bioplasticsMAGAZINE_0905

Event Review
2 nd PLA Bottle Conference
The 2 nd PLA Bottle Conference hosted by bioplastics
MAGAZINE (September 14-15, Munich, Germany) attracted
almost 80 experts from 18 different countries.
Delegates from the beverage industry as well as bioplastics
experts came from all over Europe, North America and from
countries as far away from the event venue as South Africa,
Kuwait and Syria. Organizers, speakers and delegates were
all well satisfied with the conference, as all presentations
as well as the discussions were considered to be “very substantial“,
“very much state-of-the-art“ and offered “many
opportunities for making valuable contacts“.
In an extremely well received keynote speech on ‘Land use
for Bioplastics‘ Michael Carus from the nova Institut gave a
comprehensive overview of the situation regarding the need
to use available arable land to feed humans and animals,
and its use for the production of biofuels and bioplastics.
The conference itself followed a central theme from
renewable feedstock to end-of-life. Starting with the
basics on how starch or sugar is converted into lactic acid
and then into PLA, the speakers addressed topics such as
preform making and bottle blowing. Special focuses were
on certain challenges such as barrier improvement (e.g. by
SiOx coating) or enhanced thermal stability. Here special
processing techniques were discussed as well as blending or
stereocomplexing L and D lactides. Colorants and additives
were introduced in order to achieve effects such as antiyellowing
or anti-slip.
Once a bottle has been produced and filled the next
steps are capping (with ongoing efforts being made in the
field of bioplastic caps and closures) and labelling. Shrink
sleeves made of PLA represent a viable solution that
neither compromises automated sorting nor compostability
(where desired). A world premier was the introduction of a
bioplastics shrink film (see page 24 for more details).
Reports on their experiences by PLA bottle pioneers
as well as brand new entrepreneurs gave an inspiring
impression of the possibilities and challenges. As a surprise
for all participants a Greek dairy company, together with their
consultant, gave an almost spontaneous presentation about
a very recently launched milk bottle in Greece, accompanied
by a goat‘s milk tasting experience for everybody.
The conference ended with a session on end-of-life or
better end-of-use options for PLA. The delegates learned
that NIR (= Near Infrared) is a technology that works well for
automated sorting but that, on the other hand, still has some
limitations. As at the previous two PLA conferences organised
by bioplastics MAGAZINE, almost all of the attendees agreed
that composting is not necessarily the best option. However,
in closed loop systems such as stadiums, big events or
similar, collection and composting may be a viable solution,
provided that composting facilities are available. Elsewhere,
where perhaps the volumes of collected PLA do not reach
a critical mass for sorting and recycling, incineration with
energy recovery seems to be a good solution. As one fairly
new option the chemical recycling of PLA back into lactic
acid was presented and can be reviewed in more detail on
page 30.
After the second day of the conference the delegates
were invited to visit drinktec, the world‘s number one trade
fair for beverage and liquid food technology in Munich.
And on Wednesday an encouraging number of lime-green
backpacks could be observed at the fairgrounds …
www.pla-bottle-conference.com
bioplastics MAGAZINE [05/09] Vol. 4