Issue 04/2022

Bioplastics - CO 2 

-based Plastics - Advanced Recycling 

bioplastics MAGAZINE Vol. 17 

Basics 

. is read in 92 countries 

FDCA and PEF | 48 

Highlights 

Blow Moulding | 18 

Polyurethanes/Elastomers | 10 

... is read in 92 countries 

04 / 2022 

ISSN 1862-5258 July/August

WWW.MATERBI.COM 

dear 

Editorial 

readers 

As I am writing these lines we are suffering (or enjoying) outside 

temperatures in Germany of 40°C. In a TV show, someone asked: 

“Is this still summer or is it climate change”. As a matter of fact, 

Germany saw only 10 days at 40° since the beginning of weather 

records. 

As we probably all agree on the latter, it is another proof that we 

are doing the right thing reporting about non-fossil plastics in this 

magazine. 

You’ll find again a number of articles on biobased plastics, as 

well as on the topics of CCU and advanced recycling – in line 

with our expanded objective on Renewable Carbon Plastics. 

In addition, one focus topic of this issue is Blow Moulding 

/ Bottle Applications. Here we have some articles on plastic 

materials for blow moulding as well as on machinery and 

recycling. The topic is rounded off with a Basics article an 

FDCA and PEF and our 10 years ago review. 

EcoComunicazione.it 

as melon skin 

The other highlight is Polyurethanes / Elastomers, where 

we report about biobased polyols and isocyanates, but also about 

advanced recycling technologies. 

Let’s now look at the events ahead. After a successful purely digital 

bio!PAC in March and a hybrid 7 th PLA World Congress in Munich in May 

we are now looking forward to this year’s Bioplastics Business Breakfast 

during the K-show in October. Most probably it will be a hybrid event too, 

as is it to be expected that still many travel restrictions exist. Corona isn’t 

over yet. 

Anyhow, we also look forward to the K-show itself. We will certainly 

publish a comprehensive show preview in the next issue, along with the 

much-liked show guide. If you’d like us to publish your product review or 

participate in the show guide with small ads, just let us know. 

r3_06.2022 


Bioplastics - CO 2 

-based Plastics - Advanced Recycling 


Basics 


Highlights 





ISSN 1862-5258 July/August 

Follow us on twitter! 

www.twitter.com/bioplasticsmag 

We are looking forward to meeting many of you in person this fall and, 

as always, hope you enjoy reading bioplastics MAGAZINE. 

Sincerely yours 

Like us on Facebook! 

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bioplastics MAGAZINE [04/22] Vol. 17 3

Imprint 

Content 

34 Porsche launches cars with biocomposites 

32 Bacteriostatic PLA compound for 3D printingz 

Jul/Aug 04|2022 

3 Editorial 

5 News 

40 Application News 

48 Basics 

52 10 years ago 

54 Suppliers Guide 

58 Companies in this issue 

Publisher / Editorial 

Dr. Michael Thielen (MT) 

Alex Thielen (AT) 

Samuel Brangenberg (SB) 

Head Office 

Polymedia Publisher GmbH 

Dammer Str. 112 

41066 Mönchengladbach, Germany 

phone: +49 (0)2161 6884469 

fax: +49 (0)2161 6884468 

info@bioplasticsmagazine.com 

www.bioplasticsmagazine.com 

Media Adviser 

Samsales (German language) 

phone: +49(0)2161-6884467 

fax: +49(0)2161 6884468 

sb@bioplasticsmagazine.com 

Michael Thielen (English Language) 

(see head office) 

Layout/Production 

Michael Thielen / Philipp Thielen 

Events 

8 Bioplastics Business Breakfast @ K 2022 

Elastomers 

12 Sustainable thermoplastic 

co-polyester elastomers 

Polyurethane 

10 Climate neutral polyurethane 

14 Chemical recycling of polyurethane 

Advanced Recycling 

16 Molecular recycling 

Blow Moulding 

18 R-Cycle optimizes recycling 

20 Bioplastics for bottles & containers 

22 The most sustainable water bottle 

23 Lighter, faster, and more efficient 

24 Offtake agreement on PEF for fibre 

bottles 

26 Innovative FDCA process 

Materials 

27 Thermoformable PLA films 

30 Waste recovery to obtain PLA 

32 Next generation PHA 

34 Biodegradation of plastic waste in 

marine and aquatic environments 

From Science & Research 

36 Industrial starch struck gold 

Processing 

38 New production plant for novel flexible 

PLA copolymers 

Applications 

39 A story of compostable cling wrap 

Market 

44 Bioplastics in Chile 

CCU 

46 Carbon dioxide utilization 

Print 

Poligrāfijas grupa Mūkusala Ltd. 

1004 Riga, Latvia 

bioplastics MAGAZINE is printed on 

chlorine-free FSC certified paper. 

bioplastics magazine 

Volume 17 - 2021 

ISSN 1862-5258 

bM is published 6 times a year. 

This publication is sent to qualified subscribers 

(169 Euro for 6 issues). 

bioplastics MAGAZINE is read in 

92 countries. 

Every effort is made to verify all Information 

published, but Polymedia Publisher 

cannot accept responsibility for any errors 

or omissions or for any losses that may 

arise as a result. 

All articles appearing in 

bioplastics MAGAZINE, or on the website 

www.bioplasticsmagazine.com are strictly 

covered by copyright. No part of this 

publication may be reproduced, copied, 

scanned, photographed and/or stored 

in any form, including electronic format, 

without the prior consent of the publisher. 

Opinions expressed in articles do not necessarily 

reflect those of Polymedia Publisher. 

bioplastics MAGAZINE welcomes contributions 

for publication. Submissions are 

accepted on the basis of full assignment 

of copyright to Polymedia Publisher GmbH 

unless otherwise agreed in advance and in 

writing. We reserve the right to edit items 

for reasons of space, clarity or legality. 

Please contact the editorial office via 

mt@bioplasticsmagazine.com. 

The fact that product names may not be 

identified in our editorial as trade marks 

is not an indication that such names are 

not registered trade marks. 

bioplastics MAGAZINE tries to use British 

spelling. However, in articles based on 

information from the USA, American 

spelling may also be used. 

Envelopes 

A part of this print run is mailed to the 

readers wrapped bioplastic envelopes 

sponsored by Sidaplax/Plastic Suppliers 

(Belgium/USA). 

Cover 

BAZA Production (Shutterstock) 

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Biopolymer 

Innovation Award 

The winners of this year's BIOPOLYMER 

Innovation Awards were presented on June 14 at the 

“BIOPOLYMER – Processing & Molding” congress 

presented by Polykum (Merseburg, Germany). 

The 1st Prize was awarded to Home Eos SA 

from Farciennes in Belgium for their new type 

of biobased, biodegradable plastic: stopsound 

absorbs vibrations excellently, is naturally fireretardant, 

and heat-insulating. Its production 

requires up to eight times less energy than similar 

conventional plastics. The sound-absorbing 

foam, which remains permanently elastic without 

plasticizers, solvents, and classified chemicals, 

can be easily bonded to other materials. The 

material is used in vehicle construction as well 

as, for example, in floors, facades, or in industrial 

noise protection. With the extensively certified 

bioplastic, classic petrochemical materials such 

as bitumen, PVC, or EPDM can be replaced on a 

large scale in the future. 

The runnerup was SachsenLeinen from 

Markkleeberg, Germany, for the development of 

a process for manufacturing unidirectional (UD) 

tapes from flax and hemp fibres and biobased 

plastics like PLA or PA. Among other things, the 

jury was impressed by the uniformity with which 

the fibers are covered by the biopolymer. 

Prize No. 3 went to Earth Renewable Technology 

(ERT) from Curitiba, Brazil, who convinced the jury 

with a masterpiece in compounding technology 

which opens up new application possibilities 

for the world's most widely used biopolymer, 

polylactide (PLA). With its Short Fibre Reinforced 

(SFRP) in FC 10130 biopolymer composite, the US 

company, which has been active in Brazil for four 

years, integrated PLA fibres into a PLA matrix. MT 

www.polykum.de 

PEF Textile Community 

founded 

Avantium N.V. (Amsterdam, the Netherlands), a leading technology 

company in renewable chemistry, has formed the PEF Textile 

Community with the five reputable global companies Antex (Anglès, 

Spain), BekaertDeslee (Waregem, Belgium), Chamatex (Ardoix, 

France), Kvadrat (Ebeltoft, Denmark), and Salomon (Annecy, France). 

Avantium and Antex have already worked together on producing 

yarns made from PEF (polyethylene furanoate), a renewable and 

circular polymer also suitable for textiles. The other community 

partners will use these PEF yarns to develop various PEF fabric 

applications in different segments. 

The companies of the PEF Textile Community have a shared 

vision to further reduce CO 2 

emissions in support of the UN Paris 

Agreement and the European Green Deal objectives and explore 

sustainable solutions for various applications. Avantium’s PEF offers 

a unique solution to address the global need to tackle climate change. 

Every community member is committed to environmentally friendly 

processes and technologies. They have entered into an agreement 

with Avantium to join the PEF Textile Community to further develop 

the application of PEF in their respective applications. 

Bas Blom, Managing Director Avantium Renewable Polymers, 

comments: “A disruptive innovation like PEF can drive real change 

but requires trailblazers - those willing to be the first to jump into 

new solutions. The five reputable companies of the PEF Textile 

Community prove to be those early adopters. The formation of the 

PEF Textile Community demonstrates the importance of our mutual 

work to develop yarn solutions for a circular and sustainable future. 

We look forward to continuing and expanding our collaborations with 

those five partners for many years to come. This will help us to better 

understand the enormous market potential of PEF, as the world’s 

next generation sustainable polyester”. AT 

www.avantium.com 

News 

daily updated News at 


Picks & clicks 

Most frequently clicked news 

Here’s a look at our most popular online content of the past two months. 

The story that got the most clicks from the visitors to bioplasticsmagazine.com was: 

tinyurl.com/news-220615 

Hytrel ® ECO B – DuPont’s new drop-in solution 

(15 June 2022) 

Today, DuPont Mobility & Materials (Wilmington, DE, USA) unveiled the new 

Hytrel ECO B, a range of bio-attributed TPC-ET thermoplastic elastomers. 

Developed to help customers improve the environmental footprint of their 

products, Hytrel ECO B grades deliver performance equivalent to those made 

from fossil feedstock, but with biomass content up to 72 % by weight. 


News 



The advantages of 

compostable 

bioplastics 

TotalEnergies Corbion (Gorinchem, the Netherlands) 

published a report on PLA compostability entitled “The 

advantages of compostable bioplastics for the circular 

economy”. The report advises on product design for 

compostable packaging when it contributes to the diversion 

of biowaste from landfill or incineration, reduction of the 

biowaste stream contamination, increasing efficacy of 

biowaste collection, and when the packaging is hardly 

separable from its organic waste content. 

Composting is crucial in achieving a sustainable future. 

With composting, the carbon drawn from the atmosphere 

during the plant feedstock growth, is brought back to the 

soil. Composting also brings nutrients back to the earth, 

increasing their quality and health without using chemical 

fertilizers. Composting biowaste mitigates the carbon 

emissions, as landfilling biowaste emits higher amounts 

of Green House Gases (CO 2 

, CH 4 

), which contribute to 

global warming. 

Compostable bioplastics, such as PLA, offer 

an alternative to conventional (fossil-based, nonbiodegradable) 

plastic items, which are usually not 

recycled because of their organic waste content 

– for instance, teabags, coffee capsules, and 

biowaste collection bags. 

Certified compostable bioplastic packaging can 

be thrown in the biowaste bin (where allowed by the 

municipalities) with its organic waste content, avoiding 

landfilling and incineration, and reducing contamination 

of the biowaste stream with conventional plastics. 

"Organic recycling plastic packaging, commonly known 

as composting, is a complementary end-of-life option. It 

contributes to achieving wider recycling targets, reducing 

carbon footprint and providing a valuable final product: 

compost.", states Maelenn Macedo Ravard, Sustainability 

and Regulatory Manager at TotalEnergies Corbion, and 

author of the report. 

Olga Kachook, Director, Bioeconomy & Reuse Initiatives 

at GreenBlue, (Charlottesville, VA, USA), says that "With 

the clock ticking on climate change, it’s worth celebrating 

the growing momentum behind composting as a solution 

and the role that compostable packaging plays in diverting 

food scraps from landfills". 

Plastic packaging will always be required for 

convenience, hygiene and functionality aspects. Using 

biobased, compostable bioplastics like PLA fulfils all 

these criteria and responds to climate challenges while 

having a reduced carbon footprint and a sustainable endof-life 

option. MT 

www.totalenergies-corbion.com 

Info: 

The White Paper can be 

downloaded form 

tinyurl.com/2204-whitepaper 

Bio-attributed hightemperature 

polyamide 

DSM Engineering Materials (Heerlen, the Netherlands) 

recently announced the launch of a new, more 

sustainable version of its flagship product Stanyl ® : Stanyl 

B-MB (Bio-based Mass Balanced), with up to 100 % 

bio-attributed content. 

Using the maximum possible levels of biomass-waste 

feedstock enables DSM Engineering Materials to halve 

the carbon footprint of this product line and, in turn, 

of the Stanyl B-MB-based products of its customers. 

This industry-first launch of a 100 % bio-attributed 

high-temperature polyamide underlines the business' 

ongoing commitment to helping customers fulfil their 

sustainability ambitions by making planet-positive 

choices and supporting the transition to a circular and 

biobased economy. 

Stanyl B-MB – now available with up to 100 % bioattributed 

content – is a fully ISCC+ certified massbalancing 

solution, and delivers exactly the same 

characteristics, performance, and quality as conventional 

Stanyl. MT 

www.dsm.com 

MEG from 

captured carbon 

A consortium, including LanzaTech (Skokie, IL, USA) 

and Danone (Paris, France), led to the discovery of a 

new route to monoethylene glycol, (MEG), which is a 

key building block for polyethylene terephthalate, (PET), 

resin, fibres, and bottles. 

The carbon capture technology uses a proprietary 

engineered bacterium to convert carbon emissions, from 

steel mills or gasified waste biomass, directly into MEG 

through fermentation, bypassing the need for an ethanol 

intermediate, and simplifying the MEG supply chain. 

“We have made a breakthrough in the production 

of sustainable PET that has vast potential to reduce 

the overall environmental impact of the process”, 

said Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech. “This 

is a technological breakthrough which could have a 

significant impact, with applications in multiple sectors, 

including packaging and textiles!” 

“We have been working with LanzaTech for years 

and strongly believe in the long-term capacity of this 

technology to become a game changer in the way to 

manage sustainable packaging materials production. 

This technological collaboration is a key enabler 

to accelerate the development of this promising 

technology”, said Pascal Chapon, Danone R&I Advanced 

Techno Materials Director. AT 

www.lanzatech.com | www.danone.com 

6 bioplastics MAGAZINE [04/22] Vol. 17

CJ BIO and NatureWorks sign LOI to collaborate 

CJ BIO (Woburn, MA, USA), a division of South Korea-based CJ CheilJedang and leading producer of amorphous 

polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), and NatureWorks (Plymouth, MN, USA), an advanced materials company that is the world’s 

leading producer of polylactic acid (PLA), have signed a letter of intent (LOI) establishing a strategic alignment between the two 

organizations and have announced that the two companies are working toward a Master Collaboration Agreement (MCA). The 

companies will work together to develop sustainable materials solutions based on CJ BIO’s PHACT ® Marine Biodegradable 

PHA and NatureWorks’ Ingeo PLA. The goal of the agreement is to develop high-performance biopolymers that will replace 

fossil-based plastics in applications ranging from compostable food packaging and food service ware to personal care, and 

beyond. 

Both companies realize the potential to further enhance performance and end-of-use solutions for biopolymers, and increase 

the level of adoption across many new applications. By combining their expertise and technology platforms, NatureWorks and 

CJ aim to deliver next-generation solutions together. Initial development and collaboration are showing very promising results 

when using CJ BIO’s unique amorphous PHA in combination with Ingeo PLA. 

CJ BIO is the world's leading supplier of fermentation-based bioproducts for animal nutrition, human nutrition, and 

biomaterials at its thirteen manufacturing facilities worldwide. The company recently announced commercial-scale production 

of PHA following the inauguration of a new production facility in Pasuruan, Indonesia. CJ BIO is today the only company in the 

world producing amorphous PHA (aPHA). Amorphous PHA is a softer, more rubbery version of PHA that offers fundamentally 

different performance characteristics than crystalline or semi-crystalline forms of PHA. It is certified biodegradable under 

industrial compost, soil (ambient), and marine environments. Modifying PLA with amorphous PHA leads to improvements 

in mechanical properties, such as toughness, and ductility, while maintaining clarity. It also allows adjustment in the 

biodegradability of PLA and can potentially lead to a home compostable product. 

NatureWorks and CJ BIO will collect feedback from existing and potential customers across a range of applications and 

markets including packaging, food service ware, and organics recycling management to understand the growing need for 

functional product requirements that also align with sustainability goals. These collaborations will inform the companies’ 

product and technology development roadmap. The two companies say that the LOI is the start of what is expected to be a 

long-term relationship between NatureWorks and CJ BIO and are aiming to sign a master collaboration agreement in the near 

future. MT 

www.cjbio.net | www.natureworksllc.com 

News 



European Bioplastics has elected a new Board 

European Bioplastics (EUBP), the association representing 

the interests of the bioplastics industry in Europe, has elected 

a new Board. 

The EUBP leadership team will be headed by its new 

Chairperson, Stefan Barot (Biotec) and supported by the new 

Vice Chairpersons, Lars Börger (Neste) and Mariagiovanna 

Vetere (NatureWorks). “Never before has our industry 

received that much of attention. Economically and politically, 

these are pivotal times, and I’m very pleased to be able to 

support our industry in my new role as EUBP Chair”, says 

Stefan Barot. 

“Crucial EU legislation on bioplastics is expected to be 

adopted by the end of the year and beyond. This is a great 

opportunity to fully acknowledge the role of biobased and 

compostable plastics within the circular economy. We 

welcome the European Commission’s initiatives to establish 

a clear and reliable political environment for bioplastics. This 

is crucial to ensure the continued successful development of 

our industry. It also enables bioplastics to contribute to the 

achievement of the EU’s ambitious climate goals, especially 

a lower environmental footprint”, he adds. 

Afsaneh Nabifar (BASF SE), Peter von den Kerkhoff 

(Covation Biomaterials LLC), Patrick Zimmermann (FKuR), 

Franz Kraus (Novamont), Paolo La Scola (TotalEnergies 

Corbion), and Erwin Lepoudre (Kaneka) are also members of 

the new Board, with the latter serving as the Treasurer. 

“I would like to express my gratitude to all members of the 

previous board for their great contributions to our association 

over the past term”, says Barot and adds: “In the name of 

European Bioplastics I would also like to express special 

appreciation to my predecessor, François de Bie, who had 

served the association as Chairperson for almost ten years. 

Now, important tasks lie ahead of us and I’m very much 

looking forward to actively approaching them”. AT 

www.european-bioplastics.org 

(left to right): E. Lepoudre, F. Kraus, A. Nabifar, L. Börger, S. Barot, 

P. La Scola, and (sitting): P. von den Kerkhoff, M. Vetere, and P. 

Zimmermann (not on the picture) (Photo: European Bioplastics). 


Events 

Bioplastics Business Breakfast 

The unique conference during K 2022 

20 - 22 October 2022, Düsseldorf, Germany 

Preliminary Programme 

Thursday, 20 October 2022 

Stefan Barot, European Bioplastics The current policy situation in Europe 

Francois de Bie, TotalEnergies Corbion The commercialization roadmap for the mechanical and chemical recycling of PLA 

Martin Bussmann, Neste 

CO 2 

reduction by using renewable PP for thermoformed packaging applications 

Gregory Coué & Carlos Duch, Kompuestos Compostable solutions for food packaging to tackle plastic pollution 

Lorena Rodríguez, AIMPLAS 

Biobased coating for Packaging application opportunities & challenges 

Frank Hoebener, Natur-Tec Europe Advanced biobased and compostable films for consumer packaging & lamination application 

Albrecht Läufer, BluCon Biotech Second generation feedstock for PLA to improve sustainability of packing 

Allegra Muscatello, Taghleef Industries Packaging films based on BO-PLA, PHA and bio-PP (t.b.c.) 

Erik Pras, Biotec 

Added value of compostable products in packaging applications 

Bruno de Wilde, OWS 

Compostable packaging - Pros & Cons 

Friday, 21 October 2022 

Jan Ravenstijn, GO!PHA 

N.N. (t.b.d.), Kaneka 

Hugo Vuurens, CJ Bio 

Eligio Martini (t.b.c.), MAIP 

Amir Afshar, Shellworks 

Sander Strijbos, Helian 

Fred Pinczuk, Beyond Plastic 

Daniel Ganz, Sukano 

Michael Carus, nova-Institute 

the status of the PHA-platform 

Latest developments in PHBH (t.b.c.) 

Amorphous PHA, the solution to improve biodegradability speed of many biopolymers 

Application examples for PHA compounds (t.b.c.) 

PHA-based cosmetics packaging 

PHA, opportunities and challenges 

Joining efforts to address PHA adaptation to packaging technologies 

Masterbatches for PHA 

Renewable Carbon Plastics, with focus on PHA 

Saturday, 22 October 2022 

Lars Börger, EUBP 

Can biopolymers contribute to a carbon positive chemistry? 

Christina Granacher, BeGaMo 

Recyclable, durable and circular biopolymer solutions 

Ari Rosling, ABM Composites 

Advanced biocomposites based on bioplastics and degradable glass fibre reinforcements 

Stefan Roest, Borealis 

Bio-PE and Bio-PP for durable applications 

Stefan Seidel, Bond-Laminates Biobased raw materials for high-performance composites 

Christian Müller, Emery Oleochemicals Biobased polymeric plasticisers 

Alexander Piontek, Fraunhofer 

PLA in technical applications 

Pedro Lutz, Earth Renewable Technologies Short Fiber Reinforced Polymer (SFRP) 

Belén Monje, AIMPLAS 

Bioplastics in durable applications 

Programme subject to changes. A few speaking slots are still available. 

Please contact mt@bioplasticsmagazine.com 

www.bioplastics-breakfast.com 


Register Now 

organized by 

20 - 22.10.2022 

Messe Düsseldorf, Germany 

BIOPLASTICS 

BUSINESS 

BREAKFAST 

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Bioplastics in 

Packaging 

PHA, Opportunities 

& Challenges 

Bioplastics in 

Durable Applications 


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Supported by 

At the World‘s biggest trade show on 

plastics and rubber: K 2022 in Düsseldorf, 

Germany, bioplastics will certainly play an 

important role again. On three days during 

the show bioplastics MAGAZINE will host a 

Bioplastics Business Breakfast: From 8am 

to 12pm the delegates will enjoy highclass 

presentations and unique networking 

opportunity. 

Venue: CCD Ost, Messe Düsseldorf 

The trade fair opens at 10 am.

Polyurethanes 

Climate neutral polyurethane 

Covestro introduces two recyclable precursors for polyurethane foams 

Covestro (Leverkusen, Germany) has added two 

important products to its range of more sustainable 

raw materials this year: By using renewable raw 

materials in production, methylene diphenyl diisocyanate 

(MDI) is now also available as a climate-neutral 1 variant, 

and toluene diisocyanate (TDI) is available in a significantly 

CO 2 

-reduced variant. Both isocyanates are one of the two 

main components in the production of rigid and flexible 

polyurethane (PU) foams. For decades, MDI has been 

processed into highly efficient PU rigid foam insulation 

materials that contribute to a significant reduction in 

energy consumption and CO 2 

emissions throughout the use 

phase in building insulation and the cooling chain. Another 

application is moulded foam, which is used to make seat 

cushions for automobiles. TDI is the basis for the production 

of PU flexible foam, which provides a great deal of comfort 

in mattresses and upholstered furniture, but also in car 

seats and shoes. 

Both products are manufactured using alternative raw 

materials – based on plant waste, which is allocated to 

the products using certified mass balancing according to 

ISCC PLUS. By using such mass-balanced raw materials, 

Covestro aims to significantly reduce its indirect emissions 

in the supply chain and offer products with a reduced 

carbon footprint. 

With its gradual shift to more sustainable products – 

partly via mass balancing – Covestro is helping customers 

in various industries achieve their climate targets and drive 

the transition to a circular economy. Customers can use 

both products as a technical drop-in solution, meaning they 

can be quickly and easily integrated into existing production 

processes without the need for technical changes. The 

mass balance method is not new – it is already established 

in the food (e.g. tea, cocoa) or packaging industry. It is 

essential for incorporating more sustainable raw materials 

cost-effectively and efficiently into complex value chains. 

