issue 03/2021

Swatch focuses
on biomaterials
The Swiss company is well known for its trendy iconic plastic
watches. Now it’s adding a whole new material that may, in time,
be used in all its collections: Swatch builds watches from ceramic
and castor oil (presumably biobased polyamide).
Swatch launched the new watch material on the market in mid
April. In the beginning, there will be five models of the Big Bold
Next with a 47-millimetre dial in black, white, pink, light blue, and
grey. The speciality is not only the strikingly simple design but also
the material of the case.
For the first time, bioceramics are used – a patented in-house
development by Swatch. It combines two-thirds classic ceramic
with one-third castor oil based bioplastic. The Swiss have
succeeded in combining the material in such a way that it can be
injection moulded on the same equipment as before.
The advantage of this mix of materials: it is supposed to be just
as water-resistant and robust as plastic, but nobler. Thus, you can
use the watch up to 30 metres under-water without any problems.
The watch, however, feels different, softer, almost as if coated
with a little powder. And the material is a little cooler. Everything
that is transparent is made from recycled plastic as already before.
This also applies to the bracelet. (source: daskannwas.ch). MT
www.swatch.com
Fossil presents solar
watch from bio-PA
Fossil has launched a new generation of ecofriendly
sustainable watches. The first watch
branded Fossil Solar is made from sustainable
materials and charged with energy from sunlight.
The new model Fossil LE1120 is equipped with
a solar-powered movement that is supposed to
be fully charged within eight hours in the sun.
According to Fossil, the outer ring of the watch case
acts as a solar panel, with a solar cell underneath to
convert light into energy, which is then stored in the
rechargeable battery. One charge is said to last up to
three months.
This watch was born out of Fossil’s goal to meet
its own Pro-Planet Criteria by 2025. Specifically, this
means that all products, including the packaging,
contain at least one material that is approved for
sustainability and is reusable and/ or fully recyclable.
The housing is made of a bioplastic based on
castor oil. So, presumably, it is a biobased polyamide.
Each watch comes with five different coloured pullthrough
straps and is made of yarn made of rPET
from recycled PET bottles.
www.fossil.com
Application News
Photo: Fossil
Photo: Swatch
Compostable coffee pods
NatureWorks (Minnetonka, MN, USA) and IMA Coffee
(Bologna, Italy) entered into a joint strategic partnership
aimed at accelerating the market for high performing K-Cup
compatible compostable single-serve coffee pods in North
America.
Compostable capsules create the opportunity to not only
address consumer concerns and divert the
packaging away from landfills, but, perhaps
more importantly, to recover the used coffee
grounds, enabling their processing at a compost
facility where they deliver valuable nutrients to the
final compost.
Coffee capsules are complex structures where the
capsule body, lidding, and filter must be precisely designed
to deliver a consistently high-quality brewing experience.
Before the capsules even reach consumers, it’s critical
that these components perform well during assembly and
filling as well as on the shelf and during brewing. By
bringing together NatureWorks’ materials and
applications knowledge with IMA’s machinery
expertise, the partnership aims to deliver a turnkey
compostable coffee pod solution to the entire
coffee industry making it simple to have a great
cup of coffee and dispose of the used pod in the
most sustainable way possible. MT
www.natureworksllc.com | https://ima.it/beverage/brands/ima-coffee
bioplastics MAGAZINE [03/21] Vol. 16 41