Reverdia (Geleen / The Netherlands; www.reverdia.com) showed off its new “Biosuccinium” bio-based succinic acid to international visitors at this year’s “Chinaplas” (www.chinaplasonline.com) exhibition held on 23-26 April in Shanghai – see Plasteurope.com of 23.04.2014. The joint venture of DSM (Sittard / The Netherlands; www.dsm.com) and Roquette Frères (Lestrem / France; www.roquette.com) was a first-time exhibitor at the mammoth Chinese show.

In particular at Shanghai, Reverdia highlighted its value as a development partner for the Chinese plastics industry. Tristen Li, NBD manager for Greater China, said the company is in talks with Chinese companies active in PBS, polyester polyols for polyurethanes, coating and composite resins or phthalate-free plasticisers – all major applications for the renewable material.

Reverdia produces Biosuccinium from plant resources such as starch, using a proprietary low-yeast process that it says “ensures a consistent product quality.” The new renewable acid is used as a drop-in replacement for fossil-based succinic acid. The PBS end product, which can be used as a single polymer or in compounds for both durable and biodegradable applications, has a substantially improved carbon footprint and in some cases shows an improved performance compared with the typical fossil-based benchmark, said Li.