Double the sustainability benefits 

Thanks to the use of alternative raw materials through 

mass balancing, the new MDI grade is climate-neutral 1 

from the cradle to the factory gate of Covestro. According 

to standard calculation models, no net CO 2 

emissions are 

generated during production in this part of the value cycle. 

In addition to the good thermal insulation properties of PU 

insulation materials, Covestro’s climate-neutral MDI now 

also helps to reduce the embodied carbon of a building. 

Thus, the use of the more sustainable PU insulation material 

has twice the payoff – the carbon footprint is improved both 

during the production of the building and throughout its 

use phase. This applies to new residential and commercial 

buildings as well as to the renovation of older properties, 

thereby an important contribution can be made to the 

responsible use of primary resources and to the significant 

reduction of CO 2 

emissions. Covestro produces the climateneutral 

MDI and its precursors at its ISCC PLUS-certified 

sites in Krefeld-Uerdingen, Antwerp, and Shanghai. 

Renewable 2 TDI also has a significantly reduced carbon 

footprint from cradle to factory gate compared to the fossilbased 

product. Renewable TDI meets demands for more 

sustainable production while ensuring the good quality, 

optimal comfort, and high breathability known from fossilbased 

TDI. It also meets the expectations of the automotive 

industry, which is looking for alternative raw materials for 

car seat cushions with a lower carbon footprint. Covestro 

manufactures TDI at its ISCC PLUS-certified sites in 

Dormagen and Shanghai. The first customer for renewable 

TDI was the Chinese company Sinomax. 

Covestro is also working on making the second important 

raw material for polyurethane foams more sustainable – the 

polyol component – also using mass-balanced precursors. MT 

www.covestro.com 

The new climate-neutral MDI of Covestro (from cradle to factory 

gate) can be used in rigid polyurethane foam insulation elements 

for highly efficient building insulation. Photo: Covestro 

Covestro also offers a renewable TDI obtained from biomass 

waste via mass balancing. One important application is soft 

foams for upholstered furniture. Photo: Covestro 

1: Climate neutrality is the result of an internal assessment of a partial product life 

cycle from raw material extraction (cradle) to the factory gate of Covestro, also known 

as the cradle-to-gate assessment. The methodology of our life cycle assessment, 

which has been critically reviewed by TÜV Rheinland, is based on ISO standards 14040 

and 14044. The calculation takes into account biogenic carbon sequestration based on 

preliminary data from the supply chain. No compensatory measures were applied. 

2: Renewable TDI is produced using the mass balance approach using renewable 

raw materials – from virgin biomass as well as biowaste and residues – which are 

mathematically assigned to the product. The same methodology is used to assess 

Covestro’s partial product life cycle from cradle to factory gate as for climate-neutral 

MDI. 


4 + 5 April 2023 – Nuremberg, Germany 

+ 

Save the date 

Call for papers 

www.bio-toy.info 

organized by 

Media Partner 

Coorganized by 

Innovation Consulting Harald Kaeb 


Elastomers 

Sustainable thermoplastic 

co-polyester elastomers 

Sipol SpA, founded in 1998 and now part of the TECNOGI 

Group (Borgolavezzaro, Italy), is a chemical company 

whose core business is the polymerization of highperformance 

polymers, developing and manufacturing 

thermoplastic ether-ester elastomers (TPC-ET), copolyester 

and co-polyamide based hotmelt adhesives, and 

biodegradable co-polyesters. 

Thanks to its wide range of high-performance copolymers, 

Sipol successfully operates in the following 

markets: automotive, footwear, industrial, packaging, 

consumer goods, sports and leisure, cosmetic and personal 

care, and E/E. The company currently sells EUR 31 million 

of specialty polymers, developed and manufactured at its 

plant in Mortara, located about 40 km southwest of Milan. 

The company is widening its product portfolio for 

sustainable growth from both a financial and an 

environmental point of view: after the launch of the new 

certified biodegradable and compostable products named 

TECHNIPOL Bio, Sipol presents its new range of biobased 

high-performance thermoplastic co-polyester elastomers 

named SIPOLPRENE S. 

Sipolprene S, focus on Sustainability 

TPC-ET are segmented block copolymers obtained through 

the combination of rigid (polyester) segments and soft 

(polyether) segments which offer high performances of the 

final product such as chemical and mechanical resistance. 

The easiest modification is the replacement of synthetic 

1,4 Butanediol (BDO) with bio-1,4 Butanediol (bio-BDO) 

coming from biorefinery processes. This replacement has 

no impact on Sipolprene properties and performances, 

but the renewable content (C 14 /C 12 according to ASTM 

D6866), with a range of 10–30 % certainly does not add any 

significant extra costs to the final product. 

The actual innovative driver for a sustainable final product 

is the use of derivates of ricinoleic acid obtained from 

vegetable oils hydrolysis in the soft block of the polymer 

chain, partially replacing the polyol PTMG. 

This modification allows bringing an additional amount of 

renewable resources between 20 and 35 % with moderate 

additional costs. 

Sipol has developed more sustainable alternative 

products, starting from four selected Sipolprene standard 

grades in terms of hardness; in this study, two modifications 

have been applied: 

Step 1: Partial replacement of polyether in the chain with 

derivatives of ricinoleic acid from agro-industrial residues. 

Step 2: Substitution of BDO with bio-BDO, obtained from 

starch and sugar fermentation. 

The combination of the two modifications allows reaching 

at least 46 % of renewable content in all final products 

developed (C 14 /C 12 according to ASTM D6866). For each 

selected grade, which differ in hardness, two grades with 

corresponding levels of renewable material have been 

developed as described in Figure 1. 

Features of Sipolprene S vs Sipolprene 

The new biobased Sipolprene S grades match the 

high performance of TPC with environmental needs to 

meet sustainability targets while staying economically 

competitive. To better understand the strengths and 

weaknesses of these new bio-alternative TPC and the 

extent of this variation in the chemistry of TPC-ET, an indepth 

comparative analysis between the Sipolprene S and 

Sipolprene has been done (Table 1), resulting in: 

• Reachable renewable content of up to 50 % 

• Comparable thermal behaviour 

• Comparable chemical resistance: internal tests have 

been carried out according to ASTM D 543 with the 

indicated substances: antifreeze, ethanol, hydraulic oil, 

mineral oil, soap solution, and isododecane. Results 

after 14 days of immersion at Room temperature 

confirm that the biobased Sipolprene S shows a good 

chemical resistance like the standard grades. 

• Improved hydrolysis resistance: the presence of the 

biobased raw material derived from ricinoleic acid, 

in the chemistry of TPC-ET, seems to significantly 

improve the hydrolysis resistance in comparison to the 

related standard grades. 

• Lower water absorption and O 2 

permeability: the 

introduction of low polarity monomers allows to 

decrease water absorption and consequently increases 

water resistance and O 2 

permeability 

• Comparable mechanical properties: considering 

hardness as a fixed starting point, density and 

compression set remained unaffected. In general, a 

slight decrease in the mechanical properties has been 

observed, specifically stress and elongation at break. 

• Equivalent processability 

• Similar regulatory package, mainly on food contact 

compliances, cosmetic, toys regulation and for the 

absence of substances of concern (Compliance 

Statement available on request). 

Economically… Sustainable 

Economical sustainability means not only minimizing the 

cost impact of monomers from renewable sources (RS) but 

rather the development of alternative products industrially 

feasible in the existing polymerization plant, avoiding any 

additional costs related to new equipment and reducing 

time to market. 

Sipol’s goal in this project was to offer an eco-alternative 

to the existing TPC-ET product range that is both 

environmental and economically sustainable. 

As mentioned above, considering the chemical structure 

there are few possible ways to obtain partially biobased 

TPC. Considering one of the standard grades, Sipolprene 


Elastomers 

% RS through STEP 1 (ricinolenic acid derivates) 

% RS through STEP 2 (ricinolenic acid derivates and bio BDO) 

33% 49% 

30% 51% 

25% 49% 

19%46% 

55200, a TPC-ET with hardness Shore D 55, Figure 2 shows 

the additional costs related to three different ways to obtain 

a partially biobased TPC with comparable properties and 

performance: 

- with the use of ricinoleic acid derivatives (step 1, 

Sipolprene S 5501) 25 % of RS content can be reached 

with an additional cost of +18 %. 

- with the combination of bio-BDO and ricinoleic acid 

derivatives (step 2, Sipolprene S 5502) 49 % of RS 

content can be reached with an additional cost of 

+29 %. 

- to avoid modification in the chemical nature of the 

soft block of the polymer, it is possible to substitute 

both PTMG and BDO with respectively bio-PTMG 

and bio-BDO. In the case of both replacements, an 

RS content of 52 % can be achieved; although this 

way leads to a very similar RS content to the one 

PROPERTIES 

HARDNESS 

instantaneous / 15s 

STRESS AT BREAK 

ShD 28 

ShD 46 

ShD 55 

ShD 63 

Figure 1: Sipolprene S products 

SIPOLPRENES 2571 








RENEWABLE 

CONTENT 

RS 

ADDITIONAL 

COST 

SIPOLPRENE 

55200 

Standard 

formulation 

TEST 

SIPOLPRENE 

METHOD 

U.M. 

ISO 25170 S 2571 46185 S 4681 55200 S 5501 63210 S 6311 

868 Shore D 28/25 28/26 45/42 46/43 53/50 54/50 62/59 63/60 

527 MPa 22 15 32 29 43 36 50 40 

25 % 

SIPOLPRENE 

S 5501 

with ricinolenic 

acid derivates 

+18 % 

SIPOLPRENE 

S 5502 

with combination 

of bio-BDO and 

ricinolenic acid 

derivates 

+29 % 

Figure 2: Over costs related to the use of different monomers from 

renewable sources. 

obtained in step 2 of our study, the additional cost on 

the standard grade is + 86 %. 

The latter solution, notwithstanding a renewable sources 

content highly comparable to Sipolprene S 5502, is not as 

economical as the modifications of step 2. 

Conclusion 

The biobased polymers, Green monomers, obtained from 

biorefinery processes of agro-industrial residues, have 

a lower carbon footprint and some other advantages 

compared to synthetic polymers. However, only using 

renewable raw materials is not enough to make a product 

truly sustainable. 

SIPOL is already focused on the main aspects of its 

polymers circularity by developing eco-solutions to minimize 

both the economic and the environmental impacts: from 

the use of energy coming only from renewable sources 

(hydroelectrical, aeolian, biomasses), certified by AXPO, to 

the use of monomers coming from renewable sources in 

most of our polymers; in the specific case of Sipolprene S, 

ricinoleic acid derivatives are obtained from agro-industrial 

residues, according to the new biorefinery concept. 

Furthermore, Sipol’s first sustainability report will be 

issued for the financial year 2022. In order to demonstrate 

the lower impact on the environment of this technology, LCA 

studies on Sipolprene S are currently underway. 

49% 

Sipolprene S products are 

already industrially available 

and the R&D team is already 

working on the extension of 

the hardness range. 

https://www.sipol.com/ 

52 % 

TPC-ET 

ShD 55 

with bioPTMG e 

bio-BDO 

+86 % 

ELONGATION 

BREAK 

COMPRESSION 

(70°C) 

DENSITY 

MELTING 

TEMPERATURE 

GLASS TRANSITION 

TEMPERATURE 

AT 

SET 

527 % 850 361 700 420 650 389 500 370 

815:1991 MPa 67 71 69 73 61 64 62 67 

1183 g/cm 3 1,09 1,09 1,15 1,14 1,19 1,20 1,22 1,21 

11357-3 °C 173 161 186 183 198 195 211 209 

11357-2 °C -65 -57 -39 -37 -24 -27 3 -4,0 

Table 1: Main properties of SIPOLPRENE S Vs standard SIPOLPREN 

By: 

Bolgiaghi Elena, 

Product Manager Sipolprene 

Del Prete Danilo, 

R&D Secialist Co-polyesters 

SIPOL SPA, Società Italiana 

Polimeri, Mortara, Italy 


Polyurethanes 

Chemical recycling of 

polyurethane 

Combining ecological and economic advantages 

RAMPF Eco Solutions (Pirmasens, Germany) has 

been developing chemical processes for the recycling of 

polyurethane and PET wastes for more than thirty years. Using 

solvolysis (glycolysis, acidolysis, and aminolysis), recycled 

polyols are manufactured from post-consumer residues such 

as used mattresses, furniture, car and motorcycle seats, 

fitness and leisure items, and production waste. Industrial 

residues such as scrap or entire products at the end of their 

life cycle are also processed. 

The resulting recycled polyols are at the very least 

comparable with polyols otherwise obtained from fossil raw 

materials, both in terms of quality and technical properties. 

They can therefore be used directly in the production process 

for new polyurethane-based products, including in the 

automotive, aerospace, construction, electrical/electronics, 

energy technology, filter, household appliance, medical 

technology, rail, ship, and wood/furniture industries. 

The economic viability of Rampf Eco Solutions’ recycled 

polyols is further enhanced by the fact that they are precisely 

tailored to the respective applications of customers. For 

example, producers of polyurethane tooling boards or moulded 

parts can improve the compressive strength of insulating 

foams, the chemical stability of casting compounds, or the 

compatibility of polyurethane systems by adding recycling 

polyols. 

Rampf Eco Solutions also developed a process for the 

chemical recycling of PET back in 1999 together with the 

German Society for Circular Economy and Raw Materials 

(DKR). The recycling polyols generated here are particularly 

suitable for the production of rigid foams. Polyesters such as 

polylactides, polycarbonate, and polyhydroxyalkanoates are 

also used as raw material sources, as well as renewable or 

biobased raw materials, amongst others rapeseed oil. 

Companies that have a high volume of PU residues can 

produce customized recycled polyols on site with their own 

recycling plant. The polyols can then be fed directly back 

into the production process, saving costs and protecting the 

environment. These multi-functional plants developed and 

constructed Rampf Eco Solutions also allow for the production 

of polyols using PET/PSA, polyesters such as PLA and PHB, 

as well as biomonomers. Leading plastics producers from 

Germany, France, Russia, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates 

are currently using these multifunctional recycling plants. MT 

www.rampf-group.com 

RAMPF Eco Solutions uses solvolysis to extract high-quality 

recycled polyols form polyurethane and PET waste. 

Magnetic 

for Plastics 

Multifunctional recycling plants enable customers with high 

residual volumes to produce their own recycled polyols 

www.plasticker.com 

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from the Industrial Sector and the Plastics Markets. 

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Innovate for Good 

Fostering a Circular Economy 

Look around you. Plastic is part of our everyday life. It is found in vehicles, 

appliances and consumer electronics that move, assist, entertain, and connect us. 

Clothes that warm and protect us and in medical devices that save lives. 

But plastic waste in the environment continues to be a challenge. That’s 

why companies like DuPont are continuing to innovate and partner with the value 

chain to improve how plastics are made, used, and recycled to help bring us all 

closer to creating a circular economy. 

Let’s talk about how we can make our solutions more circular – together. 

dupont.com/mobility-materials/sustainability 

Visit us at the K Show – Hall 6, Stand C43 – to learn more. 

DuPont, the DuPont Oval Logo, and all trademarks and service marks denoted with , SM or ® are owned by affiliates of DuPont de Nemours, Inc. unless otherwise noted. © 2022 DuPont. 


Recycling 

Molecular recycling 

Understanding material-to-material methanolysis 

“Molecular (or chemical) recycling isn’t ready for 

commercial operation” – or so many people believe. 

With methanolysis, a specific type of molecular recycling 

technology, this common misperception couldn’t be further 

from the truth. Eastman Kodak Company (a forerunner 

of today’s Eastman) used methanolysis commercially for 

three decades to recycle photographic and X-ray film. 

The technology was capable of recycling much more, but 

until the last few years, the demand for recycled content 

was missing. Now that the market is alive and growing, 

methanolysis has an important role to play in shaping 

a more sustainable materials industry – if stakeholders 

across the value chains work in tandem to create a robust 

recycling ecosystem. 

Renewing polyester waste for high-value uses 

Polyester products that can’t be mechanically recycled 

are destined to wind up in a landfill or incinerator (or, 

worst of all, out in the environment). Those end-of-life 

options abruptly end the potentially infinite useful life of 

the polyester molecules. Enter methanolysis – a molecular 

recycling technology that makes new materials out of 

polyester plastic waste that has been diverted from landfills 

and incinerators. 

Mechanical recycling chops and shreds plastic; only 

altering its physical form and causing some quality 

degradation. Methanolysis, on the other hand, uses a 

process called depolymerization. By heating the polyester 

waste plastic and treating it with methanol, it unzips the 

polyesters and converts them back to their molecular 

building blocks, dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) and ethylene 

glycol (EG). Colours and additives are removed in the 

process. 

The molecules that result from methanolysis are 

indistinguishable from materials made with virgin content. 

Eastman uses those pure DMT and EG molecules to make 

new materials – not fuel or energy. They are ideal for 

making specialty copolyesters that go into packaging and 

durable medical, beauty, and electronic applications, among 

others. Eastman also sees the potential for using molecular 

recycled content in food-grade PET packaging. 

Methanolysis feedstock: big challenge, bigger 

opportunity 

Mechanical recycling processes are limited to certain 

types of plastic that can be used in a limited number 

of end-use applications. Methanolysis processes 

polyester materials that pose a challenge to mechanical 

recycling, such as coloured plastic bottles, carpet fibres, 

films, and even polyester-based clothing. Eastman 

ensures that its methanolysis recycling technology 

does not compete against mechanical recycling 

for polyester feedstock, but rather complements it. 

The company follows a three-part feedstock acquisition 

strategy: 

1. Purchase low-value materials, like used PET strapping 

and rejected plastic waste from conventional mechanical 

recycling facilities. 

2. Forge innovative partnerships to collect and transport 

hard-to-recycle plastic waste, like carpet and textiles 

that would not go into the mechanical stream. 

3. Create completely new feedstock streams for items such 

as coloured bottles and thermoform clamshell food 

packaging that cannot be processed mechanically. 

Eastman’s single greatest challenge in scaling up 

methanolysis is accessing enough feedstock when the 

recycling infrastructure does not yet exist. Material makers 

like Eastman, consumer packaged goods brands, waste 

companies, and other stakeholders are partnering to build 

a supply pipeline to make sure the polyester plastic waste 

can reach methanolysis recycling facilities. 

The opportunity is worth the challenge. While mechanical 

recycling delays the landfilling of plastic, methanolysis 

enables Eastman to recycle polyester waste over and over 

again without degradation, keeping those materials out of 

the landfill and in the value chain. And it does so with a 

lower carbon footprint compared to virgin, nonrecycled 

plastic production. 

The life cycle perspective of methanolysis 

Recycling technologies that reduce waste yet release 

more carbon emissions than virgin production are not an 

acceptable solution. True solutions must operate at the 

intersection of the plastic waste crisis, climate change, and 

population growth. 

Eastman is committed to advancing technologies 

that reduce environmental impacts and enable a lowercarbon 

future. To ensure they are making good on that 

commitment in the realm of molecular recycling, Eastman 

commissioned a third-party verified life cycle assessment 

(LCA) of its methanolysis process. The LCA (assessable 

on Eastman’s website), which was published in early 

2022, compares the global warming potential and other 

environmental indicators of DMT produced via methanolysis 

(using recycled feedstock) to DMT made using conventional 

processes (and virgin fossil feedstock). 

For this cradle-to-gate LCA, the cradle begins at raw 

material extraction; in the case of plastic waste feeds, 

this begins at the end of the previous life of the material 

when it is deemed to be waste. The gate is internal to 

Eastman at the point where rDMT and rEG (intermediates) 

are manufactured. Between these two points, the LCA 

includes raw material acquisition, upstream operations, 

energy supply and all relevant processing at Eastman. The 


By: 

Jason Pierce 

Senior Technical Leader of Circular Economy 

Eastman 

Kingsport, Tennessee, USA 

Recycling 

study used the state-of-the-art Environmental Footprint 

(EF) impact assessment methodology developed by the 

European Commission. 

The study shows that DMT from methanolysis has 

significantly lower impacts than conventional DMT in 13 

out of the 14 environmental impact categories studied. 

Most notably, the climate change impact for DMT from 

methanolysis is 29 % lower. This was calculated by using 

global warming potential (GWP) characterization factors for 

all greenhouse gas emissions and expressing the results 

on the basis of kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents 

emitted to the atmosphere. Roughly 73 % less fossil fuel 

natural resources are used in methanolysis vs. conventional 

DMT production, and methanolysis also ranks significantly 

better in terms of water and human health-related impacts. 

For the sake of conservatism, the study only takes the 

function of material production into account; if the functional 

unit of the study were extended to also include avoided 

plastic waste disposal, the carbon footprint of methanolysis 

would compare even more favourably due to receiving credit 

for the avoided landfilling or incineration of plastic waste 

inputs. As is, the study results clearly demonstrate that 

recycling polyesters via methanolysis tackles more than the 

plastic waste crisis – it also addresses climate change. 

Mechanical recycling remains the least energy-intensive 

recycling technology, and it is important that clean, clear 

polyesters that can be mechanically recycled continue 

to be recycled in this fashion. It is equally important to 

send difficult-to-recycle polyester waste to methanolysis 

facilities that can make a substantial difference in the plastic 

industry’s overall carbon footprint – which is predicted to 

keep growing even as the world desperately needs to shift 

to a low-carbon economy. 

It takes an ecosystem 

Mechanical recycling and molecular recycling via 

methanolysis certainly aren’t the only two solutions for 

tackling the plastic waste crisis and climate change. The 

world needs an all of the above approach to material-tomaterial 

recycling technologies to truly make a difference 

in these two interconnected issues. Jason Pierce, senior 

technical leader for Circular Economy and Life Cycle 

Assessment at Eastman, says, “I see this as an ecosystem 

of infrastructure and complementary technologies that 

will be optimized over time”. The ecosystem encompasses 

the complementary roles of mechanical and molecular 

recycling, as well as recycling’s relationship to other waste 

reduction and climate solutions, such as bioplastics. 

Pierce is also quick to point out that the ecosystem 

includes much more than the technologies themselves. 

Collaboration across the value chain and with policymakers 

is just as important for a robust, future-ready waste 

reduction ecosystem. It takes brands willing to purchase 

different types of recycled materials for their products – and 

then launching take-back programs to get that material 

back to a recycling facility. It takes partners building new 

feedstock streams and infrastructure. 

As a materials manufacturer, Eastman is actively 

participating in increasing demand and building up supply. 

The company is currently running pilot methanolysis plants 

while building two new state-of-the-art methanolysis 

facilities in the United States and France. 

The US facility, located at Eastman headquarters in 

Kingsport, Tennessee, will have a capacity to process more 

than 100,000 tonnes of polyester plastic waste annually. 

By as early as 2025, the USD 1 billion plant in France is 

expected to be capable of processing up to 160,000 tonnes of 

plastic per year. The facility will include equipment to break 

mixed-plastic bales and prepare material for processing, 

a methanolysis unit to break down polyester waste plastic 

into DMT and EG, and a unit to purify and repolymerize the 

chemicals into Eastman’s branded polymers for use in 

packaging, textiles, and other products. 

www.eastman.com 

Understanding mass balance 

Molecular recycled and virgin materials are 

indistinguishable. Mass balance is an accounting 

system used to track the recycled content through 

complex manufacturing processes. This vetted and 

standardized system is used in a variety of industries. It 

is analogous to how power companies account for the 

sale of renewable energy to consumers using an electric 

grid. It’s also how some brands certify the amount of 

sustainably sourced cocoa in their products. 


Blow Moulding 

R-Cycle optimizes recycling 

How is extrusion blow moulding driving the future circular economy? 

Together with raw material manufacturer Braskem 

(São Paulo, Brazil), plastic packaging manufacturer 

KautexTextron (Bonn, Germany) and Dutch recycling 

specialist Morssinkhoff Plastics (Zeewolde), Kautex 

Maschinenbau (Bonn, Germany) has launched a second 

R-Cycle pilot project “Smart digital watermark packaging 

in Blow Molding”. The aim of the project is to make a further 

contribution to the future functional circular economy. 

Improving the recyclability of plastic packaging 

in extrusion blow moulding 

The project aims to cover as many consumer packaging 

application areas as possible. The target products are 

250ml beverage bottles, 1-litre cans for solid detergents, 

3-litre handle bottles for household chemicals and 20-litre 

canisters for chemicals. All bottles were produced by 

extrusion blow moulding and feature a single-layer wall 

made of PE. The bottle caps are also made of polyethylene 

or polypropylene. The mono-design and the use of the 

same material for the packaging components significantly 

improve the recyclability of the packaging. 

Document packaging properties with digital 

product passport 

R-Cycle provides an open and globally applicable 

traceability standard for an automated data transfer process. 

