BIOPLASTICS
Demand drives innovation / Products include TPEs, compostable packaging films, coatings / Search for resin for music records
As pressure builds on the world’s natural resources, the environmental benefits of bioplastics – specifically their renewable sources – have increased interest in the resins. Despite being around twice as expensive as polymers derived from petroleum products, demand for bioplastics is growing, spurred on by consumers’ desire to “go green”.
With companies ploughing huge sums into R&D and production facilities, the industry is aiming for a sustainable future, and a growing number of product manufacturers have already taken the plunge by starting to use bioplastics.
With companies ploughing huge sums into R&D and production facilities, the industry is aiming for a sustainable future, and a growing number of product manufacturers have already taken the plunge by starting to use bioplastics.
 Green Dot Bioplastics’ Terratek blown film for applications such as produce bags (Photo: Green Dot Bioplastics) |
US bioplastics materials developer Green Dot Bioplastics (GDB, Emporia, Kansas; www.greendotbioplastics.com) has added nine compostable grades to its Terratek BD line, targeting single-use and packaging applications.
Produced with compostable starch blends, the film grades include Terratek BD3003, which the company said features high puncture resistance and tear strength and is heat sealable. Targeted at applications such as produce bags, bubble wrap, agricultural films, and garden packaging, the grades deliver faster rates of biodegradability for home composting, industrial composting, and soil biodegradability, GDB noted. The materials are completing third-party certification by TüV Austria (Vienna; www.tuv.at), a leading European certifying agency.
Related: Farming waste could be more harmful than marine litter
US compounder Alphagary, (Leominster, Massachusetts; www.alphagary.com) has launched a series of styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene-based (SEBS) thermoplastic elastomer compounds under the brand Evoprene.
Formulated with bio-based raw materials, the Evoprene ECO 1000 series of compounds is designed for general-purpose extrusion and moulding applications and can be easily coloured, the supplier said. It noted that according to tests versus traditionally formulated compounds, the bioplastic materials retained consistent mechanical properties, such as specific gravity, durometer, and tensile strength, along with good heat resistance, consistent flow characteristics, and surface finish.
Produced with compostable starch blends, the film grades include Terratek BD3003, which the company said features high puncture resistance and tear strength and is heat sealable. Targeted at applications such as produce bags, bubble wrap, agricultural films, and garden packaging, the grades deliver faster rates of biodegradability for home composting, industrial composting, and soil biodegradability, GDB noted. The materials are completing third-party certification by TüV Austria (Vienna; www.tuv.at), a leading European certifying agency.
Related: Farming waste could be more harmful than marine litter
US compounder Alphagary, (Leominster, Massachusetts; www.alphagary.com) has launched a series of styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene-based (SEBS) thermoplastic elastomer compounds under the brand Evoprene.
Formulated with bio-based raw materials, the Evoprene ECO 1000 series of compounds is designed for general-purpose extrusion and moulding applications and can be easily coloured, the supplier said. It noted that according to tests versus traditionally formulated compounds, the bioplastic materials retained consistent mechanical properties, such as specific gravity, durometer, and tensile strength, along with good heat resistance, consistent flow characteristics, and surface finish.
Biodegradable fibre protects produce
US researchers at Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts; www.harvard.edu) and Rutgers Environmental Occupational Health Sciences Institute (Piscataway, New Jersey; www.eohsi.rutgers.edu), have developed a antimicrobial pullulan fibre (APF) that they said is biodegradable and can be directly applied to certain foods to increase their longevity and enhance their safety.
In a series of tests, APFs were spun using a high-throughput system – focused rotary-jet spinning – with water as the only solvent, which reportedly allowed for the incorporation of naturally derived antimicrobial agents. Using avocados as a representative example, the team demonstrated that APF-coated fruits had an extended shelf life due to inhibited proliferation of natural microflora and lost less weight than uncoated control samples. Stored for 7 days at a temperature of 22C, the APF coatings reduced the percentage of rotten avocados from 90% to 50%, researchers said.
Related: Aimplas launches trademark to certify safety of reusable plastic food container
The bioplastics sector is forecast to grow by a compound annual growth rate of 10.1% over the next decade as demand for sustainably sourced materials grows among manufacturers and consumers, with the latter more willing now to pay the premium for sustainable bioplastics.
A report by IDTechEX (Cambridge, UK; www.idtechex.com) suggests that a key factor for bioplastic adoption aimed at disrupting the plastics industry will be drop-in materials: that can be a direct substitute for incumbent resins. The report said, “Using drop-ins, the biobased material can be traced with chain-of-custody models like mass balance, which create transparency and trust throughout the value chain regarding sustainable material origins and processes.”
