The bioplastics materials segment is seeing the emergence of recommended regulation, legislation, new product development and applications. The Renewable Carbon Initiative (RCI, Hürth, Germany; www.renewable-carbon.eu) and consultancy company Nova-Institute (www.nova-institute.eu) issued a manifesto outlining seven key messages for the next European Commission for the 2024-2029 period.

RCI is asking the commission to ensure renewable carbon embedded in chemicals and materials is a guiding principle for policies and targets. The group states that product-related policies do not sufficiently consider the feedstock base or the carbon source of products.

It also wants the EC to make independence from fossil carbon an explicit objective and initiate a stepwise phaseout of fossil carbon by 2050.

The manifesto calls for binding legislation for the 20% target of carbon in chemicals and plastics sourced from sustainable, non-fossil resources by 2030. The legislation, it said, should include a precise definition that covers all three carbon sources, i.e. bio-based, carbon-based, and advanced recycling.

Another key message is that the EU commission establish a legal framework that promotes the management of sustainable carbon supply, facilitates renewable carbon uptake, and makes it possible to set targets for member states or companies to raise the minimum percentage of renewable carbon in products. It adds that updated methodologies are needed to accurately account for carbon in European production and imported goods.

The initiative additionally stressed the importance of promoting bio-based, carbon-based, and attributed content as sources of renewable carbon with product-related legislation, in parallel to recycled content. All three renewable carbon sources should be recognised as preferable alternatives to fossil carbon. 

The commission is also called upon to enable deployment of carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) technology as a key strategic net-zero technology to supply sustainable and circular carbon.

Finally, RCI is asking the EU commission to support the transformation of existing chemical infrastructure from fossil to renewable carbon, including biofuels plants. The initiative says European road transport demand is expected to shift away from carbon-containing fuels in the coming decades, but the share of chemicals derived from refineries will increase heavily. RCI says this will free up existing biofuel infrastructure and allow the sector the opportunity to become a source of raw materials supply for a chemicals industry based on renewable carbon.

The carcasses of black soldier flies are the focus of research at Texas A&M University aiming to source chemicals from the flies to make biodegradable polymers. 

Karen Wooley, polymer chemist and the principal investigator of the project, said the team has extracted chitin, a nontoxic, biodegradable, sugar-based polymer that strengthens the shell or exoskeleton. This was then purified and converted into a polymer called chitosan, which can be used to make superabsorbent hydrogels, Wooley said. The team is set to start a project to break chitin down into its molecules and use those to make bioplastics such as polycarbonate or polyurethanes.

Related: Biodegradable plastic bags more toxic than conventional ones, study says

The potential for bacteria in biotechnology is great, but getting wild bacterium types to produce the desired substance is often difficult. A research team at Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU), led by Matthew McIntosh, has reportedly developed a new system that tailors the control of gene expression, which controls the new synthesis of proteins that perform specific tasks in the cell.

The patent pending system adapts gene control mechanisms to specific bacteria and growth conditions. The university says the system could allow the fully biodegradable energy storage molecule polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), used in industry as a basis for biodegradable plastics, to be produced cheaply.

Researchers from Michigan State University’s (MSU) School of Packaging said they have developed a home-compostable bio-based polymer blend by integrating a carbohydrate-derived thermoplastic starch into polylactic acid.

The research team, led by MSU professor Rafael Auras and supported by the US Department of Agriculture and MSU AgBioResearch, experimented with different PLA-thermoplastic starch blend formulations to observe how the materials, made into packaging films, break down throughout the composting process when carried out at different conditions. Also evaluated are which blend degrades better without compromising strength, clarity, and other desirable features of regular PLA films, MSU said.

Arcos Dorados (www.arcosdorados.com/ir), said to be the world’s largest franchisee to US fast-food giant McDonald’s (San Bernardino, California; www.mcdonalds.com), has reportedly expanded its collaboration with Israeli cleantech company UBQ Materials (Tel Aviv; www.ubqmaterials.com) to incorporate UBQ’s bio-based thermoplastic material into bench seating and electrical system components.

Arcos Dorados’ McDonald’s restaurant in São Paolo, Brazil, uses products made with UBQ post-consumer recycled material, which is produced from unsorted household waste, including organics.

US carbon negative materials company Origin Materials (West Sacramento, California; www.originmaterials.com) said it has developed recyclable PET that incorporates bio-based furandicarboxlic acid (FDCA), a chemical building block that is the precursor for sustainable polyethylene furanoate (PEF).

The material was successfully processed into preforms using commercial-scale injection moulding equipment from Husky Technologies (Bolton, Ontario, Canada; www.husky.ca), then blown into bottles.

The companies said the PET/F hybrid polymer can be integrated into existing PET production systems.

Related: Origin Materials and Avantium partner to mass produce FDCA, PEF

Sumitomo Chemical (Tokyo, Japan; www.sumitomo-chem.co.jp) and Conagen (Bedford, Massachusetts, USA; www.conagen.com), a synthetic biology R&D company, said they have jointly developed new renewable carbon materials that are cost effective.

The partners collaborated to p-hydroxystyrene (HS) and its polymer, poly p-hydroxystyrene (PHS), which is used to produce polymers, resins, and other chemicals. The monomer and polymer use renewable biomass as the starting material, the companies said.

German resin maker Ineos Styrolution (Frankfurt; www.ineos-styrolution.com) said it has launched production of its mass-balance ISCC Plus-certified Nas Eco grades in the Americas. The three bio-attributed polymer grades to be produced at the company’s US site in Decatur, Alabama, will carry a BB70 designation, which Ineos Styrolution says indicates 70% bio-based content.

Nas is an amorphous styrene methyl methacrylate (SMMA) copolymer with optical properties similar to PMMA, Ineos Styrolution noted.

ADBioplastics (Valencia, Spain; www.adbioplastics.com), a startup company specialising in development and manufacturing of additives and bioplastics, has supplied its PLA bioplastic in a partnership with compatriot food company Borges International Group to produce compostable single-use packaging for Borges’ extra virgin olive oil.

ADBioplastics developed ADBio PLA+, an additive modifier specially designed to improve the mechanical properties of PLA. The company’s bioplastic is produced from compounding ADBio PLA+ additive with PLA made from renewable sources such as corn, sugar cane, or beets.