All recycling-relevant information: the manufacturer, the 

types of plastic contained, the proportion of recycled and 

biobased material, and details of 

the packaging’s application in 

the food or non-food sector 

are recorded by the 

Kautex blow moulding 

machine during 

production in the 

form of a digital 

product passport 

and stored on the 

R-Cycle server in 

the GS1 Global 

Tracing Standard. 

A mark is placed 

on the containers 

to identify and read 

this information in 

further processes up to the 

waste sorting 

system. R-Cycle is open to a number of different marking 

technologies, such as a QR code or a digital watermark. 

In the pilot project presented here, a 

digital product passport is generated 

for each bottle in the form of a digital 

watermark. These codes, which 

are invisible to the human eye and 

extend over the entire surface of the 

packaging label, can be linked to the 

data in the R-Cycle database. All the 

relevant information mentioned above 

is then located here. In this way, waste 

sorting systems with the appropriate 

recognition technologies are able to 

identify recyclable packaging. This 

creates the basis for obtaining highquality 

materials for a truly effective 

recycling system. Moreover, these 

codes can be read on any smartphone 

using the Digimarc app, for example. 


R-Cycle system ensures packaging traceability 

along the entire value chain 

As part of the pilot project, the recycling-relevant data was 

recorded on machines of the participating customers and 

partners and stored on the R-Cycle server in accordance 

with the global GS1 standard. This transmission process 

makes the data immediately available along the entire 

value chain. 

The most important know-how of Kautex Maschinenbau 

within the pilot project is the development of a data 

acquisition system R-Connector as an interface between 

the extrusion blow moulding production and the cloudbased 

R-Cycle platform. The necessary data along the 

entire value chain can therefore be transmitted to the 

common R-Cycle database and is immediately accessible 

to the entire value chain. 

By using the R-Connector in machine control systems 

from Kautex Maschinenbau, production data is collected, 

analysed, and uploaded directly to the R-Cycle server, 

which significantly increases production efficiency 

and transparency. As a result, waste sorting systems 

supported by standard detection technologies can more 

efficiently identify recyclable packaging by type. This open 

and globally applicable traceability standard is the key to 

obtaining high-quality recyclates for true recycling in the 

future. MT 

COMPEO 

Leading compounding technology 

for heat- and shear-sensitive plastics 

Automotive 

Uniquely efficient. Incredibly versatile. Amazingly flexible. 

With its new COMPEO Kneader series, BUSS continues 

to offer continuous compounding solutions that set the 

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• Moderate, uniform shear rates 

• Extremely low temperature profile 

• Efficient injection of liquid components 

• Precise temperature control 

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www.kautex-group.com 


Blow Moulding 

Bioplastics 

for bottles & containers 

In Germany, the 2021 amendment to the Packaging Act 

(VerpackG) is intended to adapt to EU directives and 

facilitate its enforcement. Among other things, the 

minimum recyclate use for single-use plastic bottles will be 

increased, which must be at least 30 % by 2030. In addition, as 

of 1 January 2022, the deposit obligation has been extended 

and 63 % of all plastics must now be recycled. On the 

one hand, this is to reduce the greenhouse gas-intensive 

production of virgin plastic. On the other hand, it aims 

to reduce the purely thermal recycling (incineration) of 

recyclable packaging, which also releases a lot of CO 2 

, as 

well as the environmental pollution caused by improperly 

disposed of plastic waste. But the legislator’s regulations 

to date are only the beginning: in order to secure their 

own marketability, companies must therefore now act 

proactively – and do so with packaging, e.g. bottles and 

containers, made of bioplastics. 

Legal regulations such as the German Circular Economy 

Act (KrWG) and the recently amended Packaging Act are 

exerting increasing pressure on the industry, but social 

awareness of sustainable consumption and waste reduction 

is also developing more and more. This leads to a noticeable 

increase in demand for environmentally friendly solutions, 

especially for bottles, cans, and canisters. Therefore, the 

industry must react now: companies that refuse to do so 

run the risk of no longer being marketable in the future 

due to the constantly growing legal and social pressure. 

For alternatives to resource-intensive fossil-based plastic, 

however, it must be taken into account that the legislator 

imposes varying requirements for the different containers 

depending on their respective contents. Furthermore, 

biobased materials in particular are often more costintensive 

due to their lower availability and smaller 

production volumes. 

Environmentally friendly solutions: bioplastics 

combine many advantages 

Compared to conventional virgin plastic materials, which 

consist entirely of petroleum-based polymers and synthetic 

resins, bioplastics conserve already scarce fossil resources 

and have a significantly better CO 2 

balance. This is because 

biobased plastic cannot release more CO 2 

back into the 

atmosphere during energy recovery or – if possible – biogenic 

recycling as the plants have absorbed from the atmosphere 

during their growth phase. Thus, biopolymers are 

considered climate-neutral, whereas burning fossil raw 

materials releases large amounts of additional emissions. 

For bottle or container applications, glass is often used as 

an alternative, as it is assumed to have a better eco-balance 

than conventional plastics. Although the material is foodsafe, 

hygienic, and easy to recycle, the risk of breakage and 

the greater weight are disadvantages compared to biobased 

plastics, which is why it is not suitable for every application. 

Furthermore, the recycling of glass with its high melting 

temperature (far above 1,000°C) is very energy intensive. 

Also, the high density results in higher CO 2 

emissions during 

transport, which, in addition to procurement, production 

and disposal, is decisive for a conclusive life cycle analysis. 

As with most materials and applications, the individual 

advantages and disadvantages of glass must always be 

weighed up. 

Sustainable end-of-life scenarios 

Currently, a lot of use is also made of conventional 

recycled petroleum-based plastics, provided they are 

certified for use as food or cosmetics packaging. rPET 

(recycled polyethylene terephthalate), for example, is often 

well suited for food and cosmetics due to its high barrier 

properties and simple, unmixed collection, e.g. through the 

German deposit system. With rPP (recycled polypropylene) 

and rPS (recycled polystyrene), on the other hand, it has so 

far been difficult to ensure consistently high and unmixed 

material quality, as required for approval for food contact. 

In addition, the collection of both post-consumer recyclate 

(PCR) and post-industrial recyclate (PIR) from conventional 

plastics will become increasingly expensive in the future 

with the shift towards more sustainable packaging 

materials, as this is also a finite resource. 

Products made from environmentally friendly raw 

materials, such as those offered by Rixius AG (Mannheim, 

Germany) as part of its Save the Nature programme have 

a clear advantage compared with conventional recycled 

materials as they do not have the bottleneck of limited 

availability of high-quality recyclates as renewable 

feedstocks are versatile, readily available, and easily 

scalable. Moreover, they can be used to a large extent for 

food and cosmetics packaging without hesitation. Similar to 

their fossil relatives, the end-of-life scenarios for biobased 

plastics also have a significant impact on the sustainability 

balance. In general, closed material cycles for the avoidance 

and recycling of waste should also be aimed for here, as 

defined in the German Circular Economy Act. 

Intelligent resource management thanks to 

circular economy 

A basic distinction is made between biobased and 

biodegradable plastics. The latter can be compostable under 

certain conditions, such as the BRX and FLEX materials 

from Rixius. For this, however, industrial composting plants 

must be appropriately designed to be able to produce the 

necessary conditions such as a high ambient temperature, 

humidity, a certain pH value, and the right population of 

microorganisms. “The plastic compound BRX, for example, 

consists of renewable raw materials, such as bamboo 

fibres and PLA, and is suitable for injection moulding or 

injection blow moulding processes in food and cosmetics 

applications”, says Jörg Holzmann, Business Development 

Manager of Rixius. The biopolymer FLEX, on the other 


hand, is a newly developed PLA blend, for example, based 

on corn, sugar, or castor oil, which can be easily processed 

on conventional blow moulding machines. 

In many cases, however, it is more ecologically sound to 

recycle the biopolymers in closed cycles. This is because 

both the carbon and energy contained in these materials 

can be recycled so that high added value is possible 

thanks to the intelligent use of resources. Plastics that 

have the advantages of biobased production but are not 

biodegradable or even compostable are also characterised 

by their robustness: They can be used for a longer period 

of time before being returned to the recycling system as a 

raw material. 

For example, the proportion of renewable resources 

in the material group ARX from Rixius, whose variants 

are suitable to replace reusable PE blow moulding and 

PP injection moulding products, is at least 94 %. These 

alternatives to PE and PP bind about 2.97 and 2.36 kg of 

atmospheric CO 2 

, respectively, in just one kilogram of their 

granulate and – like their fossil relatives – can be coloured 

with the help of masterbatches. 

Sustainable packaging for food and cosmetics 

Food-safe, lightweight, robust and tear-resistant, flexibly 

mouldable and recyclable: biobased polymers have all 

the advantages of fossil plastic compounds, which are 

the most popular packaging materials, especially in the 

highly regulated food and lifestyle sector. At the same 

time, however, they significantly reduce the negative 

environmental impact of fossil virgin plastics, first and 

foremost the enormous CO 2 

emissions that result from its 

production and incineration. Many different bioplastics are 

available – depending on whether more emphasis is to be 

placed on biodegradation or even composting, or on aspects 

such as the type of processing and the durability of the end 

product. In addition to individual preferences, complex legal 

requirements that go beyond mere food approval must also 

be taken into account depending on the area of application. 

For this reason, the packaging specialists at Rixius provide 

individual advice for each application as part of their Save 

the Nature sustainability programme, in order to always 

find the most suitable and sustainable packaging solution 

from all variables. MT 

Bottles and containers made of 

biobased plastics (photo: Rixius AG) 

Products made from environmentally friendly raw 

materials (including wheat straw), such as those 

offered by Rixius AG (photo: Rixius AG) 

Blow Moulding 

www.rixius.com/ 

Currently, much use is made of conventional 

recyclates from petroleum-based plastics, provided 

they are certified for use as food or cosmetics 

packaging (photo: Rixius AG) 


Blow Moulding 

The most sustainable water bottle 

The environmental issues of producing and disposing of 

plastics are obvious. 

The dutch company Eurobottle (Dronten, the Netherlands) 

takes full responsibility by offering only sustainably produced and 

reusable water bottles. “However, we feel that this is not enough 

anymore and therefore we are constantly looking for possible 

steps towards a better future”, says Peter Westveer commercial 

director of Eurobottle Flestic Holding. “A future in which we are 

again in balance with our environment; nature and all other living 

beings on earth”. 

That’s why Eurobottle have produced their new Oasus water 

bottle. “We are not only looking at making the products even more 

sustainable by making them less heavy, but also at the phase 

after long-term reuse, namely the recycling process”, Peter adds. 

The Oasus water bottle is made entirely of biobased HDPE. 

By using biobased raw materials, a significant reduction of CO 2 

emissions is realised in comparison to standard fossil-based 

materials. Merely stating that your product is recyclable does not 

mean that the product will automatically be recycled. The product 

must meet a number of requirements in order to be recycled, 

such as: 

• The product must be made from a certain raw material (today 

almost exclusively PET, PP, or PE). 

• The product must be made entirely of one of the above 

materials, otherwise, it will have to be disposed of separately. 

The Oasus is not only one of the most sustainable water bottles 

ever but also offers the unique possibility of personalising the 

water bottle with the customer’s own logo. The bottle and cap 

are made of the same material, which makes them perfect 

for the recycling process. The Oasus is also the lightest bottle 

at the moment. Because less material is used, this bottle is 

more sustainable than others. It also reduces emissions during 

transport. In short, the most sustainable water bottle! MT 

www.eurobottle.nl 

8. KOOPERATIONSFORUM UND PARTNERING 

Biopolymere 

10. November 2022 | Online 

22 bioplastics MAGAZINE [04/22] Vol. 17 

Bildnachweis: iStock©Petmal 

Jetzt anmelden! 

www.bayern-innovativ.de/biopolymere2022

FRIMO. HIGH TECH AND HIGH PASSION. 

Lighter, faster, 

more efficient 

The blow moulding specialist W. MÜLLER (Troisdorf, 

Germany) has optimized the production process 

for plastic bottles with its technology for packaging 

manufacturer Flestic. Equipped with new extrusion 

heads on existing machinery, material consumption was 

reduced while maintaining the same quality, as well as 

reducing cycle time and energy consumption. 

With specifically designed extrusion heads from 

W. Müller, Flestic was successful in reducing the 

material usage for their bottles by 10 %, the processing 

temperature by 15 % and the cycle time by 20 %. In 

addition, the wall thickness distribution of the packaging 

was optimized, which made it possible to achieve greater 

stability. With the new heads, the colour change is also 

much faster. 

As a leading manufacturer of plastic packaging from 

Dronten in the Netherlands, Flestic has been placing 

its trust in W. Müller’s expertise for quite some time. 

Peter Westveer, Commercial Director at Flestic, is very 

impressed by the cooperation: “We approached W. Müller 

with the aim of optimizing our production process and 

are enthusiastic about the improvements achieved. The 

now-installed multiple extrusion heads fit easily on our 

systems and allow us to produce more efficiently and 

cost-effectively. Reducing cycle time and bottle weight 

saves resources and money!” 

Christian Müller, Managing Director of W. Müller adds: 

“Energy efficiency and process reliability have always 

been of great importance to us and our customers. Due 

to the high production quality and the specific design for 

the respective application, our customers can operate 

their blow moulding machines more sustainably. We are 

developing the right solution together and are happy to 

have successfully completed another project.” 

Flestic has already announced that they will continue 

to work with W. Müller in the future in order to further 

optimize its production. The blow moulding heads from 

W. Müller are perfectly suitable for also for the processing 

of biobased materials that Flestic uses in a range of its 

packaging products (see left page). MT 

https://mueller-ebm.com/en 

PURe 

FASCINATION. 

It‘s fascinating to see everything polyurethane makes 

possible! Our PURe tooling and equipment provides 

highly specialized solutions for the widest variety of 

applications, from prototyping to series production, 

for optimal polyurethane use. 

The FRIMO Augmented Reality 

App – exciting 3D views of our 

technologies! 

Automotive 

PU PROCESSING 

2022 

Visit us! K 2022 

Düsseldorf, Germany 

19 th – 26 th October 2022 | Hall 13 / C60 

www.frimo.com 


Blow Moulding / Bottles 

Offtake agreement on PEF 

for Fibre Bottle 

Carlsberg also launches consumer tests of the Fibre Bottle using 

Avantium‘s PEF as a barrier 

A 

vantium N.V., a leading technology company in 

renewable chemistry, announced on 22 June 2022 

that Carlsberg Group and Avantium have agreed 

to take the next step in the commercialisation of PEF. 

Carlsberg Group has signed a conditional offtake agreement 

with Avantium to secure a fixed volume of the 100 % plantbased, 

recyclable and high-performance polymer PEF 

(polyethylene furanoate) from Avantium’s FDCA Flagship 

Plant, which Avantium aims to start-up in 2024. Carlsberg 

will use the PEF resin for various packaging applications, 

including its Fibre Bottle - the biobased and fully recyclable 

beer bottle. 

Carlsberg has also launched a trial of its latest Fibre 

Bottle, which contains an inner layer of PEF produced in 

Avantium’s current Pilot Plant. Carlsberg will sample 

the Fibre Bottle to 8,000 consumers and other selected 

stakeholders in eight pilot markets in Western Europe. 

Avantium and Carlsberg have been partners since 2019 

as the companies worked together with Paboco ® (Paper 

Bottle Company) and the Paper Bottle Community. Paboco, 

Avantium and Carlsberg developed the Fibre Bottle, a 

barrier solution, and a pioneering packaging solution 

for Carlsberg beer, respectively. Today, the results are 

consisting of a wood fibre outer shell and a plant-based 

and recyclable PEF polymer liner. Beyond its sustainable 

packaging benefits, Avantium’s PEF has superior barrier 

properties, protecting the taste and fizziness of the beer 

and leading to a longer shelf life. PEF also has higher 

mechanical strength than conventional plastics, enabling 

thinner packaging and thereby reducing the amount of 

material required. In 2021, Avantium and Carlsberg signed 

a Joint Development Agreement to develop several PEF 

packaging applications, including the Fibre Bottle. With the 

test results of PEF in the Fibre Bottle proving successful, 

Carlsberg has decided to sign a conditional offtake 

agreement with Avantium to purchase PEF resin coming 

from its Flagship Plant, currently under construction in The 

Netherlands, for its Fibre Bottle and for the development of 

other beer packaging applications. 

In its largest trial of the Fibre Bottle to date, Carlsberg 

recently revealed the latest generation design featuring 

the PEF lining and will sample 8,000 bottles across eight 

Western European markets throughout the summer. The 

bottles will be introduced to local consumers, customers 

and other stakeholders at selected festivals and flagship 

events, as well as targeted product sampling. Making the 

product accessible and gathering consumer feedback at 

this scale will be key to informing the next generation of 

design and accelerating Carlsberg’s ambition to make the 

Fibre Bottle a commercial reality. 

Stephane Munch, VP Group Development at Carlsberg, 

says: “We are delighted to be bringing our new Fibre Bottle 

into the hands of consumers, allowing them to experience 

it for themselves. 

However, this pilot will serve a greater purpose in testing 

the production, performance, and recycling of this product 

at scale. Identifying and producing PEF, as a competent 

functional barrier for beer, has been one of our greatest 

challenges – so getting good test results, collaborating with 

suppliers and seeing the bottles being filled on the line is a 

great achievement!” 

Tom van Aken, CEO of Avantium, says: “We are pleased to 

expand our partnership with Carlsberg. It is a truly exciting 

milestone that – for the very first time – consumers can now 

experience a PEF– lined beer bottle. With business partners 

such as Carlsberg Group, Avantium can further scale and 

build the PEF value chain, meeting the growing global 

demand for circular and renewable material solutions. 

This is what the material transition is about: ensuring 

that consumers can get access to novel and sustainable 

products at scale”. MT 


www.carlsberggroup.com 

www.paboco.com 


BOOK 

STORE 

New 

Edition 

2020 

New 

Edition 

2020 

ORDER 

NOW 

www.bioplasticsmagazine.com/en/books 

email: books@bioplasticsmagazine.com 

phone: +49 2161 6884463 


Bottles 

Innovative FDCA process 

Breakthrough FDCA process can lead the switch to a biobased plastic 

Plastic has properties that make it challenging to fully 

substitute, especially when looking at the food and 

drinks packaging industry. It is a lightweight and 

transparent material, and it comes with excellent barrier 

properties – protecting foods, extending shelf life, and 

reducing waste. 

The challenge: one of the most commonly used 

plastics comes with many advantages but it is 

fully fossil-based 

One million plastic bottles are sold every minute and 

the annual sales keep increasing (Euromonitor, 2021). One 

of the most widely used plastics for packaging foods and 

beverages is polyethylene terephthalate (PET), used for 

example for bottles for soft drinks, salad dressings, cooking 

oils, and liquid hand soap. PET was first patented in the 

1940s, initially for fibre & textiles, and the first PET bottles 

were produced in the 1970s. 

Despite their superior properties, fossil-based plastics 

like PET come with significant issues. One of them is the 

release of fossil carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at its 

end-of-life. For this reason, our attitudes and behaviours 

towards plastic must change to ensure a safe and healthy 

future for our planet. The shift from fossil-based to 

renewable bioplastics requires new, efficient methods. 

“People like to have products packaged in a compelling 

way. They also want to make a choice that feels good, with 

plastic coming from a source you can trust, and which you 

can discard, knowing it’s going to be recycled”, says Dirk 

den Ouden, VP Emerging Business, Division Biomaterials 

at Stora Enso (Stockholm, Sweden). 

The solution: Stora Enso’s FuraCore ® process, 

enabling polyethylene furanoate (PEF), a 100 % 

biobased alternative to petroleum-based PET 

For decades, scientists have been looking for feasible 

biobased alternatives to PET and other fossil-based 

plastics. One of the options is via furandicarboxylic acid 

(FDCA), an organic chemical compound that occurs in 

nature. FDCA is the key building block for biobased plastics 

such as PEF, it can be applied to a wide variety of industrial 

applications, including bottles, food packaging, textiles, 

carpets, electronic materials, and automotive parts. 

To get the most out of this material, Stora Enso has been 

developing a breakthrough technology called FuraCore to 

produce FDCA, laying the foundation for a plastic that, as 

people working with the technology like to say, makes sense. 

The benefits of PEF: better barrier properties, 

versatility in use 

When thinking about the benefits that biobased plastic 

brings out, people tend to focus on the environmental 

aspects, which, indeed, are promising. Firstly, it is not 

produced from crude oil. Instead, its ingredients are 

FuraCore bottles (Photo StoraEnso) 

derived from growing plants. Not only do these grow back 

after harvesting, but they also absorb carbon dioxide 

during their growth. 

The material itself also shows significant advantages 

for food and beverage packaging. PEF could replace other 

plastic bottles, aluminium cans and glass jars in a wide 

variety of applications and industries. Tests also show 

excellent barrier properties, enabling better protection and 

longer shelf life, or lighter, more efficient packaging. In 

addition, it provides great opportunities for differentiation, 

an important element in the packaging landscape. 

“If you look at all the different features needed to get a 

certain shelf life, shape, or behaviour, it often requires 

combining different technologies and multiple materials. 

If you can use a single material that serves the purpose, 

there’s going to be great benefits in utilising it compared to 

more common solutions, including easier recycling”, Den 

Ouden declares. 

What next? 

Currently, Stora Enso is starting up the FuraCore FDCA 

pilot plant at its Langerbrugge recycled paper mill near 

Ghent, Belgium. Commercialisation is the goal, and pilot 

production will start this year. 

Currently, the pilot is in the final stages of commissioning. 

The plan is to produce the first material in autumn 2022 

and be in full production mode towards the end of the year. 

Den Ouden believes that a wide range of applications is on 

its way: 

“I think the opportunity we bring about is a plastic that 

makes sense. In addition to fulfilling the customer need 

for circularity, I think the message here is that there is 

a beautiful new material on its way that is about to get 

commercialised. We strongly encourage packaging industry 

companies to reach out so we can see if it meets your 

customer needs”. MT 

www.storaenso.com 


Thermoformable PLA films 

Röhm (Darmstadt, Germany), the provider of 

EUROPLEX ® -brand special films, is now also 

developing plastic films using renewable raw 

materials. The new product is being developed under the 

provisional designation Europlex Film LJ 21123/123 and is a 

transparent, high-gloss and stable film based on polylactic 

acid (PLA). Unlike many other films based on PLA on the 

market, this film has not been biaxially stretched and can 

therefore be thermoformed. 

As the raw material production generates significantly lower 

CO 2 

emissions, films made from polylactic acid are more climatefriendly 

alternatives to petroleum-based films. PLA films thus 

contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of the end product. 

Sustainability is an integral part of Röhm’s global 

business strategy, with the company targeting climateneutral 

production by the year 2050. The focus is not only 

on the development and market launch of new, sustainable 

products and technologies but also on the decarbonization 

of raw materials. “We are taking responsibility for our 

climate, society, and the limited natural resources”, says 

Hans-Peter Hauck, Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Röhm. 

Environmentally friendly alternative 

Europlex Film LJ 21123/123 consists of certified, 

compostable PLA which meets the requirements for 

industrial composting as per the ASTM D6400 US standard 

and the EN 13432 European standard. If the PLA film is not 

disposed of correctly, its persistence is many times lower 

than that of petroleum-based films. Furthermore, PLA 

films do not release toxic materials upon decomposition. 

Properties at a glance 

Europlex Film LJ 21123/123 has a property profile that 

provides many opportunities: 

PLA special films for a wide range of 

applications 

Europlex Film LJ 21123/123 has a wide range of properties 

which make it ideal for various interior applications, such as 

high-quality packaging for food and non-food items, as well 

as decorative films for Insert-Mould decoration processes, 

or printed products like graphics panels. “Our experience 

in film extrusion enables us to produce PLA films with high 

optical quality. We would be delighted to talk to interested 

parties about their specific requirement profile for their 

applications”, emphasizes Herbert Groothues, Head of Film 

and Extrusion Development. 

Approved for food contact 

The biobased film is also suitable for food packaging – 

which is subject to particularly stringent regulations – as 

it meets the requirements for plastics with food contact 

in the EU (EU Regulation 10/2011), the USA (FDA 21 CFR) 

and China (GB 9685-2016). Possible applications include 

viewing windows on cardboard packaging or thermoformed 

packaging with high demands when it comes to an aesthetic, 

high-quality product presentation. 

