ontario
Canada N1T 1Z6
Tel. +1 519 624 9720
Fax +1 519 624 9721
info@hallink.com
www.hallink.com
European Bioplastics e.V.
Marienstr. 19/20
10117 Berlin, Germany
Tel. +49 30 284 82 350
Fax +49 30 284 84 359
info@european-bioplastics.org
www.european-bioplastics.org
10.2 Universities
Michigan State University
Department of Chemical
Engineering & Materials Science
Professor Ramani Narayan
East Lansing MI 48824, USA
Tel. +1 517 719 7163
narayan@msu.edu
MANN+HUMMEL ProTec GmbH
Stubenwald-Allee 9
64625 Bensheim, Deutschland
Tel. +49 6251 77061 0
Fax +49 6251 77061 510
info@mh-protec.com
www.mh-protec.com
7. Plant engineering
University of Applied Sciences
Faculty II, Department
of Bioprocess Engineering
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans-Josef Endres
Heisterbergallee 12
30453 Hannover, Germany
Tel. +49 (0)511-9296-2212
Fax +49 (0)511-9296-2210
hans-josef.endres@fh-hannover.de
www.fakultaet2.fh-hannover.de
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
bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4 49
Companies in this issue
Company Editorial Advert
A&O Filmpac 48
Aldi 21
Alesco 48
Amcor Flexible Packaging 9
Arkhe Will 48
Avantium 5
BASF 48
Biograde 5
BioPak 5
bioplastics24.com 49
Biopolymer Network 8
Biotec 48
Braskem 7
Depron 24
DuPont 7, 26 48
European Bioplastics 21, 32, 42 49
European Plastics News 8
Europlatiques 27
FAS Converting 49
FH Hannover 49
Fiat 16
FKuR 7 2, 48
Forapack 48
Ford 12
Formax Quimiplan 9
Fraunhofer UMSICHT 7
Frost & Sullivan 7
Fuji 44
Gehr Plastics 8
Glycan Biotechnology 25
GP Plastics Corp. 6
Green Power 11
Hallink 49
Honda 15
Huhtamaki 48
Ilip 26
Innovia 5, 9
JBPA 42
Lexus 14
Lucite International 36
Maag 48
Company Editorial Advert
Mann + Hummel 49
Mazda 15
Merquinsa 9
Metabolix 9
Michigan State Univ. 28 49
Minima Technologies 48
NatureWorks 5, 13, 24, 25
Nestlé 9
Nova Institut 7 45
Novamont 10, 16, 21 49, 52
NPE 17
Pantos Produktions- und Vertriebsgesellchaft 21
Plantic 5, 27 48
plasticker 21
Plastics Engineering Associates Licensing 25
Plastral 5
Plush Chocolates 27
Polymediaconsult 49
PolyOne 48
Purac 18, 22
Reifenhäuser 7
Ritter Pen 7
Royal Cosun 5
Sainsbury‘s 9
Salomon 26
Sidaplax 48
Storopack 24
Sukano 48
Sulzer Chemtech 18, 22
Synbra 20, 22
Teamburg Marketing 49
Telles 48, 51
Tianan Biologic Materials 48
Toray 44
Toyota 13, 44
Transmare 48
Uhde Inventa-Fischer 38 49
Unitika 44
Valfrutta 26
Wei Mon Industries 41, 49
Wiedmer 49
Next Issue
For the next issue of bioplastics MAGAZINE
(among others) the following subjects are scheduled:
Editorial Focus:
Beauty & Healthcare
End-of-Life Options
Basics:
Industrial Composting
Next issue:
Mar/Feb 06.04.2009
Month Publ.-Date Editorial Focus (1) Editorial Focus (2) Basics Fair Specials
May/Jun 02.06.2009 Rigid Packaging / Trays Material Combinations Basics of PHA
Jul/Aug 03.08.2009 Bottles / Labels / Caps
Non-Food-Sourced Bioplastics
Sep/Oct 05.10.2009 Fibers / Textiles / Nonwovens Paper Coating
Land Use for Bioplastics
Basics of Starch Based
Biopolymers
Nov/Dec 30.11.2009 Films / Flexibles / Bags Consumer Electronics Anaerobic Digestion
NPE Preview
(22-27 June)
50 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/09] Vol. 4
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
with a low environmental impact. The result of Novamont's
innovative research is the new bioplastic Mater-Bi ® .
Mater-Bi ® is a family of materials, completely biodegradable
and compostable which contain renewable raw materials such as starch and
vegetable oil derivates. Mater-Bi ® performs like traditional plastics 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
Inventor of the year 2007
Mater-Bi ® : certified biodegradable and compostable.
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