Floreon (Hull / UK; www.floreon.com), an early stage technical company, has developed a high-performance bioplastic compound that is added to PLA to make it less brittle and four times tougher, opening up new application possibilities.

Andrew Gill, Floreon’s technical director, commented: “We are trying to get this bioplastic into the market for rigid packaging applications and further down the line for durable applications as well. We have been trying to commercialise the technology in various applications, rigid packaging, trigger sprayers, water bottles, etc.”

The compound is the result of four years of research and development and a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with the University of Sheffield (Sheffield / UK; www.sheffield.ac.uk). Another key success factor in the additive’s development, said Floreon, was the partnership with UK tooling and engineering company R&D/Leverage Europe (Sutton in Ashfield; www.rdleverage.com), which assisted with material testing to determine optimum processing and the most suitable applications.

“We found that the Floreon resin provided a large process window with great results in terms of optimised material distribution and sharp corner ratio. The capability transferred through with consistent good products produced from 3mm to 8mm thick preforms,” said R&D/Leverage’s technical manager, Steve Gough.

To date, Floreon has produced about 227 t of the material and is applying for patents worldwide to cover its unique formulation. Patents are currently pending in the US and Japan.