Raw material from certified sources 

The raw material used to produce Europlex Film LJ 

21123/123 is derived from non-genetically modified 

sugarcane. The supplier has implemented an environmental 

management system as per ISO 14001:2015 and is certified 

according to Bonsucro. Bonsucro is an association of 

producers and processors of sugarcane who have agreed 

on globally recognized standards for social, ecological, and 

economic sustainability. MT 

www.roehm.com 

Materials 

• biobased and industrially compostable 

• can be thermoformed at 55°C 

• highly transparent, light transmittance of over 92 % 

• high tensile strength and good flexibility 

• can be stamped and cut 

• can be printed on 

Upon request, development 

samples of the film can be 

provided in thicknesses 

of 53 µm to 500 µm 

and widths of 

200 mm. The 

datasheet on 

Europlex Film 

LJ 21123/123 

with its technical 

specifications 

and approvals 

is also available 

upon request. 


Material News 

Bright colours for 

more green on the 

blue planet 

Sustainability is on everyone's lips, and the German 

company GRAFE from Blankenhain is also involved 

in the development of specific masterbatches for 

corresponding applications. "We have been working 

on the colouring of biobased and home-compostable 

materials for some time now", reports Lars Schulze, 

Head of Colour Development and Material Sciences. 

"We were able to successfully establish the first projects 

on the market and commercialise them. We have gained 

extensive experience and done a lot of development 

work. We will continue to push forward the projects with 

a sustainable character". 

Home compostable coffee capsules in 

brilliant colours 

Home compostable products meet the highest 

standards of environmental protection, according 

to the company. For example, the company has 

successfully coloured coffee capsules in a very elaborate 

development project. "Given the strict guidelines 

according to which the masterbatches may only contain 

certain ingredients and the pigments can only be used in 

limited concentrations, this is quite a demanding task. 

Nevertheless, we succeeded in over-colouring the dark 

base material, explains Schulze. In the end, the colours 

maroon, light grey, brilliant blue, blue-grey, petrol 

brilliant, olive brilliant, violet brilliant as well as beige 

and berry were used from Grafe's Modalen range. The 

certification came into effect on 14 August 2020. 

Sustainable developments continue 

"We are currently working on PHBV projects", 

Schulze reports. This is a home compostable, nontoxic, 

biocompatible plastic that is produced naturally 

by bacteria and offers a good alternative for many 

non-biodegradable, synthetic polymers. "Besides the 

difficulties of the biopolymers currently on offer, in 

terms of processing, inherent colour and temperature 

resistance, another major challenge is their colouring or 

over-colouring. Both the plastic base material and the 

additives should have as little impact on the environment 

as possible and be biodegradable in order to achieve the 

certification goals", explains the expert. 

The specialists at Grafe are guided by EN 13432 

for this purpose, which severely limits the pigment 

selection and dosage. "That is why very brilliant colours 

are the current challenge for our development team. But 

we also want to solve these in the future", announces 

the Head of Colour Development and Material Sciences 

and lists numerous applications – such as disposable 

articles and everyday product packaging. 

We look forward to new project requests to continue 

contributing to more green on the blue planet". MT 

www.grafe.com 

LANXESS offers new 

sustainable composites 

LANXESS (Cologne, Germany) 

introduces new Tepex thermoplastic 

composites that are currently 

being developed starting 

from recycled or biobased raw 

materials. “With these construction 

materials, we want to help 

our customers to make more 

sustainable products that have 

a smaller carbon footprint, conserve 

resources, and protect the 

climate”, explains Dirk Bonefeld, Head of Global Product 

Management and Marketing for Tepex at Lanxess. Recently, 

the specialty chemicals company has launched 

a fully biobased composite material based on flax and 

polylactic acid on the market. 

Tailor-made for structural lightweight design 

Development is about to be completed, for example, 

on a matrix plastic based on polyamide 6 for Tepex 

dynalite, that is produced starting from “green” 

cyclohexane and therefore consists of well over 80 

% sustainable raw materials. As a result, the plastic 

meets the requirements that Lanxess has set for its new 

“Scopeblue” range. It consists of products that contain a 

significant proportion of circular (recycled or biobased) 

raw materials or have a carbon footprint that is 

considerably smaller than that of conventional products. 

When the matrix plastic is reinforced with continuousfibre 

fabrics, the resulting semi-finished products 

exhibit the same outstanding properties as comparable, 

equivalent products that are purely fossil-based. The 

semi-finished products with a green matrix are therefore 

suitable for applications in structural lightweight 

design that are typical for Tepex dynalite – such as 

front-end carriers, seat shells, or battery consoles. 

Biobased alternatives to polyamide 12 

Another development focus is new matrix solutions 

for Tepex based on recycled thermoplastic polyurethane 

(TPU) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) as well as on 

biobased polyamide 10.10. The recycled TPU products 

are primarily intended for sports equipment. One of their 

strengths is their good composite adhesion with many 

other injection-moulded materials when processed 

using the insert moulding or hybrid moulding methods. 

The semi-finished products with a PET recyclate matrix 

are a cost-effective alternative to virgin polycarbonate 

and polyamide, for example. The PET comes from 

used beverage bottles and is also available in large 

quantities thanks to the closed recycling chain for these 

bottles. The biobased polyamide 10.10 is derived from 

castor oil. “The composite materials made with it are 

a sustainable alternative to polyamide 12 composites 

because they have similar mechanical characteristics 

and a comparable density”, says Bonefeld. AT 

https://lanxess.com 


New and Sustainable BioAcetate S70 

BioAcetate S70 is an eco-friendly and 

high-performing alternative material that is 

non-toxic and free from harmful phthalates. 

BioAcetate S70 uses renewable resources and 

is biodegradable according to ISO 14855. 

The five main ECO-Advantages of BioAcetate 

S70 are as follows: 

1. ISCC Sustainability Carbon Certification 

2. 62 % biobased according to ASTM-D6866 

3. Biodegradable according to ISO-14855 

4. Harmful plasticizers free (NO DEP) 

5. Biocompatibility according to ISO-10993 

As the primary application, the material is 

ideal for injection moulding applications and 

handmade acetate frames production that is 

well-suited for high-end optic and eyewear 

frames. Other applications include household 

applications, electronic cigarette parts, 

smartphone covers, as well as watch parts. 

BioAcetate S70 aims to be a material that is 

better for Earth and better for performance. To 

find out more about the material one can view 

the YouTube video at tinyurl.com/BioAcetate-S70 

www.bioacetate.com 

Advertorial 

Material News 

New compostable starch blends 

Green Dot Bioplastics (Emporia, KN, USA), a leading developer and supplier of bioplastic materials for innovative, sustainable 

end-uses, has expanded its Terratek ® BD line with nine new compostable grades that are targeted for single-use and 

packaging applications. The expanded offering for film extrusion, thermoforming, and injection moulding is in line with Green 

Dot Bioplastics’ goal to achieve faster rates of biodegradability in ambient conditions, while meeting the growing sustainability 

demands of brand owners and consumers. 

These new compostable materials are an integral part of the company’s extensive bioplastics portfolio which includes 

biocomposites, elastomers, and natural fibre-reinforced resins all produced at the company’s newly expanded manufacturing 

facility in Onaga, KN, USA. 

“This launch culminates our extensive development of a new category of compostable materials for single-use applications 

and packaging markets”, said Mark Remmert, Green Dot Bioplastics CEO. “We’ve successfully developed unique materials that 

have a faster rate of biodegradation in ambient composting conditions and the functional performance that the market demands”. 

The five new film grades are compostable starch blends that require no tooling or process modifications when run on 

traditional blown or cast film equipment. Among them are Terratek BD3003 which exhibits high puncture resistance and tear 

strength and is heat sealable like linear low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film. Meanwhile, Terratek BD3300 is a stiff, highmodulus 

material with high heat resistance and overall properties similar to HDPE film. 

The film grades deliver faster rates of biodegradability for home composting, industrial composting, and soil biodegradability. 

They are targeted for a range of applications including produce bags, bubble wrap, agricultural films, and other lawn and garden 

packaging. The film materials are completing third-party certification by TÜV Austria, a leading European certifying agency. 

Green Dot’s new compostable offering also includes three new thermoforming grades which provide a range of properties including 

clarity. Other grades provide higher heat performance and greater flexibility for applications such as food service packaging, 

takeout containers, deli packages, and straws. The thermoforming grades are also completing final certification by TÜV Austria. 

Two injection moulding grades round out the new compostable offering. They deliver higher heat performance and enhanced 

processability (lower cycle times) for caps/closures, food service ware, and takeout containers. In a breakthrough application 

development effort, Green Dot worked with a customer to commercialize a living hinge design for an injection moulded package. 

The physical and mechanical properties of typical bioplastic resins have not previously allowed the moulding of a living hinge 

capable of hundreds of flexural openings and closures while delivering mechanical properties necessary for a polypropylenetype 

enclosure. MT 

www.greendotbioplastics.com 


Materials 

Waste recovery to obtain PLA: 

The VALPLA Project 

Like conventional polymers, biobased polymers (known 

as biopolymers) are structures made of short-chain 

carbon molecules (monomers) produced partially or 

entirely from renewable carbon sources. Along the same 

lines, sugars from household and agri-food waste without 

nutritional value (biomass) show excellent potential as a 

source of carbon and an alternative to fossil resources. 

Biopolymers derived from these resources are of great 

interest since they involve a reduction in the environmental 

impact and the consumption of non-renewable 

resources. At the same time, they can be used to make 

high-value-added products that cover current market 

needs. Some biobased polymers are also biodegradable, 

which is an added value for certain applications, as they 

offer a more environmentally sustainable end-of-life 

option. According to the Braskem I’m Green brand, 

replacing the global annual demand for PE of fossil origin 

with biobased PE would reduce more than 42 million 

tonnes of CO 2 

, which is equivalent to the CO 2 

emissions 

of ten million flights around the world each year. It is 

important to note, that biobased PE, just like conventional 

PE is not biodegradable (biodegradability would also not 

be an added value if the material is used for durable 

applications). 

Of all the biopolymers obtained from biomass, one of the 

most popular due to its market projection and versatility 

of applications is polylactic acid (PLA). PLA is considered 

one of the most promising potential substitutes for 

conventional polymers due to its mechanical and physical 

properties and the different possible manufacturing 

pathways. 

PLA is a biopolymer produced from lactic acid. Lactic 

acid or 2-hydroxypropanoic acid (C 3 

H 6 

O 3 

) is a carboxylic, 

chiral acid, i.e. it has two enantiomers (optical isomers): 

one is dextrogyre (D-lactic) and the other is levogyre 

(L-lactic). A racemic mixture is usually obtained by 

chemical synthesis or bacterial fermentation of sugars 

present in the biomass. Unlike chemical synthesis, which 

requires complex extraction and separation procedures, 

the use of microorganisms helps to optimize the process 

in terms of performance and purity, overcoming the 

main disadvantage of chemical synthesis, which is the 

generation of a considerable amount of racemic lactic 

acid. 

Widely used waste types include lignocellulosic ones 

from agriculture and the dairy industry. The compositional 

characteristics of both residues make them suitable for 

obtaining lactic acid. Thus, not only is the environmental 

impact of polymers from fossil raw materials reduced but 

waste generated by the dairy and agricultural industries is 

also reused, which until now, were considered a source of 

expense and contamination. 

There are two L-lactic acid polymerization methods for 

obtaining PLA. One is a direct polymerization process by 

polycondensation, and the other is an indirect process in 

which a cyclic dimer of polylactic acid, known as lactide is 

then polymerized by means of a ring-opening polymerization 

(ROP) to obtain PLA. 

In the case of polycondensation, a hydroxy acid or a polyol 

and a diacid are used to form polymeric compounds after 

several consecutive reactions. Polymerization through 

polycondensation processes usually requires the use of 

a catalyst, as well as the presence of a scavenger or an 

element capable of removing the water generated in the 

reaction. Polycondensation processes, therefore, have 

major limitations, including the low molecular weight of 

the polymer produced, low performance, and high reaction 

times, which, when compared to the indirect polymerization 

process from lactide, result in significantly higher molecular 

weights [2] that are of interest for applications that require 

high mechanical strength. Although both processes (direct 

and indirect) can be carried out in a batch reactor, ROP can 

also occur via reactive extrusion (REX), in which an extruder 

is applied as a continuous chemical reactor. This possibility 

significantly reduces residence times, which are less than 

twenty minutes, in addition to the use of minimal amounts 

of solvents, resulting in savings and considerable reduction 

in emissions, providing a more sustainable process for 

obtaining PLA. 

The VALPLA Project developed by AIMPLAS (Valencia, 

Spain) is focused on developing a sustainable process for 

producing high-molecular-weight PLA from lactide by 

means of REX using waste, particularly the organic fraction 

of municipal solid waste and agro-industrial wastes from 

the dairy and citrus industries. After microbial fermentation, 

L-lactic acid is obtained to replace the plastics currently 

obtained from fossil resources. 

In addition to the targets set by the VALPLA Project, 

Aimplas is addressing polycondensation synthesis of 

copolymers using biobased diacids to modify and adapt the 

properties of PLA, mainly to improve its biodegradability. 

The properties of the PLA copolymers obtained will be 

analysed to determine if their potential can be applied 

in different sectors. 

In summary, the VALPLA Project aims to provide a 

solution to dependence on fossil resources and improve 

our quality of life, helping to ensure that more sustainable 

consumer goods are included in the framework of the 

circular economy. This will increase the competitiveness 


By: 

Carmem Tatiane, Carolina Acosta, and Nairim Torrealba 

Chemical Technology Researcher 

Belén Monje 

Chemical Technology Leader and Polymer Expert 

AIMPLAS, Valencia, Spain 

Automotive 

of the industry in the Valencian Community because the 

waste generated in the region will be transformed into 

biotechnology platforms to obtain biopolymers that are 

currently not produced in Spain. 

This horizontal project aims to foster translational 

research areas and bolster contacts in industries 

such as biotechnology, plastics, agri-food, and waste 

management by developing new areas of application at 

the industrial level. This will involve collaborating with 

research groups to carry out research in conjunction 

with other Aimplas activities. 

Collaborating on this project are Polypeptide 

Therapeutic Solutions (PTS), ADM-Biopolis, Laurentia 

Technologies, Vallés Plastic Films, Gaviplas, Plastire, 

Ducplast, and Agua Mineral San Benedetto. The project 

is funded by the Valencian Community’s Ministry for 

Sustainable Economy, Production Sectors, Trade and 

Employment through IVACE funds and is co-funded 

by the EU’s ERDF funds within the 2021-2027 ERDF 

Operational Programme of the Valencian Community. 

References: 

[1] Economía Circular: La redención de los plásticos – Ambiente 

Plástico – https://www.ambienteplastico.com/economia-circularla-redencion-de-los-plasticos/ 

[2] Hyon, S. H.; Jamshidi, K.; Ikada, Y. Synthesis of polylactides with 

different molecular weights. Biomaterials 1997; 18: 1503-1508. 

. 

www.aimplas.es 

REGISTER 

NOW! 

Join us at the 

17th European 

Bioplastics Conference 

– the leading business forum for the 

bioplastics industry. 

6/7 December 2022 

Maritim proArte Hotel 

Berlin, Germany 

@EUBioplastics #eubpconf2022 

www.european-bioplastics.org/events 

For more information email: 

conference@european-bioplastics.org 


Materials 

Next generation PHA 

Launching the next generation industrial biotechnology (NGIB) 

and PhaBuilder 

Industrial biotechnology is an important industrialization 

carrier of synthetic biology. It uses cells or enzymes to 

convert agricultural products in bioreactors to obtain 

industrial products (compounds, materials, fuels, flavours, 

drugs, etc.). 

However, the cost of traditional biological manufacturing 

is too high when compared with many advantages of 

current chemical manufacturing, such as rapid reaction, 

high conversion rate, continuous processes, low water 

consumption, high product concentrations, and easy 

product recovery, which makes it difficult to commercialize 

biological manufacturing processes. At the same time, the 

crises related to the environment, use of fossil resources 

(generating additional CO 2 

), and energy requirements have 

become problems we cannot ignore. 

Recent reports from the United Nations and from the 

OECD mentioned that plastic production soared from 

two million tonnes in 1950 to 348 million tonnes in 2017, 

becoming a global industry valued at USD 522.6 billion, and 

it is expected to double in capacity by 2040 and triple by 

2060. The impacts of plastic production and pollution on the 

triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature damages, 

and pollution are a catastrophe in the making. 

However, there are other options to reduce our dependency 

on the traditional chemical industry. That is why the Next 

Generation Industrial Biotechnology (NGIB) was developed. 

Current industrial biotechnology cannot reduce the cost 

of manufacturing biobased and natural PHAs to a level that 

can compete with petroleum-based materials. NGIB aims 

to enable these PHAs to compete with petroleum-based 

materials (plastics) in manufacturing costs. 

On top of that, if these PHAs can be made manufacturing 

cost competitive via the NGIB, this principle can also be 

applied to other products (see Figure 1). 

After years of research, Tsinghua University (and later 

the company PhaBuilder) has successfully demonstrated 

the NGIB for their PHA products at commercial scale 

to 200m 3 bioreactors. 

The advantages of this new technology are plenty: 

• It is very robust, so no sterilization is required 

• It can operate in a salt-water environment 

• One can use steel, ceramics, cement, or glass reactors 

in a continuous process 

• It is significantly lower in CAPEX and OPEX 

• It is feedstock flexible 

• It is suitable for many different PHA-polymers 

Tsinghua University isolated a novel chassis halophilic 

bacterium from Ayding Lake in Xinjiang/China. The growth 

of this bacterium does not need to be sterilized in industrial 

fermentation processes, which systemically solves 

the problems of high energy consumption and complicated 

operation during sterilization. At the same time, this new 

chassis Halomonas bacterium has been engineered to allow 

high-density cultivation, permitting a substantial increase 

in the final concentration of fermentation products. 

This new Halomonas chassis will replace traditional chassis 

in an increasing number of fields, becoming one of the 

most important industrial biotechnology chassis. 

The technical team in PhaBuilder has developed many 

genetic manipulation tools and elements to engineer this 

novel chassis bacterium, achieving precise regulation 

of this chassis for enhanced production. Through the 

leading strain engineering technology platform, the new 

chassis Halomonas has its metabolic pathways highly 

optimized, and the substrate conversion rate has reached 

an unprecedented level. At present, the new chassis has 

been successfully tested on pilot-scale and industrial scale 

for mass production, which fully proves the maturity of 

the NGIB technology. 

PhaBuilder is the only one in the world to successfully 

use the next generation of industrial biotechnology to 

produce PHA polymers, and also the world’s first supplier 

of multiple PHA products made with this technology. 

This includes PHB, P3HB4HB, PHBV, PHBH, but also 

P3HB4HB5HV [2] as examples. The PHAs produced by 

PhaBuilder have demonstrated good bbiodegradability 

and biocompatibility, are edible for animals, and can 

flexibly adjust their performances according to the 

application scenarios. 

The PHA products of PhaBuilder can be used in medical 

microspheres, medical slow-release carriers, human 

implantation materials, antibacterial fibres, and feeds. In 

addition, PhaBuilder can also produce P34HB5HV with high 

transparency and high elasticity, which is one of the first in 

the industry (see Figure 2). 

In addition to PHAs, PhaBuilder has also applied the 

NGIB to produce lysine, cadaverine, ectoine, threonine, 

3-hydroxypropionate, 5-minolevulinic acid, levan, pyruvate, 

and many other products. Take lysine and cadaverine for 

examples, the related paper was published in Bioresource 

Technology under the title of Engineered Halomonas spp. 

for production of L-Lysine and cadaverine. During the 

course of the study, the team first constructed the lysineproducing 

Halomonas bluephagenesis TDL8-68-259, by 

relieving lysine feedback inhibition and increasing precursor 

supply. Subsequently, the cadaverine-producing bacterium 


By: 

Lan Yuxuan and Wu Yichao 

PhaBuilder Biotech, Beijing, China 

Chen Guo-Qiang 

Center for Synthetic and Systems Biology, School of Life Sciences 

Tsinghua University, Beijing, China 

Materials 

Jan Ravenstijn 

GO!PHA, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 

Halomonas campaniensis LC-9-ldcC-lysP was 

constructed by heterologous expression in the saltproducing 

bacterium Halomonas campaniensis 

LC-9 capable of self-coagulation, and the 

purpose of de novo cadaverine synthesis 

with glucose as a single carbon source 

was achieved by binding the lysineproducing 

bacterium Halomonas 

bluephagenesis TDL8-68-259. 

The core mission of PhaBuilder 

is to “use microbes to change 

the world and build a green 

future”. PhaBuilder is now 

using NGIB to produce various 

PHA polymers for our global 

customers. The 1 kt/annum 

market development plant has 

been started up for sampling 

the first customers around the 

globe and a 10 kt/annum plant 

is under construction for start-up 

in 2023. The first products that are 

offered to the market are PHB and 

P3HB4HB. 

HO 

HO 

1,3-Propanediol 

H2N 

O 

OH 

3-Hydroxypropionate 

Sec Signal Peptide (Sec SP) 

MKQQKR-LYARLLTLLFALIFLLPHS-AAAA A 

N H C 

Linker 

GOI 

P Mmp1 SP 

ATGCGTAAAGGCGAA 

Levan 

OH 

Secreted proteins 

O 

ALA (5-aminolevulinic acid) 

Genetic parts 

(Promoters, Insulators, 

RBS, Terminators, etc.) 

Applications & 

Bioproductions 

OH O 

OH O 

PHB 

OH 

OH 

3HB 

3HV PHBV 

OH 

O 

O 

R 

HO 

OH P34HB 

OH Middle chain length 

4HB 

fatty acids 

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHB, P34HB, PHBV, etc.) 

Molecular 

Manipulation 

Halomonas 

Static optimization 

(Bypass knockout, Pathway 

construction, Flux tuning, 

Enzyme engineering, etc.) ) 

O 

OH 

Regulator 

Genomic 

DNA 

sfgfp 

Dynamic control 

(Inducible systems & 

Biosensors) 

Cas9 

Matching Genomic 

Sequence 

Unsterilized open fermentation 

PAM 

Sequence 

Guide RNA 

CRISPR/Cas9 

A B C D E F 

Modeling & 

Omics analysis 

OH 

NH2 

O 

OH 

L-threonine 

HN 

O 

N 

O 

Ectoine 

OH 

OH 

OH 

Vanillic acid 

Biosurfactants 

(PhaP, PhaR, etc.) 

OCH3 

References 

[1] Ye JW, Chen GQ. Halomonas as a chassis. Essays 

Biochem. 2021 Jul 26;65(2):393-403. Doi: 10.1042/ 

EBC20200159. PMID: 33885142; PMCID: PMC8314019. 

[2] [2] Poly(3-hydroxubutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate-co-5- 

hydroxyvalerate) – a newly developed material with NGIB 

[3] Yan X, Liu X, Yu LP, Wu F, Jiang XR, Chen GQ. Biosynthesis of 

diverse α,ω-diol-derived polyhydroxyalkanoates by engineered 

Halomonas bluephagenesis. Metab Eng. 2022 Apr 13;72:275-288. 

doi: 10.1016/j.ymben.2022.04.001. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 

35429676. 

www.phabuilder.com 

www.cssb.tsinghua.edu.cn/en/ 

www.gopha.org/ 

Direct seawater input 

Reduced power 

consumption ofcompressor 

Next Generation Industrial 

Biotechnology (NGIB) 

Products 

harvest 

Easy control 

Fig. 1: Many systems and synthetic biology tools and approaches, for 

example, CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing, omics profiling, parts mining, 

and static and dynamic optimization methods, have been developed 

for Halomonas spp. The genetic reprogramming of Halomonas spp. 

allows the construction of high-performance Halomonas cell factories 

for the production of a variety of chemicals, polyesters, and proteins. 

A cost-effective NGIB has been developed based on extremophilic 

bacteria especially Halomonas spp. for bioproduction on various scales. 

Abbreviation: CRISPR, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic 

repeats. [1] 

ON 

OFF 

Fig. 2: Left picture is the ordinary 

biodegradable material, poor transparency; 

right picture is the new transparent P (53 % 

3HB-co-20 % 4HB-co-27 % 5HV ) material. [3] 



Biodegradation of plastic waste in 

marine and aquatic environments 

Marine litter is a serious problem for our seas and 

oceans and the intense use of plastic has made this 

substance one of the biggest ocean polluters. Some 

of the reasons why plastic materials are so popular include 

their favourable chemical properties, such as strength, 

lightness, and the ability to repel water. Plastic materials 

can be divided into two main categories: 

• Thermosets: an irreversible process is used to mould 

hard, durable materials. 

• Thermoplastic: a reversible process is used to make less 

rigid materials that are easy to mould. 

Biodegradation has become an approved category of 

degradation due to its ecological nature. The process is 

complex, but advances have been made thanks to the 

combination of several environmental factors. Figure 1 

shows the formation of microbial biofilms on the polymer, 

followed by deterioration, in which enzymatic activity cleaves 

the polymers into oligomers, dimers, and monomers. 