In a series of tests, APFs were spun using a high-throughput system – focused rotary-jet spinning – with water as the only solvent, which reportedly allowed for the incorporation of naturally derived antimicrobial agents. Using avocados as a representative example, the team demonstrated that APF-coated fruits had an extended shelf life due to inhibited proliferation of natural microflora and lost less weight than uncoated control samples. Stored for 7 days at a temperature of 22C, the APF coatings reduced the percentage of rotten avocados from 90% to 50%, researchers said.
Related: Aimplas launches trademark to certify safety of reusable plastic food container
The bioplastics sector is forecast to grow by a compound annual growth rate of 10.1% over the next decade as demand for sustainably sourced materials grows among manufacturers and consumers, with the latter more willing now to pay the premium for sustainable bioplastics.
A report by IDTechEX (Cambridge, UK; www.idtechex.com) suggests that a key factor for bioplastic adoption aimed at disrupting the plastics industry will be drop-in materials: that can be a direct substitute for incumbent resins. The report said, “Using drop-ins, the biobased material can be traced with chain-of-custody models like mass balance, which create transparency and trust throughout the value chain regarding sustainable material origins and processes.”
When DJs no longer spin vinyl
 Coming soon: a bioplastic LP that performs as well as the music it plays (Photo: PIE) |
A UK start-up music company has said it plans to release the world’s first record made from bioplastic later this year.
Evolution Music (Dover; www.evolution-music.co.uk) said it wanted to replace the PVC normally used for “vinyl” records with bioplastic. “The technical goal was to identify a bioplastic that [replaces PVC and] performs extremely well.”
Evolution said the wider objective was to develop a solution that “contributes significantly to a change in public consciousness, which contributes to the increasingly rapid substitution of bioplastics, in place of toxic plastics, and shifts to low carbon zero waste manufacturing”.
Borealis (Vienna; www.borealisgroup.com) said it worked with ice cream company Froneri (London; www.froneri.com) and German packaging specialist Paccor (Düsseldorf; www.paccor.com) to create sustainable packaging for Aino brand ice cream.
Related: Faerch takeover of Paccor completed
The resin maker said Aino packaging tubs and lids are made of its Bornewables brand polypropylene, which is derived from second-generation bio-mass, waste, and residue streams that do not compete with the human food chain (see Plasteurope.com of 09.09.2020). The renewable content is accredited by mass balance according to ISCC Plus, which helps traceability from the material production through to the final application, Borealis added.
Evolution Music (Dover; www.evolution-music.co.uk) said it wanted to replace the PVC normally used for “vinyl” records with bioplastic. “The technical goal was to identify a bioplastic that [replaces PVC and] performs extremely well.”
Evolution said the wider objective was to develop a solution that “contributes significantly to a change in public consciousness, which contributes to the increasingly rapid substitution of bioplastics, in place of toxic plastics, and shifts to low carbon zero waste manufacturing”.
Borealis (Vienna; www.borealisgroup.com) said it worked with ice cream company Froneri (London; www.froneri.com) and German packaging specialist Paccor (Düsseldorf; www.paccor.com) to create sustainable packaging for Aino brand ice cream.
Related: Faerch takeover of Paccor completed
The resin maker said Aino packaging tubs and lids are made of its Bornewables brand polypropylene, which is derived from second-generation bio-mass, waste, and residue streams that do not compete with the human food chain (see Plasteurope.com of 09.09.2020). The renewable content is accredited by mass balance according to ISCC Plus, which helps traceability from the material production through to the final application, Borealis added.
Research programme to study use of natural fibres in composites
After centuries of producing fibres from native bast plants such as flax, hemp, and nettle, researchers are focusing on their use in the production of so-called large scale composite structural components.
The DuroBast project seeks to test the use of the materials in the production of formable, natural fibre-reinforced plastics and enable the industrial use of renewable raw materials for a wide range of applications.
Under the leadership of German research organisation Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability (LBF, Darmstadt; www.lbf.fraunhofer.de), an interdisciplinary research consortium with eleven partners from science and industry is working on the development of innovative bio-based materials. German partners working on the project include the nova-Institute (Hürth; www.nova-institute.eu) and a range of firms, universities, and research organisations.
The research team aims to transfer the project results in the near future to applications including automotive interior parts like door panels, sports equipment such as snowboards, and bus bellows in public transport.
The DuroBast project seeks to test the use of the materials in the production of formable, natural fibre-reinforced plastics and enable the industrial use of renewable raw materials for a wide range of applications.
Under the leadership of German research organisation Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability (LBF, Darmstadt; www.lbf.fraunhofer.de), an interdisciplinary research consortium with eleven partners from science and industry is working on the development of innovative bio-based materials. German partners working on the project include the nova-Institute (Hürth; www.nova-institute.eu) and a range of firms, universities, and research organisations.
The research team aims to transfer the project results in the near future to applications including automotive interior parts like door panels, sports equipment such as snowboards, and bus bellows in public transport.
13.09.2022 Plasteurope.com [250906-0]
Published on 13.09.2022