The process of polymer biodegradation begins when 

microorganisms start to attach to the plastic surface, 

known as the plastisphere, and form microbial biofilms. 

These biofilms develop rapidly on plastics and gradually 

reduce their buoyancy and ability to repel water. 

Because plastics are usually dispersed in the marine 

environment and are slow to degrade, the main factors 

affecting the biodegradation process are the characteristics 

of the polymer and environmental conditions. 

For standardized assessment of the biodegradability 

of plastic materials and products in marine and aquatic 

environments, different international, European, and 

ASTM D6340 

Standard Test Methods for Determining Aerobic Biodegradation of Radiolabelled Plastic Materials in an 

Aqueous or Compost Environment 

ASTM D6691 01 (2017) 

Standard Test Method for Determining Aerobic Biodegradation of Plastic Materials in the Marine 

Environment by a Defined Microbial Consortium or Natural Sea Water Inoculum 

ASTM D7473 / D7473M 12 (2021) 

Standard Test Method for Weight Attrition of Non-floating Plastic Materials by Open System Aquarium 

Incubations 

ASTM D7991 (2015) 

Standard Test Method for Determining Aerobic Biodegradation of Plastics Buried in Sandy Marine 

Sediment under Controlled Laboratory Conditions 

ISO 23977-1 (2020) 

Plastics – Determination of the aerobic biodegradation of plastic materials exposed to seawater – Part 1: 

Method by analysis of evolved carbon dioxide 

ISO 23977-2 (2020) 

Plastics – Determination of the aerobic biodegradation of plastic materials exposed to seawater – Part 2: 

Method by measuring the oxygen demand in closed respirometer 

ISO 18830 (2016) 

Plastics – Determination of aerobic biodegradation of non-floating plastic materials in a seawater/sandy 

sediment interface – Method by measuring the oxygen demand in closed respirometer 

ISO/TR 15462 (2006) 

ISO 22403 (2020) 

EN ISO 14851 (2020) 

ISO 14852 (2021) 

EN ISO 14853 (2018) 

ISO 15314 (2018) 

CEN 14987 (2006) 

CEN/ TR 15351 (2006) 

EN 17417 (2020) 

EN ISO 18830 (2017) 

EN ISO 19679 (2020) 

EN 17417 (2021) 

EN 14048 (2003) 

EN 14047 (2003) 

EN ISO 19679 (2018) 

EN ISO 10210 (2018) 

Water quality – Selection of tests for biodegradability 

Table 1. List of marine and aqueous biodegradation standards 

Plastics – Assessment of the intrinsic biodegradability of materials exposed to marine inocula under 

mesophilic aerobic laboratory conditions – Test methods and requirements 

Determination of the ultimate aerobic biodegradability of plastic materials in an aqueous medium – 

Method by measuring the oxygen demand in a closed respirometer 

Determination of the ultimate aerobic biodegradability of plastic materials in an aqueous medium – 

Method by analysis of evolved carbon dioxide 

Plastics – Determination of the ultimate anaerobic biodegradation of plastic materials in an aqueous 

system – Method by measurement of biogas production 

Plastics – Methods for marine exposure 

Plastics – Evaluation of disposability in wastewater treatment plants – Test scheme for final acceptance 

and specifications 

Plastics – Guide for vocabulary in the field of degradable and biodegradable polymers and plastic items 

Determination of the ultimate biodegradation of plastic materials in an aqueous system under anoxic 

(denitrifying) conditions – Method by measurement of pressure increase 

Plastics – Determination of aerobic biodegradation of non-floating plastic materials in a seawater/sandy 

sediment interface – Method by measuring the oxygen demand in closed respirometer (ISO 18830:2016) 

Plastics – Determination of aerobic biodegradation of non-floating plastic materials in a seawater/ 

sediment interface – Method by analysis of evolved carbon dioxide (ISO 19679:2020) 

Determination of the ultimate biodegradation of plastic materials in an aqueous system under anoxic 

(denitrifying) conditions – Method by measurement of pressure increase 

(Packaging. Determination of the ultimate aerobic biodegradability of packaging materials in an aqueous 

medium. Method by measuring the oxygen demand in a closed respirometer.) 

(Packaging. Determination of the ultimate aerobic biodegradability of packaging materials in an aqueous 

medium. Method by analysis of evolved carbon dioxide.) 

Plastics. Determination of the aerobic biodegradation of non-floating plastic materials in a seawater/ 

sediment interface. Method by analysis of evolved carbon dioxide.) 

(Plastics. Methods for the preparation of samples for biodegradation testing of plastic materials.) 


American standards have been developed, as shown in 

Table 1. 

The most common standards are those in which the 

measurement method is carried out by analysing evolved 

carbon dioxide. 

• ASTM D6691 01(2017) 

• ISO 23977-1 (2020) 

• ISO 14852 (2021) (and related) 

• EN ISO 19679 (2020) (and related) 

• EN 14047 (2003) 

The procedure for studying the ultimate aerobic 

biodegradability of plastics in an aqueous medium based 

on the analysis of evolved carbon dioxide applies to the 

following main materials: 

• Natural and synthetic polymers, copolymers, and blends 

of these polymers. 

• Plastic materials with additives such as plasticizers and dyes. 

• Water-soluble polymers. 

• Materials that show no inhibition under test conditions 

towards the microorganisms in the inoculum. 

The degree of biodegradation is determined by comparing 

the amount of evolved carbon dioxide with the theoretical 

quantity (ThCO 2 

). 

The test environment should be dark or lit with diffused 

light and the test vessel should be free of inhibitory vapours 

for microorganisms and have a constant temperature of 20 

to 25°C ± 1°C. Additionally, several solutions with alkaline 

reagents are needed. 

Initial attachment of microbes on the plastic surface 

Polymeric material 

Microbial Biofilm formation 

Biodetoriation: Secretion of extracellular enzymes and EPS 

Biofragmentation: Formation of oligomers, dimers, momomers 

Mineralization: Microbial biomass, CO 2 

, H 2 

O 

Figure 1: Biodegradation of plastic by 

the action of microorganisms [1]. 

The test material 

should contain 

sufficient carbon 

to evolve CO 2 

. The 

total organic carbon 

(TOC) must therefore 

be calculated and 

must be at least 

100 mg/L. 

The inoculum 

should come from 

a wastewater 

treatment plant, 

where a sample of 

activated sludge 

from domestic 

sewage should also 

be taken. Because 

it comes from 

an active aerobic 

environment, it can 

be used to test a 

wide range of plastic 

materials. Once well 

By: 

María Mozo Toledo 

Biodegradation and Compostability Laboratory 

AIMPLAS, Valencia, Spain 

mixed, the sample can be kept under aerobic conditions so 

the study can begin the same day or within no more than 

72 hours. 

The test should include at least two test vessels for the 

target, one vessel for the reference material (aniline or 

another biodegradable polymer such as cellulose or polyβ-hydroxybutyrate 

is usually used) and two vessels for the 

test material. 

Then connect the vessels to the CO 2 

-free air production 

system, incubate at the set test temperature and aerate for 

around 24 hours. Add the reference and test materials and 

start bubbling CO 2 

-free air at a flow rate of 50–100 ml/min. 

The rate of carbon dioxide evolution should be measured 

regularly and, when it reaches a constant level, i.e. a 

stationary phase when no further biodegradation is 

expected, the test can be considered finished. 

The maximum test period is 6 months. On the last 

day, measure the pH and acidify the vessels with 1 ml 

of concentrated HCI to break down the carbonates and 

bicarbonates and purge the CO 2 

. Continue aerating for 24 

more hours and, finally, measure the amount of evolved CO 2 

in each vessel. 

The study is considered valid if: 

• The degree of biodegradation of the reference material 

is over 60 % at the end of the study. 

• The amount of CO 2 

evolved by the target at the end of the 

test does not exceed the upper limit value. 

Although plastic materials are land-based, there 

is always the chance that they will end up in aquatic 

environments, regardless of where they are consumed. 

Therefore, a product’s biodegradability in marine or aquatic 

environments contributes added value. It must be clear, 

however, that products should not end up in the aquatic 

environment at the end of their lives, and that this should 

be avoided at all times. 

These products can be certified as MARINE Biodegradable 

OK or WATER Biodegradable OK (biodegradable in 

freshwater) by the certification body TÜV Austria [2]. 

However, WATER Biodegradable OK certification does not 

guarantee that the product is biodegradable in a marine 

environment. The idea is not to discard packaging as litter on 

a massive scale simply because it is biodegradable. Shortlife 

packaging should therefore be taken to a compost site. 

References 

[1] Ganesh Kumar, et.al. (2019). Review on plastic wastes in marine 

environment – Biodegradation and biotechnological solutions., Elsevier 

Ltd. 

[2] TÜV AUSTRIA BELGIUM NV/SA. 

[3] EN ISO 14852 

www.aimplas.es 



Science & Research 

Industrial starch struck gold ... 

Genetic engineering of potato starch opens doors to industrial uses 

Humble potatoes are a rich source not only of dietary 

carbohydrates for humans but also of starches 

for numerous industrial applications. Texas A&M 

AgriLife (College Station, TX, USA) scientists are learning 

how to alter the ratio of potatoes’ two starch molecules – 

amylose and amylopectin – to increase both culinary and 

industrial applications. 

For example, waxy potatoes, which are high in amylopectin 

content, have applications in the production of bioplastics, 

food additives, adhesives, and alcohol. 

Two articles recently published in the International Journal 

of Molecular Sciences [1] and the Plant Cell, Tissue and 

Organ Culture [2] journals outline how CRISPR technology 

can advance the uses of the world’s largest vegetable crop. 

Both papers include the work done by Stephany Toinga, 

who was a graduate student in the lab of Keerti Rathore, 

AgriLife Research plant biotechnologist in the Texas 

A&M Institute for Plant Genomics and Biotechnology and 

Department of Soil and Crop Sciences. Also co-authoring 

both papers was Isabel Vales, an AgriLife Research potato 

breeder in the Texas A&M Department of Horticultural 

Sciences. Toinga is now a Texas A&M AgriLife Research 

postdoctoral associate with Vales. 

“The information and knowledge we gained from these 

two studies will help us introduce other desirable traits in 

this very important crop,” Rathore said. 

Potato facts 

Potatoes are the No. 1 vegetable crop worldwide and the 

third most important human food crop, only behind rice and 

wheat in global production. Potatoes are grown in over 160 

countries on 165.000 km² and serve as a staple food for 

more than a billion people. 

With a medium-size potato supplying approximately 160 

calories, mostly derived from starch, the tubers constitute 

an important energy source for many people worldwide, 

Rathore said. Potatoes also provide other necessary 

nutrients, including vitamins and minerals. 

Potatoes are a cool-season crop that is relatively sensitive 

to heat and drought stress. The crop also suffers from pests 

such as Colorado beetle, aphids, and nematodes, as well 

as diseases including early and late blight, zebra chip, 

Fusarium dry rot, and a number of viral diseases. Late 

blight was the cause of the Irish potato famine. 

Starch is key for both dietary and industrial uses 

The amount of starch in potato tubers is the main factor 

that determines a potato’s use. High-starch potatoes are 

often used to make processed foods such as french fries, 

chips and dehydrated potatoes, Vales said. 

Potatoes with low to medium starch levels are frequently 

used for the fresh or table stock market, she said. For 

the fresh market, additional important considerations 

are tuber appearance, including skin texture, skin colour, 

Tubers from one of the edited lines of potatoes in the Texas A&M 

AgriLife study. If these are put into soil, they will produce a normal 

potato plant with normal size tubers. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo 

by Stephany Toinga) 

flesh colour, and tuber shape. Recently, specialty potato 

types with different shapes, such as fingerlings; smaller 

sizes; and red, purple or yellow skin and flesh colours are 

becoming popular because of their convenience in cooking 

and increased nutritional value. 

Potato tuber shape is less important for industrial 

purposes than it is for human consumption, Vales said. 

Potato tubers with external deformities caused by heat or 

drought stress or other factors can be re-directed to myriad 

uses, including food for dogs and cattle. In addition, potato 

starch can produce ethanol for fuel or in beverages like 

vodka; a biodegradable substitute for plastics; or adhesives, 

binders, texture agents and fillers for the pharmaceutical, 

textile, wood and paper industries, and other sectors. 

For industrial applications, the amount and type of starch 

in a potato are important considerations. 

Toinga said starches higher in amylopectin are desirable 

for processed food and other industrial applications due 

to their unique functional properties. For example, such 

starches are the preferred form for use as a stabilizer and 

thickener in food products and as an emulsifier in salad 

dressings. Because of its freeze-thaw stability, amylopectin 

starch is used in frozen foods. Additionally, potatoes rich in 

amylopectin starch yield higher ethanol levels compared to 

those with other starches. 

The benefits of breeding potatoes with select 

starches 

Developing potato cultivars with modified starch could 

open new opportunities, Toinga said. Potatoes with high 

amylopectin and low amylose, like the gene-edited Yukon 

Gold strain she described in the International Journal 

of Molecular Sciences, have industrial applications 

beyond traditional uses. 


... Yukon Gold 

Feedstock 

In contrast, potatoes with high amylose levels and low 

amylopectin would be desirable for human consumption, 

Vales said. The amylose acts like fibre and does not liberate 

glucose as easily as amylopectin, thus resulting in a lower 

glycemic index and making potatoes more acceptable for 

people with diabetes. 

CRISPR/Cas9 creates new options 

CRISPR/Cas9 technology has expanded the toolset 

available to breeders, Vales said, and it represents a more 

direct, faster means to incorporate desired traits into 

popular commercial crop varieties. Conventional breeding 

is a lengthy process that can take 10–15 years. 

In addition, she said, due to the complex nature of 

the potato genome, generating new cultivars with the 

right complement of desirable traits is challenging for 

conventional breeding. Molecular breeding has enhanced 

breeding efficiencies, and gene-editing using the CRISPR/ 

Cas9 technology adds another level of sophistication. 

“We utilized the Agrobacterium method to deliver the 

CRISPR reagents into potatoes because it is reliable, 

efficient and least expensive compared to all other 

delivery methods”, Rathore said. 

In the first study, highlighted in the Plant Cell, Tissue and 

Organ Culture article, a potato line containing four copies 

of gfp, a jellyfish gene that allows a fluorescence-based 

visualization of the gene’s activity, was targeted for mutation 

using the CRISPR/Cas9 system, Toinga said. 

In essence, this project provided an easy-to-see trait that 

enabled researchers to optimize the methodology. 

“Loss of the characteristic green fluorescence and 

sequencing of the gfp gene following CRISPR treatment 

indicated that it is possible to disrupt all four copies 

of the gfp gene, thus confirming that it should be 

possible to mutate all four alleles of a native gene in the 

tetraploid potato”, Rathore said. 

An improved Yukon Gold cultivar 

Among the various potato cultivars evaluated in the first 

study, the Yukon Gold strain regenerated the best, and so it 

was used for the second study. In the second knockout study, 

described in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 

the native gene gbss in the tetraploid Yukon Gold strain was 

targeted to effectively eliminate amylose. The result was a 

potato with starch rich in amylopectin and low in amylose. 

“One of the knockout events, T2-7, showed normal 

growth and yield characteristics but was completely 

devoid of amylose”, Toinga said. 

That tuber starch, T2-7, could find industrial applications 

in the paper and textile sectors as adhesives/binders, 

bioplastics, and ethanol industries. Tuber starch from this 

experimental strain, because of its freeze-thaw stability 

without the need for chemical modifications, should also be 

useful in producing frozen foods. Potatoes with amylopectin 

as the exclusive form of starch should also yield more 

ethanol for industrial use or to create alcoholic beverages. 

As the next step for these studies, the T2-7 strain has 

been self-pollinated and crossed with the Yukon Gold 

strain donor and other potato clones to eliminate the 

transgenic elements. AT 

https://agrilifetoday.tamu.edu 

References 

[1] https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/9/4640 

[2] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11240-022-02310-8 

CRISPR/Cas9 

gbssl 

CRISPR/Cas9-mediated, Complete Elimination of 

Amylose from Potato Starch 

A depiction of the process for the elimination of amylose starch in 

a potato. (Texas A&M AgriLife graphic) 

A knockout line in culture that has produced 

miniature potatoes called microtubers. 

(Texas A&M AgriLife photo Stephany Toinga) 


Processing 

New production plant for 

novel flexible PLA copolymers 

TThe Polymer Group has established another subsidiary, 

SoBiCo GmbH (Solutions in BioCompounds) (both: 

Bad Sobernheim, Germany ). The focus of activities 

is on flexible PLA copolymers, a novel class of bioplastics 

marketed under the name Plactid ® . The successful 

development is the result of several years of collaboration 

between the Polymer Group and the Fraunhofer Institute 

for Applied Polymer Research IAP, which was funded by the 

German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. On July 

5, 2022, the commissioning of the first production line in 

Pferdsfeld (Germany) was celebrated with 150 guests. 

The bioplastic PLA, also known as polylactic acid or 

polylactide, is obtained from lactic acid and has some of 

the strongest market potential in the field of bioplastics. 

However, conventional PLA materials are often stiff and 

brittle. To meet these challenges the Polymer Group 

(Bad Sobernheim, Germany) has established another 

subsidiary, SoBiCo GmbH (Solutions in BioCompounds). 

SoBiCo intends to open up completely new fields of 

application for PLA, a bioplastic that is already widely used 

today, in the form of a copolymer, for example for flexible 

packaging films, automotive injection moulded parts, and 

thermoplastic elastomers for construction applications. 

“Our newly developed PLA copolymers are characterized by 

the fact that their mechanical properties can be adjusted 

over a very wide range”, explains Gerald Hauf, managing 

director of the Polymer Group. “For example, elongations 

at break – a characteristic value that indicates how 

deformable a material is – of 3 to 300 % can be achieved 

with Plactid. This makes these bioplastics interesting for a 

much broader range of applications than it is the case with 

conventional PLA”, says Hauf. 

Material and process development 

In both the development of the PLA copolymer and the 

process for its production, SoBiCo benefited from the 

extensive know-how of the polymer specialists at the 

Fraunhofer IAP in Potsdam (Germany) over several years 

of collaboration. The production process, which is novel 

for PLA, is based on reactive compounding, in which a 

PLA copolymer is synthesized from lactide and another 

comonomer. The partners have combined the usually 

separate process steps of polymerization and compounding 

in a single process. This saves time, energy, and costs. 

Antje Lieske, head of the Polymer Synthesis department 

at the Fraunhofer IAP in Potsdam says: “We can control 

very precisely how flexible the material will be by adjusting 

the proportion of biobased PLA in the plastic produced. 

Our PLA copolymers are currently between 75 and 95 % 

biobased. Our goal in the future is to produce completely 

biobased plastics with these mechanical properties 

that can replace petroleum-based plastics in as many 

applications as possible”. 

Production plant for novel PLA copolymers 

At the recently commissioned plant commissioned, on an 

area of 2,000 m 2 , 2,000 tonnes of the novel bioplastics will 

be produced per year in the future. In the medium term, the 

Polymer Group plans to locate its bioplastics activities at a 

new site in Idar-Oberstein (Germany) on an area of around 

17.5 hectares. In the long term, EUR 30 to 50 million are to 

be invested there and with a production capacity of 100,000 

tonnes per year and around 300 jobs are to be created. “Our 

goal is to increase the share of bioplastics and sustainable 

materials in our portfolio to 30 % by 2030. The joint 

development with Fraunhofer IAP is our most important 

initiative to achieve this goal”, says Hauf. 

The project was funded by the German Federal Ministry 

of Food and Agriculture. (Fachagentur Nachwachsende 

Rohstoffe e.V., FKZ: 22005717 – Fraunhofer IAP, 22019317 

– TechnoCompound, polymer subsidiary). AT 

https://www.polymer-gruppe.de/en 

https://www.iap.fraunhofer.de/en.html 

https://sobico.de/ 


From China to the USA 

A story of compostable cling wrap 

Applications 

Anhui Jumei Biological Technology (Anhui, China) is a 

focused developer and manufacturer of compostable 

raw materials and products. By June 2022, Anhui 

Jumei had supplied a total of 3,500 tonnes of compostable 

cling wrap to the market. These new cling wrap products 

are delivered to customers in 22 countries and regions 

worldwide to replace traditional plastic wrap and to reduce 

environmental pollution. 

The compostable cling wraps of Jumei went through 

rigorous testing and after thorough experiments, passing 

a number of performance tests, received the OK Compost 

Industrial certification in March 2019, followed by the 

home compostable certification in 2020. Since 2019, Jumei 

established the capacity to mass produce compostable 

cling wraps, which are broadly used in households, 

supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, and industrial food 

packaging. The annual output attained is 1,000 tonnes. 

The commercialization of this eco-friendly cling wrap was 

not an easy story. When attempting to introduce the cling 

wrap to the North American market, Jumei and its local 

distribution partners had to go through a long discussion 

with BPI (Biodegradable Products Institute – New York, 

NY, USA). At that time, compostable cling wrap was still 

a completely new product on the market, and the idea of 

plastic wrap being totally compostable was yet to be fully 

accepted by the general public. However, it became a trend 

for households to embrace more disposable compostable 

products as people are getting increasingly concerned 

about environmental issues. New regulations and 

legislative restrictions banning toxic plastics placed on the 

market also came into effect, making the compostable cling 

wrap a popular substitute for households. The changes in 

public opinion and the political environment helped to move 

things forward. After a 2-year discussion, Jumei and BPI 

with its 3 distribution partners jointly contributed to the first 

compostable cling wrap certificate in BPI’s history. 

This compostable cling wrap was not developed to its 

final form all at once. Numerous unexpected issues in 

terms of equipment, materials, market needs, etc. were 

encountered. However, it was still a rewarding process 

because end consumers always gave positive feedback. One 

of the biggest challenges Jumei had, was to modify the raw 

materials to achieve satisfying performance. Compostable 

raw materials can easily lose the properties of being 

transparent and clingy. Jumei has been experimenting with 

these materials for making performing cling wrap since 2018. 

The development team finally addressed this problem after 

having tested nearly 200 different formulas. “As a necessity 

in the food packaging, compostable cling wrap is what all 

users desire, and we firmly believe that it makes sense to 

develop compostable cling wrap and make it available with 

a stable supply”, said Sherry Hong, CEO of Jumei. 

Now, Jumei compostable cling wrap meets various 

requirements for food packaging applications: 

1. Food grade with no odour and high transparency 

2. Safe for microwave oven and refrigerator 

3. Good for fresh and cooked food packaging 

4. Biodegradable and compostable 

Jumei has made every effort to make as many 

compostable alternatives as possible to reach more end 

consumers. They say they are never satisfied and feel an 

obligation to improve their products even more. It is their 

mission to address the global plastic problem with the most 

viable and sustainable products. AT 

www.ahjmsw.com 


Application News 

Sustainable styrenics 

for water filter jugs 

Brita (Taunusstein, Germany), INEOS Styrolution 

(Frankfurt, Germany) and BASF (Ludwigshafen, Germany) 

have announced today that BRITA has selected a range of 

INEOS’ sustainable Terluran ® ECO, Styrolution ® PS ECO 

and NAS ® ECO for its portfolio of water filter jugs. 

The materials include the recently introduced NAS 

ECO, a styrene methyl methacrylate (SMMA) material, 

a result of a cooperation between INEOS and BASF. It is 

built on BASF’s production of styrene monomer derived 

from renewable feedstock based on the mass balance 

approach. INEOS uses the material as feedstock in its 

production of new sustainable styrenics solutions. 

Brita, known as a leading brand in water filtration, is 

among the first customers to benefit from INEOS’ new 

sustainable NAS ECO solution. Specifically, the material 

is used for the production of Brita’s water filter jugs 

where it is applied for jug, funnel, and lid parts. By using 

the new materials, Brita can significantly lower the CO 2 

footprint without changes of moulding parameters and 

material performance. The new ECO materials do not 

cause any interference in Brita’s production as it is a 

true plug-in solution that does not require an adaption to 

Brita’s production processes. 

Reduced CO 2 

footprint 

BASF’s biomass balance (BMB) based styrene is used 

in the production of bio-attributed styrenics specialties, 

mainly transparent styrenics materials such as the 

INEOS’ NAS ECO family of SMMA products and the Luran ® 

ECO family of SAN (styrene acrylonitrile copolymer) 

products. NAS ECO is available with a renewable content 

of min. 70 % resulting in a carbon footprint reduction of 

79 to 93 % compared to fossil-based NAS. Luran ECO is 

available with a renewable content of min. 60 %, resulting 

in a carbon footprint reduction of 77 to 99 % compared 

to fossil-based Luran. The BASF and INEOS Styrolution 

processes within the end-to-end mass balance based 

production of the new solution portfolio are certified by 

ISCC+. 

“The mass balance approach, be it based on waste 

biomass or chemically recycled plastics, helps us to leave 

fossil resources in the earth and enables a fast transition 

towards alternative feedstocks”, says Stefanie Kutscher, 

Head of Business Management Styrene at BASF’s 

Styrenics Business Europe. “This can only be achieved if 

the whole value chain takes part”. AT 

www.ineos-styrolution.com | www.basf.com | www.brita.com 

The World’s first 

bioplastic LP 

Evolution Music (Brighton, UK) recently unveiled the 

world’s first bioplastic vinyl record. Well actually, it is not a 

vinyl record, as vinyl stands for PVC (polyvinyl chloride). The 

idea was to provide an environmentally friendly alternative 

to conventional vinyl production, as PVC can produce 

an enormous amount of wasteful pollutants, such as 

hydrochloric acid, if incinerated improperly. 

The official launch was during the Music Declares 

Emergency’s Turn Up The Volume Week (18–24 April 2022). 

The world’s first bioplastic LP aims to balance a 

sustainable lower impact solution to the toxic impacts of 

producing PVC vinyl while maintaining sound quality. 

Being asked which material is being used to produce 

these revolutionary new records, Marc Carey, Evolution 

Music’s CEO told bioplastics MAGAZINE: “Our compound 

has been developed alongside a spin-off team from 

Southampton University (UK) and a number of global 

innovators in the bioplastic market. The base product is 

a PLA – actually a sugar-derived polymer that is provided 

by Bonsucro certified suppliers. We have co-developed a 

recipe that utilises this PLA product, unique organic fillers 

and a biobased Masterbatch to create a non-toxic PVC 

replacement for pressing in traditional LP pressing plants”. 

So no special equipment is needed to manufacture records 

with this new resin, only the raw materials will be changed. 

In addition, planet friendly packaging and distribution will 

be used. 

Marc continued: “We are still working on additional 

refinements and experimenting with variations – including 

potential for PHA options in the future. The interest for this 

first iteration/product has been truly spectacular with major 

labels, artists and pressing plants vying for our attention”. 

Peter Quicke of Ninja Tunes (London, UK) and the AIM 

Climate Action Group added: “Vinyl is such an important 

part of our experience of music, it’s brilliant (and a relief to 

be honest!) that we now have a non-toxic and sustainable 

solution to pressing records…” MT 

https://evolution-music.co.uk 


CCU fashion 

Recently Zara (Arteixo, Spain) released a limited-edition line of 

sustainable fashion made from captured carbon emissions. 

This follows their December 2021 launch of a limited-edition capsule 

collection with the first clothing line to use LanzaTech’s (Skokie, IL, USA) 

technology in turning carbon emissions into fabric instead of coming from 

virgin fossil resources. 

Capturing and repurposing carbon emissions from industrial processes 

limits the direct release of these emissions into the atmosphere and helps 

limit the use of virgin fossil resources. 


Carbon emissions are one of the main drivers of climate change. 

LanzaTech’s technology captures CO 2 

from industrial, agricultural, 

or domestic waste processes. Through a fermentation process, it is 

transformed into ethanol, a fundamental component in producing 

materials like PET used in a polyester thread. The final PET contains 20 % 

MEG (monoethylene glycol) made from recycled carbon emissions and 

80 % PTA (purified terephthalic acid). LanzaTech is also working with On 

(Zurich, Switzerland) and lululemon (Vancouver, Canada). 

Jennifer Holmgren, chief executive at LanzaTech, hailed the partnership 

as a major milestone for the carbon capture and utilization industry. “We 

are hugely excited about this collaboration with Inditex and Zara which 

brings fashion made from waste carbon emissions to the market”, she 

said in December. “LanzaTech has the technology that can help fashion 

brands and retailers limit their carbon impact. By working with Zara, we 

have found a new pathway to recycle carbon emissions to make fabric”. MT 

www.id-eight.com 

14–15 November 

Cologne (Germany) 

Hybrid Event 

advanced-recycling.eu 

Diversity of Advanced Recycling 

All you want to know 

about advanced recycling 

technologies and renewable 

chemicals, building blocks, 

monomers, and polymers 

based on recycling 

Topics 

• Markets and Policy 

(Circular Economy and Ecology of Plastics) 

• Physical Recycling 

• Biochemical Recycling 

• Chemical Recycling 

• Thermochemical Recycling 

• Other Advanced Recycling Technologies 

• CO2 Capture and Utilisation (CCU) 

• Upgrading, Pre- and Post-treatment Technologies 

Organiser Contact Dr. Lars Krause 

Program 

lars.krause@nova-institut.de 

Dominik Vogt 

Conference Manager 

dominik.vogt@nova-institut.de 



DURABIO for the front grill of Suzuki S-CROSS 

Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Group (Tokyo, Japan) hereby 

announces that MCHG’s biobased engineering plastic, Durabio, 

has been adopted as an application for the front grill of the S-Cross 

manufactured by Suzuki Motor Corporation (Hamamatsu, Japan). 

S-Cross has been offered for sale since December 2021. This is 

the first time that Durabio has been adopted for the exterior parts 

of Suzuki’s automobiles. 

Made from the renewable plant-derived raw material isosorbide, 

Durabio is a biobased engineering plastic with excellent properties 

compared to conventional engineering plastics, including impact 

resistance, weather resistance and heat resistance. The plastic 

also has excellent colour development, enabling the achievement 

of a sophisticated design with a gloss finish just by adding a 

colourant. In addition, the plastic requires no painting and coating 

process, as its surface is hard and scratch-resistant, thereby 

reducing VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) emissions generated 

during production. Although Durabio had previously been applied 

to interior parts by Suzuki, the improved level of shock resistance 

and weather resistance required for use in exterior parts has led to 

its current adoption for exterior applications. 

MCHG will continue to contribute to environmentally friendly car 

manufacturing through the development of Durabio for use in car 

interior design parts as well as larger-sized exterior design parts. AT 

www.mitsubishichem-hd.co.jp 

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Mechanical 

Recycling 

Extrusion 

Physical-Chemical 

Recycling 

available at www.renewable-carbon.eu/graphics 

Dissolution 

Physical 

Recycling 

Enzymolysis 

Biochemical 

Recycling 

Plastic Product 

End of Life 

Plastic Waste 

Collection 

Separation 

Different Waste 

Qualities 

Solvolysis 

Chemical 

Recycling 

Monomers 

Depolymerisation 

Thermochemical 

Recycling 

Pyrolysis 


Recycling 

Incineration 

CO2 Utilisation 

(CCU) 

Gasification 


Recycling 

CO2 

© -Institute.eu | 2022 

PVC 

EPDM 

PP 

PMMA 

PE 

Vinyl chloride 

Propylene 

Unsaturated polyester resins 

Methyl methacrylate 

PEF 

Polyurethanes 

MEG 

Building blocks 

Natural rubber 

Aniline Ethylene 

for UPR 

Cellulose-based 

2,5-FDCA 

polymers 

Building blocks 

for polyurethanes 

Levulinic 

acid 

Lignin-based polymers 

Naphtha 

Ethanol 

PET 

PFA 

5-HMF/5-CMF FDME 

Furfuryl alcohol 

Waste oils 

Casein polymers 

Furfural 

Natural rubber 

Saccharose 

PTF 

Starch-containing 

Hemicellulose 

Lignocellulose 

1,3 Propanediol 

polymer compounds 

Casein 

Fructose 

PTT 

Terephthalic 

Non-edible milk 

acid 

MPG NOPs 

Starch 

ECH 

Glycerol 

p-Xylene 

SBR 

Plant oils 

Fatty acids 

Castor oil 

11-AA 

Glucose Isobutanol 

THF 

Sebacic 

Lysine 

PBT 

acid 

1,4-Butanediol 

Succinic 

acid 

DDDA 

PBAT 

Caprolactame 

Adipic 

acid 

HMDA DN5 

Sorbitol 

3-HP 

Lactic 

acid 

Itaconic 

Acrylic 

PBS(x) 

acid 

acid 

Isosorbide 

PA 

Lactide 

Superabsorbent polymers 

Epoxy resins 

ABS 

PHA 

APC 

PLA 


O 

OH 

HO 

OH 

HO 

OH 

O 

OH 

HO 

OH 

O 

OH 

O 

OH 

© -Institute.eu | 2021 

All figures available at www.bio-based.eu/markets 

Adipic acid (AA) 

11-Aminoundecanoic acid (11-AA) 

1,4-Butanediol (1,4-BDO) 

Dodecanedioic acid (DDDA) 

Epichlorohydrin (ECH) 

Ethylene 

Furan derivatives 

D-lactic acid (D-LA) 

L-lactic acid (L-LA) 

Lactide 

Monoethylene glycol (MEG) 

Monopropylene glycol (MPG) 

Naphtha 

1,5-Pentametylenediamine (DN5) 

1,3-Propanediol (1,3-PDO) 

Sebacic acid 

Succinic acid (SA) 


fossil 


Refining 

Polymerisation 

Formulation 

Processing 

Use 

renewable 

Depolymerisation 

Solvolysis 

Thermal depolymerisation 

Enzymolysis 

Purification 

Dissolution 

Recycling 

Conversion 

Pyrolysis 

Gasification 

allocated 

Recovery 

Recovery 

Recovery 

conventional 



nova Market and Trend Reports 

on Renewable Carbon 

The Best Available on Bio- and CO2-based Polymers 

& Building Blocks and Chemical Recycling 

Mapping of advanced recycling 

technologies for plastics waste 

Providers, technologies, and partnerships 

Mimicking Nature – 

The PHA Industry Landscape 

Latest trends and 28 producer profiles 

Bio-based Naphtha 

and Mass Balance Approach 

Status & Outlook, Standards & 

Certification Schemes 

Diversity of 

Advanced Recycling 

Principle of Mass Balance Approach 

Feedstock 

Process 

Products 

Plastics 

Composites 

Plastics/ 

Syngas 

Polymers 

Monomers 

Monomers 

Naphtha 

Use of renewable feedstock 

in very first steps of 

chemical production 

(e.g. steam cracker) 

Utilisation of existing 

integrated production for 

all production steps 

Allocation of the 

renewable share to 

selected products 

Authors: Lars Krause, Michael Carus, Achim Raschka 

and Nico Plum (all nova-Institute) 

June 2022 

This and other reports on renewable carbon are available at 

www.renewable-carbon.eu/publications 

Author: Jan Ravenstijn 

March 2022 



Authors: Michael Carus, Doris de Guzman and Harald Käb 

March 2021 



Bio-based Building Blocks and 

Polymers – Global Capacities, 

Production and Trends 2020 – 2025 

Polymers 

Carbon Dioxide (CO 2) as Chemical 

Feedstock for Polymers 

Technologies, Polymers, Developers and Producers 

Chemical recycling – Status, Trends 

and Challenges 

Technologies, Sustainability, Policy and Key Players 

Building Blocks 

Plastic recycling and recovery routes 

Intermediates 

Feedstocks 

Primary recycling 

(mechanical) 

Virgin Feedstock 

Monomer 

Polymer 

Plastic 

Product 

Product (end-of-use) 

Landfill 

Renewable Feedstock 

Secondary recycling 

(mechanical) 

Tertiary recycling 

(chemical) 

Quaternary recycling 

(energy recovery) 

Secondary 

valuable 

materials 

CO 2 capture 

Energy 

Chemicals 

Fuels 

Others 

Authors: Pia Skoczinski, Michael Carus, Doris de Guzman, 

Harald Käb, Raj Chinthapalli, Jan Ravenstijn, Wolfgang Baltus 

and Achim Raschka 

January 2021 



Authors: Pauline Ruiz, Achim Raschka, Pia Skoczinski, 

Jan Ravenstijn and Michael Carus, nova-Institut GmbH, Germany 

January 2021 



Author: Lars Krause, Florian Dietrich, Pia Skoczinski, 

Michael Carus, Pauline Ruiz, Lara Dammer, Achim Raschka, 

nova-Institut GmbH, Germany 

November 2020 

This and other reports on the bio- and CO 2-based economy are 

available at www.renewable-carbon.eu/publications 

Genetic engineering 

Production of Cannabinoids via 

Extraction, Chemical Synthesis 

and Especially Biotechnology 

Current Technologies, Potential & Drawbacks and 

Future Development 

Plant extraction 

Plant extraction 

Cannabinoids 

Chemical synthesis 

Biotechnological production 

Production capacities (million tonnes) 

Commercialisation updates on 

bio-based building blocks 

Bio-based building blocks 

Evolution of worldwide production capacities from 2011 to 2024 

4 

3 

2 

1 

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2024 

Levulinic acid – A versatile platform 

chemical for a variety of market applications 

Global market dynamics, demand/supply, trends and 

market potential 

HO 

OH 

diphenolic acid 

H 2N 

O 

OH 

O 

O 

OH 

5-aminolevulinic acid 

O 

O 

levulinic acid 

O 

O 

ɣ-valerolactone 

OH 

HO 

O 

O 

succinic acid 

OH 

O 

O OH 

O O 

levulinate ketal 

O 

H 

N 

O 

5-methyl-2-pyrrolidone 

OR 

O 

levulinic ester 

Authors: Pia Skoczinski, Franjo Grotenhermen, Bernhard Beitzke, 

Michael Carus and Achim Raschka 

January 2021 



Author: 

Doris de Guzman, Tecnon OrbiChem, United Kingdom 

Updated Executive Summary and Market Review May 2020 – 

Originally published February 2020 

This and other reports on the bio- and CO 2-based economy are 

available at www.bio-based.eu/reports 

Authors: Achim Raschka, Pia Skoczinski, Raj Chinthapalli, 

Ángel Puente and Michael Carus, nova-Institut GmbH, Germany 

October 2019 

This and other reports on the bio-based economy are available at 

www.bio-based.eu/reports 

renewable-carbon.eu/publications 


Market 

Bioplastics in Chile 

How it all began 

This is the story of two friends that have been 

classmates since they were 8 years old. Rodrigo 

Alfaro, an agriculture engineer, and Augusto Cubillos 

a computer science engineer. 

Rodrigo and Augusto had always felt a deep connection to 

their country and heritage. As got older, they started to get 

worried about the great amount of plastic that was present 

in the soil, rivers, and creeks. In 2007 they found an article 

that would change their lives – it reported about a new kind 

of plastic, one that did not contaminate the soil. And after 

more than 20 years of experience working in their respective 

professions, they took a leap of faith and committed following 

a new path. They left the corporate environment and start a 

company to produce compostable plastics items. 

Due to their science-based background, they first started 

studying this technology, read specialized magazines like 

bioplastics MAGAZINE, and travelled to the USA and Europe 

to identify the main players and the commercial drivers 

of this new industry. 

Soon they were convinced of the potential of compostable 

plastics and acted accordingly. In 2009 they imported a 

couple of tonnes of Novamont’s MaterBi (Novara, Italy) and 

produced the first compostable bag in Chile. Since then, 

they have been preaching about diverting organic waste to 

create a healthy soil. 

In 2012, after a meeting with the CEO of BioBag 

International in the US and a subsequent visit to Chile, 

they got the license to produce biodegradable bags in Chile, 

under the BioBag World brand (Askim, Norway). 

The HORECA Business 

As you can probably imagine, the first years were 

like preaching in the desert, nobody even knew 

the term “composting or compostable”. So-called 

Oxo-Biodegradable products were the preferred alternative 

for the ecological firms. 

Until one day Sodexo Chile (Santiago, Chile) asked for 

their bags to start diverting the organic waste produced 

in the casino of Nestle Savory (Vevey, Switzerland), to a 

composting facility. That transaction gave them the support 

to develop an aggressive campaign aimed at the HORECA 

industry. Due to the quality of their products and services, 

and a well-structured alliance with companies that 

recollect solid items for recycling from local industries and 

with Sodexo Chile, they got all the Nestle plants and their 

corporate building in Chile. 

Then Aramark (Philadelphia, PA, USA) and other Chilean 

companies started to offer the recollection of organic waste 

to their customers because if you recycle organic waste, 

you increase the amount of overall recycled material, 

which also helps you to comply with legislation. These 

initiatives consolidated their HORECA business, which now 

has more than 110 different customers, including Hotels, 

Restaurants, and Food producers. 

Residential Business 

However, the greatest amount of organic waste is 

produced at homes, not in restaurants, hotels, or other 

HORECA businesses. Therefore, the next step seemed 

obvious, and at the end of 2018, they decided to support the 

development of the incipient curb side composting business 

in Chile. 

To do it, BioBag Chile took 3 key initiatives: 

• They built an alliance with the leading curb side 

composter at that time Sr Compost (Santiago, Chile). 

• They created an Instagram account (@BioBag_chile). 

• They started to commercialize the bags on an 

e-commerce site focused on sustainable products. 

• Three years later and a good amount of investment and 

commitment allow them to have: 

• A network of 60 small businesses all over Chile, from 

the desert of Atacama to the Patagonia, that offers the 

service to recover and compost domiciliary organic 

waste. 

• A community of 33.100 followers on Instagram. Of which 

70 % are women between 24 and 44 years old. 

• More than six e-commerce websites selling BioBag 

products. 

Drop-off Sites 

In July 2019 they started a new way to encourage people 

to modify their behaviour to better manage their organic 

waste at home. 

The Chilean duo started a free drop-off site at the 

municipality of Providencia in Santiago, which worked 

every Sunday from 10 am to 2 pm. Organic waste would 

be accepted if it was in a BioBag bag. On the first Sunday, 

they only collected 200 kilos. Less than half a year later they 

were collecting 4 tonnes every Sunday, with more than 1.500 

families going to drop-off their organic waste. 

Due to the pandemic, they had to close the drop-off site 

until December 2021. Currently, there are two free drop-off 

sites at the Municipality of Ñuñoa, and another one in the 

Municipality of Providencia at Santiago, a city of seven million 

people. Things are starting to pick up again, on Sunday, May 

15th, they recovered three tonnes of organic waste. 


Market 

The key takeaways of the domiciliary business 

are: 

• They supported the creation of an infrastructure to 

recycle organic waste from households, emulating the 

way that nature works. Because nature knows no waste, 

everything created later biodegrades in a natural manner. 

• They have helped to create a USD 1.4 million annually for 

small business partners that charge USD 20 per month 

for their service to 6.000 households. 

• And most importantly: they helped people to be part of 

the solution, by providing an infrastructure that works, 

(recollect, and compost) – and people are eager to 

participate. Good infrastructure drives behaviour! 

Next step: Agriculture Business 

However, the dream team from Chile are not done yet! 

This September, they will start to implement the first 

pilots using BioAgri mulch, the MaterBi product to control 

weeds for crops like strawberries and other agricultural 

products produced in Chile. 

As the bioplastics market is gaining traction in Chile, they 

aim to keep their leadership position by being trailblazers 

in new areas. Chile is the largest exporter of fruits in 

the southern hemisphere and has to comply with all the 

regulations in Europe and other geographies – and Rodrigo 

and Augusto are up for the challenge. AT 

https://www.biobag.cl/ 

8–9 

MARCH 

2023 

Cologne (Germany) 

Hybrid Event 

SAVE THE DATE 

cellulose-fibres.eu 

Cellulose Fibres Conference, the fastest growing 

fibre group in textiles, the largest investment 

sector in the bio-based economy and the solution 

to avoid microplastics 


CCU 

Carbon dioxide utilization – 

an opportunity for plastics 

Carbon dioxide utilization (CO 2 

U) technologies are a 

sub-set of carbon capture utilization and storage 

(CCUS) technologies and refer to the productive use of 

anthropogenic CO 2 

to make value-added products such as 

building materials, synthetic fuels, chemicals, and plastics. 

CCUS have been deployed around the world at large-scale 

and are seen as a crucial tool to decarbonize the world’s 

economy. As well as storing CO 2 

in the subsurface, there has 

been increasing interest in its utilization. CO 2 

U can promote 

not only a more circular economy but also, in some cases, 

result in products with enhanced properties or processes 

with lower feedstock costs. 

The CO 2 

U industry has gained momentum as a solution 

to achieve the world’s ambitious climate goals. Many precommercial 

projects are currently operating or under 

construction, mostly concentrated in Europe and North 

America, with more in the pipeline supported by public and 

private investments. Although still in its infancy, the market 

pull is coming from the users – businesses and individuals 

are reportedly creating demand for low-carbon products. 

The options are diverse 

Despite its potential to create a market for waste CO 2 

, 

not all CO 2 

U technologies are created equal. These systems 

face a range of economic, technical, and regulatory 

challenges which need to be carefully considered so that 

the technologies that actually provide climate benefits – and 

are economically viable – can be prioritized and pursued. 

For instance, for many CO 2 

U routes, the CO 2 

sequestration 

is only temporary with the CO 2 

utilized being released to the 

atmosphere once the product is consumed (e.g. CO 2 

-derived 

Emerging applications of CO 2 

utilization: inputs, manufacturing 

pathways, and products made from CO 2 

. Source: IDTechEx. 

fuels or proteins), whilst for others, the CO 2 

can be stored 

permanently (e.g. CO 2 

-derived building materials). On the 

economic side, many CO 2 

U pathways can be considerably 

more expensive than their fossil-based counterparts due to 

high energy requirements, low yields, or the need for other 

expensive feedstock (e.g. green hydrogen, catalysts). 

The highest potential areas 

Successful deployment for CO 2 

-based polymers saw 

considerable growth in recent years, especially in Europe 

and Asia, with more than 250.000 tonnes of CO 2 

already 

used in polymer manufacturing annually worldwide 

(based on currently operating plants). This sector is 

expected to continue to expand, even though its climate 

mitigation potential is limited, mainly due to its intrinsic 

low CO 2 

utilization ratio (volume of CO 2 

per volume of 

CO 2 

-derived product). 

Construction materials, fuels, and commodity chemicals 

(e.g. methanol, ethanol, olefins) offer vast potential for 

CO 2 

utilization, but this will not be realized without the 

development of an extensive CO 2 

network linking capture 

sites to usage sites, widespread deployment of clean energy, 

or regulatory support (e.g. sustainable fuel mandates). 

CO 2 

-derived construction products in particular – such as 

concrete and aggregates – are set to gain considerable 

market share due to their helpful thermodynamics and 

ability to sequester CO 2 

permanently. 

How to make polymers from CO 2 

? 

There are at least three major pathways to convert CO 2 

into polymers: electrochemistry, biological conversion, and 

thermocatalysis. The latter is the most mature CO 2 

-utilization 

technology, where CO 2 

can either be utilized directly to yield 

CO 2 

-based polymers, most notably biodegradable linearchain 

polycarbonates (LPCs), or indirectly, through the 

production of chemical precursors (building blocks such as 

methanol, ethanol, acrylate derivatives, or mono-ethylene 

glycol [MEG]) for polymerization reactions. 

LPCs made from CO 2 

include polypropylene carbonate 

(PPC), polyethylene carbonate (PEC), and polyurethanes 

(PUR), PUR being a major market for CO 2 

-based polymers, 

with applications in electronics, mulch films, foams, 

and in the biomedical and healthcare sectors. CO 2 

can 

comprise up to 50 % (in weight) of a polyol, one of the main 

components in PUR. CO 2 

-derived polyols (alcohols with two 

or more reactive hydroxyl groups per molecule) are made by 

combining CO 2 

with cyclic ethers (oxygen-containing, ringlike 

molecules called epoxides). The polyol is then combined 

with an isocyanate component to make PUR. 

Companies such as Econic (Amsterdam, the Netherlands), 

Covestro (Leverkusen, Germany, see p. 10), and Aramco 

Performance Materials (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia) (with 

intellectual property acquired from Novomer – Rochester, 

NY, USA) have developed novel catalysts to facilitate 


CCU 

Pathways to polymers from CO 2 

. 

CO 2 

-based polyol manufacturing. Fossil inputs are still 

necessary through this thermochemical pathway, but 

manufacturers can replace part of it with waste CO 2 

, 

potentially saving on raw material costs. 

In the realm of emerging technologies, chemical 

precursors for CO 2 

-based polymers can be obtained 

through electrochemistry or microbial synthesis. Although 

electrochemical conversion of CO 2 

into chemicals is at 

an earlier stage of development, biological pathways are 

more mature, having reached the early-commercialization 

stage. Recent advances in genetic engineering and process 

optimization have led to the use of chemoautotrophic 

microorganisms in synthetic biological routes to convert 

CO 2 

into chemicals, fuels, and even proteins. 

Unlike thermochemical synthesis, these biological 

pathways generally use conditions approaching ambient 

temperature and pressure, with the potential to be 

less energy-intensive and costly at scale. Notably, the 

California-based start-up Newlight (Huntington Beach, 

USA) is bringing into market a direct biological route 

to polymers, where its microbe turns captured CO 2 

, 

air, and methane into polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), an 

enzymatically degradable polymer. 

Currently, the scale of CO 2 

-based polymer manufacturing 

is still minor compared to the incumbent petrochemical 

industry, but there are already successful commercial 

examples. One of the largest volumes available is aromatic 

polycarbonates (PC) made from CO 2 

, being developed by 

Asahi Kasei (Tokyo, Japan) in Taiwan since 2012. More 

recently, the US-based company LanzaTech (Skokie, IL) has 

successfully established partnerships with major brands 

such as Unilever (London, UK), L’Oréal (Clichy, France), On 

(Zurich, Switzerland), Danone (Paris, France), Zara (Arteixo, 

Spain, see. p. 41) and Lulumelon (Vancouver, Canada) 

to use microbes to convert captured carbon emissions 

from industrial processes into polymer precursors – 

ethanol and MEG – for manufacturing of packaging items, 

shoes, and textiles. 

The niche areas 

The solid carbon (e.g. carbon nanotubes, carbon fibre, 

diamonds) and protein sectors will remain niche applications 

of CO 2 

utilization, despite their high market value, due to, 

respectively, the small size of the market (in volumes) and 

fierce competition from incumbents. Waste CO 2 

utilization 

in algae cultivation is still in the early stages, and many 

hurdles need to be addressed before commodity-scale 

applications become a reality. 

Questions remain 

Although the idea of reusing waste greenhouse gases 

as raw material seems like a win-win proposition, many 

viability questions arise for each CO 2 

utilization pathway. 

Will it truly lead to emission reductions? What are the 

financial and practical barriers to its commercialization? 

Can it scale to address climate change meaningfully? These 

are some of the tough questions IDTechEx addressed in the 

latest report Carbon Dioxide (CO 2 

) Utilization 2022–2042: 

Technologies, Market Forecasts, and Players. 

The report provides a comprehensive outlook of the global 

CO 2 

utilization industry, with an in-depth analysis of the 

technological, economic, and environmental aspects that 

are set to shape this emerging market over the next twenty 

years. IDTechEx considers CO 2 

use cases in enhanced oil 

recovery, building materials, liquid and gaseous fuels, 

polymers, chemicals, and biological yield-boosting (crop 

greenhouses, algae, and fermentation), exploring the 

technology innovations and opportunities within each area. 

The report also includes a twenty-year granular forecast 

for the deployment of eleven CO 2 

U product categories, 

alongside 20+ interview-based company profiles. 

The bottom line 

Not all CO 2 

-utilization pathways are equally beneficial 

to climate goals and not all will be economically scalable. 

Scarce resources that have alternative uses must be 

allocated where they are most likely to generate economic 

value and climate change mitigation. As the world’s thirst 

for plastics does not seem to fade, a circular carbon 

economy may help maintain people’s lifestyles by fostering 

a petrochemical industry that sees waste CO 2 

as a 

viable feedstock. AT 

The complete report can be purchased at 

www.idtechex.com 


Basics 

PEF: the new kid on the block 

What is it and when can we expect commercial material? 

Consumers and governments across the globe are 

putting increasing pressure on brands, retailers, and 

the chemical industry to reduce their carbon footprints 

and embrace renewables and the circular economy. 

As plastics and the monomers from which they are 

produced represent about 80 % of the volume of the chemical 

industry (400 million tonnes production per year, excluding 

recycled plastics, fibres and thermosets (such as rubbers 

for tires). Several plastics with large volume potential have 

been commercialized or are close to being commercialized 

(for example PLA, PBS, PHA’s, bio-PET, bio-PE, and PEF). 

Avantium is an Amsterdam-based technology company that 

has been working on the commercialization of PEF and its 

two monomers furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) and mono 

ethylene glycol (MEG) since 2005. In a broader perspective, 

Avantium offers unique technological solutions to address 

the global need to reduce plastic waste, tackle climate 

change, and transition into a circular, sustainable biobased 

economy. The goal is to make economically competitive and 

scalable chemicals and materials that are produced based 

on renewable feedstocks, fully (closed-loop) recyclable, 

with a significantly lower carbon footprint, and with superior 

performance relative to the petroleum-based alternatives. 

The YXY ® plants-to-plastics technology catalytically 

converts plant-based sugars into FDCA and PEF 

(polyethylene furanoate), a novel, first-in-class 100 % plantbased 

polyester. PEF is a 100 % recyclable plastic, with 

superior performance properties (improved oxygen, CO 2 

and moisture barrier, thermal and mechanical properties) 

compared to today’s widely used petroleum-based PET and 

other packaging materials.[1] 

Avantium has ongoing partnerships to develop, scale 

and commercialize the FDCA and PEF technology with 

multiple players throughout the value chain; from feedstock 

providers to converters and global consumer brands. A good 

example is our collaboration is PEFerence, a consortium of 

organizations aiming to replace a significant share of fossilbased 

polyesters with the 100 % plant-based PEF. Another 

example is the Paper Bottle Project (Paboco – Slangerup, 

Denmark), an innovation community joining leading brands 

that wish to develop a paper bottle. 

By: 

Gert-Jan M. Gruter 

CTO Avantium 

Professor Industrial Sustainable Chemistry 

University of Amsterdam 

PEF will provide the Paper Bottle with the high barrier 

properties needed for beverages such as beer and 

carbonated soft drinks. Recently, the first commercial 

paper bottles with PEF have been produced and consumers 

were for the first time ever able to drink beer from a 

PEF-based bottle. 

Next to PEF for bottles, the development of PEF for 

fibres is seeing an acceleration via the so-called PEF 

Textile Community with the five reputable global companies 

Antex (Anglès, Spain), BekaertDeslee (Waregem, Belgium), 

Chamatex (Ardoix, France), Kvadrat (Ebeltoft, Denmark), 

and Salomon (Annecy, France) (see also our news from 

21. June 2022). Avantium and Antex have already worked 

together on producing yarns made from PEF and the other 

community partners will use these PEF yarns to develop 

various PEF fabric applications in different segments. 

The YXY Technology is the most advanced technology for 

PEF production across the sector and the first commercial 

production of FDCA and PEF is expected to begin in 2024, 

from the 5,000 tonnes per year FDCA Flagship Plant in 

Delfzijl, the Netherlands. A strong ecosystem of partners 

was established throughout the PEF value chain for the 

Flagship Plant. In Q1 2022, five offtake commitments were 

secured, representing over 50 % of the total Flagship Plant 

capacity. Contracts were signed with specialty chemical 

company Toyobo (Osaka, Japan), specialty polyester film 

producer Terphane (Bloomfield, NY, USA), beverage 

bottling company Refresco (Rotterdam, the Netherlands), 

international rigid packaging supplier Resilux (Wetteren, 

Belgium), and an undisclosed major global food & beverage 

brand owner. 


Basics 

agri crops 

=Avanum technology 

sugars 

I 

FDCA 

PEF 

packaging 

non-food biomass 

texles 

forestry &agri 

waste 

II 

plantMEG 

100% plant-based 

film 

closed-loop 

recycling /reuse 

FEEDSTOCK CHEMICALS PLASTICS ENDMARKETS 

Figure 1: Overview of the Avantium Technology value chain from feedstock towards FDCA and PEF together with the Dawn Technology for 

industrial sugars, the Ray Technology for plantMEG and the latter two together for PEF. 

Three key parameters play an important role in 

determining the ultimate commercial potential of a 

new process technology for a monomer: (1) estimated 

production cost at various stages required up to and 

including full commercial scale (2) product performance 

and (3) ecological footprint. Many developments, certainly 

in a start-up environment, focus on the chance of technical 

success first and foremost. Technically, conversions can 

often be done but the better question is if they can be done 

at a competitive production cost. 

As drop-in products cannot compete on performance 

(the molecules are the same), it is required that they can 

eventually compete on price. A business case cannot 

be based on a green premium at full commercial scale, 

although there are examples that at an intermediate scale a 

green premium can be realized as long as there is potential 

for further cost reduction in subsequent scale up. As an 

example, biobased ethylene glycol, one of the monomers 

of PET, has seen a 20 - 30 % green premium, which was 

recovered by major brands such as The Coca-Cola Company 

and Danone through marketing a “Plant Bottle” or “Bouteille 

Vegetal”, resulting in additional market share in the bottled 

water field. 

From an atom efficiency or mass yield point of view, there 

is a very important difference between fossil hydrocarbon 

feedstock and biobased carbohydrate feedstock (glucose 

is the most abundant organic molecule on earth). 

Hydrocarbons can be cracked into various small monomers 

or monomer precursors without significant mass losses: 

ethylene, propylene, butadiene, styrene, and xylene 

are typical examples. When functionalizing monomer 

precursors with heteroatoms, we are adding mass, which 

really helps the economics. 

Hydrocarbons such as ethylene, propylene, and paraxylene 

are therefore very logical products to produce from 

oil or (shale) as feedstock. The downstream deployment of 

these commodity monomers to polymeric materials and 

the application of the resulting plastics is well developed 

at tens of millions of tonnes global annual production 

volumes. Therefore, when we talk about shifting to 

biobased monomers and polymeric materials we tend 

to prefer to produce the same molecules but now from 

glucose (the central – from a volume point of view most 

important – biobased starting material for a biobased 

economy). However, unless we make use of the functionality 

in these sugars (such as making mono ethylene glycol in a 

Avantium’s Ray Technology is a highly efficient process that converts plant-based sugars into Ray plantMEG 

in a single process step. Mono ethylene glycol (MEG) is an important chemical building block for PET or PEF 

resin for bottles and packaging; fibres for apparel, furniture, and automotive; and solvents (e.g. paint and 

coatings), and coolants. The Ray Technology is currently scaled-up with a demonstration plant in Delfzijl, the 

Netherlands which was successfully completed and started up and commissioned in 2020. In addition, Dawn 

Technology enables the conversion of agricultural and forestry residues (wood chips) in a staged hydrolysis to 

high-value chemicals and materials such as furfural from hardwood hemicellulose and HMF derivatives for FDCA 

production. Biorefining is the sustainable way to produce the biobased industrial sugar feedstock of the future. 

Avantium’s Volta Technology is a platform technology that uses electrochemistry to convert CO 2 

to high-value 

products and chemical building blocks such as oxalic acid, glyoxylic acid, glycolic acid, and ethylene glycol. These 

products are predominantly used in cosmetics and polyesters. Interesting polyesters that were very difficult or 

impossible to produce with sufficiently high molecular weight in the past have been produced in a collaboration 

with the University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands).[2,3] 


Basics 

single step from glucose), typical oil/gas-based drop-ins such 

as ethylene (for PE), propylene (for PP), styrene (for PS), and 

terephthalic acid (for PET) will in the long term not be the way 

to go. 

As an example, let’s compare the best route (from 

an atom efficiency point of view) to make the PET 

monomer terephthalic acid (TPA; C 8 

H 6 

O 4 

) from C6 sugar 

(glucose; C 6 

H 12 

O 6 

) with making the PEF monomer 

furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA; C 6 

H 4 

O 5 

) from the same starting 

material. For TPA, the cycloaddition of dimethylfuran (DMF) 

with ethylene (see Figure 2) seems the best atom efficient 

route. Interestingly, both routes go via the same intermediate, 

namely 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF). 

When making DMF from HMF we will require three 

equivalents of hydrogen. This hydrogen can be obtained 

from glucose via steam reforming but for this, we need 

also about half a glucose molecule. Thus, when comparing 

FDCA and TPA from glucose, in the best case we need one 

C6 sugar molecule to produce one FDCA molecule and we 

need two C6 sugar molecules to produce bio-TPA. 

Because FDCA is not the same as TPA, as a consequence, 

their polymers PEF and PET are not the same. This 

allows for finding performance features for the new 

material that provides a performance advantage over PET. 

PEF is a 100 % biobased, 100 % recyclable plastic 

with superior performance properties when applied in 

OH 

PEF 

fermentaon 

2CO 2 +2CH 2 CH 2 OH 2H 2 C=CH 2 +2H 2 O 

(ethanol) (ethylene) 

H 2 C=CH 2 

-H 2 O 

p-xylene 

PET 

Figure 2: glucose can be converted in 2 steps (via fructose) to HMF, a common intermediate to FDCA (top) and TPA (bottom). HMF can be 

oxidized to FDCA (PEF monomer) in one step or can be converted in three steps to TPA via dimethylfuran (DMF) and p-xylene. For producing 

p-xylene, also one equivalent of ethylene is required. Bio-ethylene is also obtained from glucose in 2 steps via ethanol. 

In Figure 2, it is indicated that HMF can either be oxidized 

in one step to FDCA or it can be hydrogenated to DMF. 

DMF can subsequently react with ethylene in a Diels-Alder 

cycloaddition reaction to form a bicyclic intermediate adduct, 

which eliminates water to form para-xylene (PX) in one 

concerted step. In order for the PX to be 100 % biobased, 

the ethylene used in the cycloaddition needs to be biobased 

too. This ethylene will require half of a glucose molecule as 

feedstock (glucose fermentation gives 2 ethanol and 2 CO 2 

. 

The two ethanol molecules are dehydrated to two ethylene 

molecules). 

PX can be oxidized with air (oxygen) in a third process step 

to TPA, of which more than 70 million tonnes are produced 

annually, mainly to produce PET for fibres (textiles) and 

bottles. Modern TPA plants consist of 1,000 m 3 CSTR reactors, 

producing more than 1 million tons per year in a single line 

making it almost impossible to compete on cost with a small 

volume bio-based PX stream. Of course, bio-PX can be mixed 

with fossil PX but the large brands do not like a mass balance 

based certificate system. They like to print the actual biobased 

content on the bottle label! 

bottle applications. These properties make PEF an attractive 

alternative to PET and other packaging materials such as 

aluminium, glass, and cartons. PEF has 10x better oxygen 

barrier and more attractive thermal (12 °C higher Tg) and 

mechanical properties (50 % higher modulus) compared to 

PET and offers a 50 - 70 % reduced carbon footprint when 

compared to PET at industrial scale. 


References 

[1] De Jong, E., Visser, H.A., Sousa Dias, A., Harvey C., Gruter G.J.M. 

Polymers 2022, 14, 943. The Road to Bring FDCA and PEF to the Market. 

[2] Murcia Valderrama, M.A., van Putten R.-J., Gruter G.-J.M. ACS Appl. 

Polym. Mater. 2020, 2, 2706. PLGA Barrier Materials from CO2. The 

influence of Lactide Comonomer on Glycolic Acid Polyesters. 

[3] Wang Y., Davey C.J.E., van der Maas K., van Putten R.-J., Tietema A., 

Parsons J.R., Gruter G.-J. M. Science of the Total Environment 2022, 815 

152781. Biodegradability of novel high Tg poly(isosorbide-co-1,6-hexanediol) 

oxalate polyester in soil and marine environments. 


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Automotive 

10 

Years ago 

Published in 

bioplastics MAGAZINE 

Plant-based 

carbohydrates 

MMF 

FDCA 

70% 

30% 

Cover Story 

I 

n 2009 The Coca-Cola Company launched its PlantBottle, 

a (partially) bio-based plastic bottle for its Coca-Cola and 

Dasani brands. In the same year Frito Lay introduced a 

bio-based chips bag for SunChips. Recently Nike introduced 

its new bio-based GS football boot. The direction of major 

brand owners is to move away from petroleum based materials 

and they are ramping up their efforts to introduce renewable 

materials. 

Avantium, an innovative renewable chemicals company 

based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, is commercializing 

a new bio-based polyester: polyethylene furanoate (PEF) 

for large applications such as bottles, films and fibers. 

With PEF’s exceptional barrier properties and increased 

heat resistance it has come on the radar screen of the 

leading brand owners in the beverage industry. Looking at 

its differentiating polymer properties, its cost competitive 

production process, and the strongly reduced carbon 

footprint, one must conclude that PEF has the potential to 

become the world’s next-generation polyester. In December 

2011 the Dutch company announced its development 

partnership with The Coca-Cola Company, followed by a 

similar agreement with Danone in March 2012, to develop 

and commercialize PEF bottles for carbonated soft drinks 

and water. With the support of these brand powerhouses in 

the beverage industry Avantium seems to be on a winning 

course to make PEF the new 100% renewable and recyclable 

standard for the polyester industry. 

The road to a new bioplastic 

The world’s 

next-generation polyester 

Avantium has a 12-year track record of discovering, 

developing and optimizing catalytic processes for the 

refinery, chemical and renewables industries. Using its 

advanced catalyst research technology, the company 

100% biobased polyethylene furanoate (PEF) 

has developed its YXY (pronounced ~iksy) technology, a 

proprietary process to convert plant based carbohydrates 

into building blocks for making bio-based plastics, biobased 

chemicals and advanced biofuels. The company is 

backed by an international group of venture capital firms, 

including Sofinnova Partners, Capricorn Cleantech, ING and 

Aescap. Avantium has been listed for two consecutive years 

as a global top 100 cleantech company. 

Over the past few years the company made significant 

progress in the development and commercialization of the 

YXY technology. 

The basic philosophy behind it is to develop products 

from renewable sources that compete both on price and 

on performance with petroleum-based products, while 

also having a superior environmental footprint. Built upon 

Avantium’s core capability of advanced catalysis R&D, 

this chemical catalytic process allows the production of 

cost-competitive next-generation plastic materials and 

chemicals. YXY’s main building block, 2,5-furandicarboxylic 

acid (FDCA), can be used as a replacement for terephthalic 

acid (TA). 

O 

HO 

Terephthalic acid 

(TA) 

OH 

O 

HO OH 

O 

Furan- dicarboxilic acid 

(FDCA) 

Avantium has announced collaborations with leading 

brands and industrial companies to create a strong demand 

for products based on YXY technology. In addition to the joint 

development programs for 100% bio-based PEF bottles, 

O 

By 

Peter Mangnus 

VP Partnering & Commercialisation YXY 

Avantium Chemicals BV 

Amsterdam, The Netherlands 

O 

Crude Oil 

similar contracts were signed with Solvay, Rhodia and 

Teijin Aramid for the creation of Furanic polyamide-based 

materials. 

In December 2011, Avantium officially opened its pilot 

plant at the Chemelot Campus in Geleen, the Netherlands. 

This pilot plant has been successfully started and is running 

24/7. Its main purpose is to demonstrate the PEF technology 

at scale but is also producing sufficient volumes of FDCA 

and PEF for application development. 

The first commercial plant will have a production capacity 

of around 50,000 tonnes per year. Preparations for this 

commercial production plant have already started, and 

Avantium expects the plant to come on stream in 2016. The 

company is in the process of securing the financial resources 

for the first commercial scale FDCA plant, after which it will 

announce the site location. 

PX 

PEF: the next generation polyester 

The focus is clearly set on PEF, a polyester-based 

on FDCA and MEG (monoethylene-glycol). When using 

bio-based MEG, PEF is a 100% bio-based alternative to 

PET. PEF can be applied to a wide variety of commercial 

uses, including bottles, textiles, food packaging, carpets, 

electronic materials and automotive applications. One of 

the benefits of PEF is that it can be processed in existing 

PET assets. Avantium has used an existing PET pilot plant 

to produce PEF at pilot plant scale and the company has 

used existing PET processing equipment such as PET blow 

molding machines and PET fiber spinning lines. 

PEF is in many ways similar to PET: it is a colorless 

and rigid material. However there are some remarkable 

differences between PEF and PET. PEF has a glass 

transition temperature of 86°C, which is 10-12°C higher 

TA 

30% 

MEG 

Cover Story 

Avantium’s YXY technology (in blue), the production chain of PEF versus PET 


70% 

than PET. Its h 

packaging mat 

pasteurization. 

PEF. To any p 

properties stand 

PEF outperform 

– it shuts out o 

better; and wate 

the applications 

an unmet marke 

Table 1: PEF pro 

Prop 

Tg 

Tm 

HDT 

(@ 0.45 N/mm 2 , 

CO 2 

barrier im 

Oxygen barrier 

Table 2: Unmet nee 

(* CSD = Carbonate 

CSD* 

Juices 

Vitamin Water 

Beer 

Milk 

Ketchup 

Coffee/Tea 

c 

w 



Automotive 

In July 2022, Peter Mangnus, 

Director Assets & Supply Chain, 

Avantium says: 

Avantium’s roadmap to PEF: 

PEF 

PET 

Cover Story 

Bottles 

Fibers 

Film 

Headquartered in Amsterdam, Avantium 

is an innovation-driven company dedicated 

to developing and commercialising breakthrough, 

sustainable chemical technologies. 

Its most advanced technology is the YXY ® 

Technology that catalytically converts plantbased 

sugars into FDCA (furandicarboxylic 

acid), a main building block of PEF (polyethylene 

furanoate). Over the last ten years, PEF has 

attracted the enthusiasm and support of many key 

players – from global commercial players as well as 

governments and financial partners. 

igher heat resistance makes PEF a versatile 

erial, for example, for hot fill or in-container 

Table 1 presents additional properties for 

ackaging expert PEF’s remarkable barrier 

out as a significant improvement over PET. 

s the barrier properties of PET in every way 

xygen 6-10x better; carbon dioxide is 2-4x 

r vapour 2x better. Table 2 shows some of 

where these improvements can help satisfy 

t need. 

perties 

erty PEF (relative to PET) 

86°C (Higher 11°C) 

235°C (Lower 30°C) 

-B 

76°C (cf. 64°C for PET) 

ASTM E2092) 

provement 2-4x 

improvement 6-10x 

ds in PET packaging 

d Soft Drinks) 

Unmet need for packaging 

CO 2 O 2 H 2 O 

x 

x 

x 

x x 

x 

x x 

x x 

For brand owners and packaging developers the improved 

barrier properties of PEF offer a range of innovation 

opportunities such as the extension of shelf life, further 

light weighting of bottles, the packaging of smaller volume 

carbonated drinks, and the replacement of glass by PEF for 

oxygen sensitive products. In a fast growing category of plastic 

packaging materials PEF offers the opportunity to increase 

plastic packaging penetration in a number of attractive market 

segments. 

PEF’s strongly reduced carbon footprint 

To assess the environmental footprint of YXY technology, 

Avantium is working with the Copernicus Institute at Utrecht 

University, the Netherlands, an independent organization 

specialized in making Life-Cycle-Analysis (LCA). Comparing 

YXY technology for making PEF with petroleum based PET, the 

Institute made a cradle-to-grave assessment of non-renewable 

energy use (NREU) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 

(Energy Environ. Sci., 2012, 5, 6407–6422). The results of this 

assessment demonstrated that the production of PEF reduces 

GHG emissions by 50-70% compared to PET and yields a 40- 

50% reduction in NREU. The YXY technology platform is still in 

pilot development, so the ultimate reduction in non-renewable 

energy use and GHG emission may be even larger, if additional 

improvements in the process can be realized. 

Renewable feedstock 

The technology introduced here is a catalytic technology that 

converts plant-based carbohydrates into Furanics building 

blocks. The most important monomer is FDCA which is the key 

building block for the production of PEF. Like a number of other 

companies in the renewable chemical industry, Avantium is 

following a feedstock flexibility strategy, meaning that it can use 

different types of feedstock that are available today (corn, sugar 

cane, sugar beet) and feedstock that will become available in 

the future (agricultural waste, forest residues, waste paper, 

etc.). The ultimate choice of feedstock will depend on the 

geographical location of the production plant, the availability of 

feedstock, its sustainability and economic factors. Avantium is 

bioplastics MAGAZINE [04/12] Vol. 7 13 

Recyclable and renewable 

To successfully commercialize PEF bottles it is essential 

that PEF can be integrated into the existing infrastructure 

for the collecting and recycling of existing plastics. 

Avantium is working with its development partners to fully 

explore the recycling of PEF, and will engage with partners 

in the recycling community to ensure that PEF bottles can 

be recycled for different applications. Preliminary tests 

have demonstrated that PEF recycling will be very similar 

to PET recycling, by grinding and re-extruding the polymer 

(primary recycling), by remelting post-consumer waste 

followed by solid-state processing (secondary recycling) 

and by depolymerization through hydrolysis, alcoholysis, or 

glycolysis followed by repolymerization (tertiary recycling). 

Conclusion 

Where many bioplastics companies are pursuing biobased 

drop-in materials (bio-based versions of products 

that are made today from fossil resources, such as biopolyethylene, 

or bio-PET) it is interesting to see the PEF 

developments at Avantium. Using its proprietary YXY 

technology, Avantium converts plant-based carbohydrates 

into FDCA, a green monomer, to make the new polyester 

called PEF. According to Avantium, PEF is not only a 

renewable and recyclable material, but is also has 

differentiating properties that create a range of exciting 

innovation opportunities. In particular PEF’s fascinating 

oxygen and carbon-dioxide barrier properties make it a 

very attractive material for bottle and film applications. The 

product is still in the development phase so there are still 

questions that need to be answered by the developers of 

80 

70 

60 

50 

40 

30 

20 

10 

0 

5 

PET PET+ PEF PEF+ 

Avantium has also begun construction on the 

world’s first FDCA Flagship Plant, planned to be 

completed by the end of 2023 and to be operational 

in 2024. This commercial facility is set to focus on 

high-value applications which can benefit 

from PEF’s powerful 

combination of sustainability 

and performance 

features. Avantium has 

already signed multiple 

offtake agreements for 

the Flagship Plant with 

prominent commercial 

companies such as with 

Carlsberg, Refresco and 

Sukano, 

The business model 

of the FDCA Flagship 

Plant is based on sales of 

FDCA and PEF to offtake 

partners. In addition, we 

intend to sell technology 

licenses to industrial collaborators. 

Today, Avantium’s PEF 

offers a unique solution to 

address the global need to 

reduce plastic waste, help 

tackle climate change and 

transition into a circular, 

sustainable biobased economy. 

actively working on the use of feedstock from second-generation 

PEF over the coming years. An example is the recycling of 

PEF: the integration of PEF into the existing recycle stream 

NREU 

Cover Story 

looks promising but will need to be carefully managed. 

4 

non-food crops to ensure that these are fully useable for the 

YXY technology. The company collaborates with a range of 

ompanies that work on the processing of non-food crops and 

aste streams into commercially viable carbohydrate streams. 

3 

2 

1 

CO 2 

> 50% 

reduction 

Avantium collaborates with leading brands and industrial 

companies to create a strong demand for biobased 

products based on its YXY technology. The company has 

already signed partnerships with The Coca-Cola Company 

and Danone for the development of 100% biobased PEF 

bottles, and with Solvay, Rhodia and Teijin Aramid for the 

creation of Furanic polyamide-based materials. Bolstered 

by the already existing partnerships, Avantium is actively 

seeking other like-minded brands and companies to help to 

challenge the status quo. 


www.yxy.com 

0 

PET PET+ PEF PEF+ 

Comparison of PEF versus PET (revised 2010 PET data set) 

tinyurl.com/avantium2012 

NREU = non-renewable energy useage (GJ/tonne) 

CO 2 equivalents for GHG potential (tonne CO 2 equiv/tonne) 

PET+ and PEF+ means: biobased MEG 


Suppliers Guide 

1. Raw materials 

Zhejiang Huafon Environmental 

Protection Material Co.,Ltd. 

No.1688 Kaifaqu Road,Ruian 

Economic Development 

Zone,Zhejiang,China. 

Tel: +86 577 6689 0105 

Mobile: +86 139 5881 3517 

ding.yeguan@huafeng.com 

www.huafeng.com 

Professional manufacturer for 

PBAT /CO 2 

-based biodegradable materials 

Microtec Srl 

Via Po’, 53/55 

30030, Mellaredo di Pianiga (VE), 

Italy 

Tel.: +39 041 5190621 

Fax.: +39 041 5194765 

info@microtecsrl.com 

www.biocomp.it 

BIO-FED 

Branch of AKRO-PLASTIC GmbH 

BioCampus Cologne 

Nattermannallee 1 

50829 Cologne, Germany 

Tel.: +49 221 88 88 94-00 

info@bio-fed.com 

www.bio-fed.com 

Simply contact: 

Tel.: +49 2161 6884467 

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 listed among top suppliers in the 

field of bioplastics. 

AGRANA Starch 

Bioplastics 

Conrathstraße 7 

A-3950 Gmuend, Austria 

bioplastics.starch@agrana.com 

www.agrana.com 

Arkema 

Advanced Bio-Circular polymers 

Rilsan ® PA11 & Pebax ® Rnew ® TPE 

WW HQ: Colombes, FRANCE 

bio-circular.com 

hpp.arkema.com 

Tel: +86 351-8689356 

Fax: +86 351-8689718 

www.jinhuizhaolong.com 

ecoworldsales@jinhuigroup.com 

Xinjiang Blue Ridge Tunhe 

Polyester Co., Ltd. 

No. 316, South Beijing Rd. Changji, 

Xinjiang, 831100, P.R.China 

Tel.: +86 994 22 90 90 9 

Mob: +86 187 99 283 100 

chenjianhui@lanshantunhe.com 

www.lanshantunhe.com 

PBAT & PBS resin supplier 

Global Biopolymers Co., Ltd. 

Bioplastics compounds 

(PLA+starch, PLA+rubber) 

194 Lardproa80 yak 14 

Wangthonglang, Bangkok 

Thailand 10310 

info@globalbiopolymers.com 

www.globalbiopolymers.com 

Tel +66 81 9150446 

Kingfa Sci. & Tech. Co., Ltd. 

No.33 Kefeng Rd, Sc. City, Guangzhou 

Hi-Tech Ind. Development Zone, 

Guangdong, P.R. China. 510663 

Tel: +86 (0)20 6622 1696 

info@ecopond.com.cn 

www.kingfa.com 

For Example: 

39 mm 

Polymedia Publisher GmbH 

Dammer Str. 112 

41066 Mönchengladbach 

Germany 

Tel. +49 2161 664864 

Fax +49 2161 631045 

info@bioplasticsmagazine.com 


BASF SE 

Ludwigshafen, Germany 

Tel: +49 621 60-99951 

martin.bussmann@basf.com 

www.ecovio.com 

Mixcycling Srl 

Via dell‘Innovazione, 2 

36042 Breganze (VI), Italy 

Phone: +39 04451911890 

info@mixcycling.it 

www.mixcycling.it 

FKuR Kunststoff GmbH 

Siemensring 79 

D - 47 877 Willich 

Tel. +49 2154 9251-0 

Tel.: +49 2154 9251-51 

sales@fkur.com 

www.fkur.com 

Sample Charge: 

39mm x 6,00 € 

= 234,00 € per entry/per issue 

Sample Charge for one year: 

6 issues x 234,00 EUR = 1,404.00 € 

Gianeco S.r.l. 

Via Magenta 57 10128 Torino - Italy 

Tel.+390119370420 

info@gianeco.com 

www.gianeco.com 

Xiamen Changsu Industrial Co., Ltd 

Tel +86-592-6899303 

Mobile:+ 86 185 5920 1506 

Email: andy@chang-su.com.cn 

1.1 Biobased monomers 

1.2 Compounds 

GRAFE-Group 

Waldecker Straße 21, 

99444 Blankenhain, Germany 

Tel. +49 36459 45 0 

www.grafe.com 

The entry in our Suppliers Guide is 

bookable for one year (6 issues) and extends 

automatically if it’s not cancelled 

three months before expiry. 

www.facebook.com 

www.issuu.com 

www.twitter.com 

www.youtube.com 

PTT MCC Biochem Co., Ltd. 

info@pttmcc.com / www.pttmcc.com 

Tel: +66(0) 2 140-3563 

MCPP Germany GmbH 

+49 (0) 211 520 54 662 

Julian.Schmeling@mcpp-europe.com 

MCPP France SAS 

+33 (0)2 51 65 71 43 

fabien.resweber@mcpp-europe.com 

Earth Renewable Technologies BR 

Estr. Velha do Barigui 10511, Brazil 

slink@earthrenewable.com 

www.earthrenewable.com 

Trinseo 

1000 Chesterbrook Blvd. Suite 300 

Berwyn, PA 19312 

+1 855 8746736 

www.trinseo.com 

Green Dot Bioplastics Inc. 

527 Commercial St Suite 310 

Emporia, KS 66801 

Tel.: +1 620-273-8919 

info@greendotbioplastics.com 

www.greendotbioplastics.com 


Plásticos Compuestos S.A. 

C/ Basters 15 

08184 Palau Solità i Plegamans 

Barcelona, Spain 

Tel. +34 93 863 96 70 

info@kompuestos.com 

www.kompuestos.com 

NUREL Engineering Polymers 

Ctra. Barcelona, km 329 

50016 Zaragoza, Spain 

Tel: +34 976 465 579 

inzea@samca.com 

www.inzea-biopolymers.com 

a brand of 

Helian Polymers BV 

Bremweg 7 

5951 DK Belfeld 

The Netherlands 

Tel. +31 77 398 09 09 

sales@helianpolymers.com 

https://pharadox.com 

P O L i M E R 

GEMA POLIMER A.S. 

Ege Serbest Bolgesi, Koru Sk., 

No.12, Gaziemir, Izmir 35410, 

Turkey 

+90 (232) 251 5041 

info@gemapolimer.com 

http://www.gemabio.com 

eli 

bio 

Elixance 

Tel +33 (0) 2 23 10 16 17 

Tel PA du +33 Gohélis, (0)2 56250 23 Elven, 10 16 France 17 - 

UNITED 

elixbio@elixbio.com 

BIOPOLYMERS S.A. 

elixbio@elixbio.com/www.elixbio.com 

www.elixance.com - www.elixbio.com 

1.3 PLA 

TotalEnergies Corbion bv 

Stadhuisplein 70 

4203 NS Gorinchem 


Tel.: +31 183 695 695 

www.totalenergies-corbion.com 

PLA@totalenergies-corbion.com 

Sunar NP Biopolymers 

Turhan Cemat Beriker Bulvarı 

Yolgecen Mah. No: 565 01355 

Seyhan /Adana,TÜRKIYE 

info@sunarnp.com 

burc.oker@sunarnp.com.tr 

www. sunarnp.com 

Tel: +90 (322) 441 01 65 

Parque Industrial e Empresarial 

da Figueira da Foz 

Praça das Oliveiras, Lote 126 

3090-451 Figueira da Foz – Portugal 

Phone: +351 233 403 420 

info@unitedbiopolymers.com 

www.unitedbiopolymers.com 

1.5 PHA 

CJ White Bio – PHA Biopolymers 

www.cjbio.net 

hugo.vuurens@cj.net 

Albrecht Dinkelaker 

Polymer- and Product Development 

Talstrasse 83 

60437 Frankfurt am Main, Germany 

Tel.:+49 (0)69 76 89 39 10 

info@polyfea2.de 

www.caprowax-p.eu 

Treffert GmbH & Co. KG 

In der Weide 17 

55411 Bingen am Rhein; Germany 

+49 6721 403 0 

www.treffert.eu 

Treffert S.A.S. 

Rue de la Jontière 

57255 Sainte-Marie-aux-Chênes, 

France 

+33 3 87 31 84 84 

www.treffert.fr 

www.granula.eu 

2. Additives/Secondary raw materials 


Sukano AG 

Chaltenbodenstraße 23 

CH-8834 Schindellegi 

Tel. +41 44 787 57 77 

Fax +41 44 787 57 78 

www.sukano.com 

Biofibre GmbH 

Member of Steinl Group 

Sonnenring 35 

D-84032 Altdorf 

Fon: +49 (0)871 308-0 

Fax: +49 (0)871 308-183 

info@biofibre.de 

www.biofibre.de 

Natureplast – Biopolynov 

11 rue François Arago 

14123 IFS 

Tel: +33 (0)2 31 83 50 87 

www.natureplast.eu 

TECNARO GmbH 

Bustadt 40 

D-74360 Ilsfeld. Germany 

Tel: +49 (0)7062/97687-0 

www.tecnaro.de 

Zhejiang Hisun Biomaterials Co.,Ltd. 

No.97 Waisha Rd, Jiaojiang District, 

Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, China 

Tel: +86-576-88827723 

pla@hisunpharm.com 

www.hisunplas.com 

ECO-GEHR PLA-HI® 

- Sheets 2 /3 /4 mm – 1 x 2 m - 

GEHR GmbH 

Mannheim / Germany 

Tel: +49-621-8789-127 

laudenklos@gehr.de 

www.gehr.de 

1.4 Starch-based bioplastics 

BIOTEC 

Biologische Naturverpackungen 

Werner-Heisenberg-Strasse 32 

46446 Emmerich/Germany 

Tel.: +49 (0) 2822 – 92510 

info@biotec.de 

www.biotec.de 

Plásticos Compuestos S.A. 

C/ Basters 15 

08184 Palau Solità i Plegamans 

Barcelona, Spain 

Tel. +34 93 863 96 70 

info@kompuestos.com 

www.kompuestos.com 

Kaneka Belgium N.V. 

Nijverheidsstraat 16 

2260 Westerlo-Oevel, Belgium 

Tel: +32 (0)14 25 78 36 

Fax: +32 (0)14 25 78 81 

info.biopolymer@kaneka.be 

TianAn Biopolymer 

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 

1.6 Masterbatches 

GRAFE-Group 



Tel. +49 36459 45 0 

www.grafe.com 

GRAFE-Group 



Tel. +49 36459 45 0 

www.grafe.com 

3. Semi-finished products 

3.1 Sheets 

Customised Sheet Xtrusion 

James Wattstraat 5 

7442 DC Nijverdal 


+31 (548) 626 111 

info@csx-nijverdal.nl 

www.csx-nijverdal.nl 

4. Bioplastics products 

Bio4Pack GmbH 

Marie-Curie-Straße 5 

48529 Nordhorn, Germany 

Tel. +49 (0)5921 818 37 00 

info@bio4pack.com 

www.bio4pack.com 


6.1 Machinery & moulds 


Plant-based and Compostable PLA Cups and Lids 

Great River Plastic Manufacturer 

Company Limited 

Tel.: +852 95880794 

sam@shprema.com 

https://eco-greatriver.com/ 

Minima Technology Co., Ltd. 

Esmy Huang, Vice president 

Yunlin, Taiwan(R.O.C) 

Mobile: (886) 0-982 829988 

Email: esmy@minima-tech.com 

Website: www.minima.com 

w OEM/ODM (B2B) 

w Direct Supply Branding (B2C) 

w Total Solution/Turnkey Project 

Buss AG 

Hohenrainstrasse 10 

4133 Pratteln / Switzerland 

Tel.: +41 61 825 66 00 

info@busscorp.com 

www.busscorp.com 

6.2 Degradability Analyzer 

MODA: Biodegradability Analyzer 

SAIDA FDS INC. 

143-10 Isshiki, Yaizu, 

Shizuoka, Japan 

Tel:+81-54-624-6155 

Fax: +81-54-623-8623 

info_fds@saidagroup.jp 

www.saidagroup.jp/fds_en/ 

7. Plant engineering 

nova-Institut GmbH 

Tel.: +49(0)2233-48-14 40 

E-Mail: contact@nova-institut.de 

www.biobased.eu 

Bioplastics Consulting 

Tel. +49 2161 664864 

info@polymediaconsult.com 

10. Institutions 

10.1 Associations 

BPI - The Biodegradable 

Products Institute 

331 West 57th Street, Suite 415 

New York, NY 10019, USA 

Tel. +1-888-274-5646 

info@bpiworld.org 

Michigan State University 

Dept. of Chem. Eng & Mat. Sc. 

Professor Ramani Narayan 

East Lansing MI 48824, USA 

Tel. +1 517 719 7163 

narayan@msu.edu 

IfBB – Institute for Bioplastics 

and Biocomposites 

University of Applied Sciences 

and Arts Hanover 

Faculty II – Mechanical and 

Bioprocess Engineering 

Heisterbergallee 12 

30453 Hannover, Germany 

Tel.: +49 5 11 / 92 96 - 22 69 

Fax: +49 5 11 / 92 96 - 99 - 22 69 

lisa.mundzeck@hs-hannover.de 

www.ifbb-hannover.de/ 

10.3 Other institutions 

Naturabiomat 

AT: office@naturabiomat.at 

DE: office@naturabiomat.de 

NO: post@naturabiomat.no 

FI: info@naturabiomat.fi 

www.naturabiomat.com 

EREMA Engineering Recycling Maschinen 

und Anlagen GmbH 

Unterfeldstrasse 3 

4052 Ansfelden, AUSTRIA 

Phone: +43 (0) 732 / 3190-0 

Fax: +43 (0) 732 / 3190-23 

erema@erema.at 

www.erema.at 

9. Services 

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 

GO!PHA 

Rick Passenier 

Oudebrugsteeg 9 

1012JN Amsterdam 


info@gopha.org 

www.gopha.org 

Natur-Tec ® - Northern Technologies 

4201 Woodland Road 

Circle Pines, MN 55014 USA 

Tel. +1 763.404.8700 

Fax +1 763.225.6645 

info@naturtec.com 

www.naturtec.com 

NOVAMONT S.p.A. 

Via Fauser , 8 

28100 Novara - ITALIA 

Fax +39.0321.699.601 

Tel. +39.0321.699.611 

www.novamont.com6. Equipment 

Osterfelder Str. 3 

46047 Oberhausen 

Tel.: +49 (0)208 8598 1227 

thomas.wodke@umsicht.fhg.de 

www.umsicht.fraunhofer.de 

Innovation Consulting Harald Kaeb 

narocon 

Dr. Harald Kaeb 

Tel.: +49 30-28096930 

kaeb@narocon.de 

www.narocon.de 

10.2 Universities 

Institut für Kunststofftechnik 

Universität Stuttgart 

Böblinger Straße 70 

70199 Stuttgart 

Tel +49 711/685-62831 

silvia.kliem@ikt.uni-stuttgart.de 

www.ikt.uni-stuttgart.de 

Green Serendipity 

Caroli Buitenhuis 

IJburglaan 836 

1087 EM Amsterdam 


Tel.: +31 6-24216733 

www.greenseredipity.nl 

Our new 

frame 

colours 

Bioplastics related topics, i.e. 

all topics around biobased 

and biodegradable plastics, 

come in the familiar 

green frame. 

All topics related to 

Advanced Recycling, such 

as chemical recycling 

or enzymatic degradation 

of mixed waste into building 

blocks for new plastics have 

this turquoise coloured 

frame. 

When it comes to plastics 

made of any kind of carbon 

source associated with 

Carbon Capture & Utilisation 

we use this frame colour. 

The familiar blue 

frame stands for rather 

administrative sections, 

such as the table of 

contents or the “Dear 

readers” on page 3. 

If a topic belongs to more 

than one group, we use 

crosshatched frames. 

Ochre/green stands for 

Carbon Capture & 

Bioplastics, e. g. PHA made 

from methane. 

Articles covering Recycling 

and Bioplastics ... 

Recycling & Carbon Capture 

We’re sure, you got it! 


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Event Calendar 

You can meet us 

EUBP Talk - Soil-biodegradable mulchfilm 

22.09.2022, online 

https://www.european-bioplastics.org/news/eubp-talk/ 

Bioplastics Business Breakfast K‘2022 

20 - 21 - 22 Oct. 2022, Düsseldorf, Germany 

by bioplastics MAGAZINE 


Sustainability in Packaging Europe 

02.11. - 04.11.2022, Barcelona, Spain 

https://www.sustainability-in-packaging.com/sustainability-inpackaging-europe 

17th European Bioplastics Conference 

06.11. - 07.11.2022, Berlin, Germany 

https://www.european-bioplastics.org/events/eubp-conference/ 

The Greener Manufacturing Show 

09.11. - 10.11.2022, Cologe, Germany 

https://www.greener-manufacturing.com/welcome 

bio!TOY 

04.04. - 05.04.2023, Nuremberg, Germany 

by bioplastics MAGAZINE 

https://www.bio-toy.info 

Events 

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Basics 

Highlights 



Cover Story 

Allegra Muscatello, 

Taghleef industries, 

speaker at the 

7 th PLA World Congress | 12 

03 / 2022 



ISSN 1862-5258 May/June 

ISSN 1862-5258 July/August 

Subject to changes. 

For up to date event-info visit https://www.bioplasticsmagazine.com/en/event-calendar/ 

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Companies in this issue 

Company Editorial Advert Company Editorial Advert Company Editorial Advert 

ABM Composites 8 

FKuR 7 2,54 On 41 

ADM 31 

Flestic 22,23 

OWS 8 

Agrana 54 Fraunhofer IAP 38 

PaBoCo 24 

Agua Mineral San Benedetto 31 

Fraunhofer UMSICHT 8 56 Peptide Therapeutics Solutions 31 

AIM Climate Action Group 40 

FRIMO 23 Performance Materials 46 

AIMPLAS 8, 29,34 

Gehr 55 PhaBuilder 32 

Anhui Jumei Biol.Techn. 39 

Gema Polimers 55 plasticker 14 

Antex 5, 48 

German Society of Circular Economy 14 

Plastire 31 

Aramark 44 

Gianeco 54 Polykum 5 

Aramco 46 

Global Biopolymers 54 polymediaconsult 56 

Arkema 54 GO!PHA 8, 32 56 Polymer Group 38 

Avantium 5,24,48,52 

Grafe 28 54,55 PTT/MCC 54 

Axpo 13 

Granula 55 Rampf 14 

BASF 7, 40 54 Great River Plastic Manuf. 56 Refresco 48,53 

Bayern Innovativ 22 Green Dot Bioplastics 29 54 Resilux 48 

BeGaMo 8 

Green Serendipity 56 Rixius 20 

BekaertDeslee 5, 48 

GreenBlue 6 

Röhm 27 

BEYOND PLASTIC 8 

Helian Polymers 8 55 SachsenLeinen 5 

Bio4Pac 55 Home Eos 5 

Saida 56 

BioAcetate 29 IDTechEx 46 

Salomon 5, 48 

BioBag Chile 44 

Inst. F. Bioplastics & Biocomposites 56 Shellworks 8 

BioBag International 44 

Institut f. Kunststofftechnik, Stuttgart 56 Sinomax 10 

Bio-Fed Branch of Akro-Plastic 54 ISCC plus 10, 40 

Sipol 12 

Biofibre 55 JinHui ZhaoLong High Technology 54 SoBiCo 38 

Biotec 7,8 55,59 Kaneka 7,8 55 Sodexo Chile 44 

BluCon Biotech 8 

Kautex Maschinenbau 18 

StroraEnso 26 

BMEL 38 

Kautex Textron 18 

Sukano 8,53 55 

Bond-Laminates 8 

Kingfa 54 Sunar 55 

Bonsucro 27 

Kompuestos 8 55 Suzuki 42 

Borealis 8 

Kvadrat 5, 48 

Taghleef Industries 8 

BPI 49 56 Lanxess 28 

Tecnaro 55 

Braskem 18, 30 

LanzaTech 6,41,47 

Tecnogi Group 12 

Brita 40 

Laurentia Technologies 31 

Terphane 48 

Buss 19,56 L'Oréal 47 

Texas A&M AgriLife 36 

CAPROWAX P 55 Lululemon 41,47 

The Coca-Cola Company 49 

Carlsberg 24,53 

MAIP 8 

Tianan Biologic’s 5 55 

Chamatex 5, 48 

Michigan State University 56 TotalEnergies Corbion 6, 7 55 

CJ Bio 7,8 55 Microtec 54 Toyobo 48 

Covation Biomaterials 7 

Minima Technology 56 Treffert 55 

Covestro 10,46 

Mitsubishi Chemical 42 

Trinseo 54 

Customized Sheet Extrusion 55 Mixcycling 54 Tsinghua Univ. 32 

Danone 6,47,49 

Morssinkhoff Plastics 18 

TÜV Austria 29,35 

Dr. Heinz Gupta Verlag 42 narocon InnovationConsulting 56 Unilever 47 

DSM 6 

Naturabiomat 56 United Biopolymers 55 

Ducplas 31 

Natureplast-Biopolynov 55 Univ. Amsterdam 49 

DuPont 5 15 NatureWorks 7 

Univ. Stuttgart (IKT) 56 

Earth Renewable Technologies 8 54 NaturTec 56 Vallé Plastic Films 31 

Eastman 16 

Natur-Tec Europe 8 

W. Müller 23 

Ecomic 46 

Neste 7,8 

Wingram Industrial 29 

Elixance 55 Nestle Savory 44 

Xiamen Changsu Industries 54 

Emery Oleochemicals 8 

Newlight Technologies 47 

Xinjiang Blue Ridge Tunhe Polyester 54 

Erema 56 nova Institute 8 41,43,45,56 Zaraplast 41,47 

Eurobottle 22 

Novamont 7, 44 56, 60 Zeijiang Hisun Biomaterials 55 

European Bioplastics 7,8 31,56 Nurel 55 Zeijiang Huafon 54 

Evolution Music 40 

Next issues 

Issue 

Month 

Publ. 

Date 

edit/ad/ 

Deadline 

05/2022 Sep/Oct 04.10.2022 02.09.2022 Fiber / Textile / 

Nonwoven 

06/2022 Nov/Dec 05.12.2022 04.11.2022 Films/Flexibles/ 

Bags 

Edit. Focus 1 Edit. Focus 2 Basics 

Building & 

Construction 

Consumer 

Electronics 

Feedstocks, different 

generations 

Chemical recycling 

Trade-Fair 

Specials 

K'2022 Preview 

K'2022 Review 

Subject to changes 


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EVERYDAY 

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as melon skin 

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Issue 04/2022

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