2009-06

ISSN 1862-5258

06 | 2009 Highlights: Films, Flexibles, Bags | 12 Consumer Electronics | 26

bioplastics

magazine

Vol. 4

Basics: Anaerobic Digestion | 42

cs M AGA

ti bioplas

Z IN E

in is reandtries 85 cou

Plastics For Your Future

BIO-FLEX速 For Deep Freeze Packaging

Another New Resin For a Better World

FKuR Kunststoff GmbH | Siemensring 79 | D - 47877 Willich Tel.: +49 (0) 21 54 / 92 51-0 | Fax: +49 (0) 21 54 / 92 51-51 | sales@fkur.com

www.fkur.com

Smoking a PLA-pipe? ... Well, not exactly.

(For details see page 33)

Editorial

dear readers This has been a busy autumn, with lots of exhibitions and conferences, the biggest one that I attended being the European Bioplastics Conference with about 380 bioplastics experts meeting in Berlin.

Packaging is still the largest field of applications, as can be seen from the huge section ’films, flexibles, bags‘ in this issue. But durable applications are not far behind. Thus our second editorial focus is on ‘consumer electronics‘.

In the basics section we cover ‘anaerobic digestion‘ or ‘biogasification‘ and we shed light on the important issue of ‘quantity, quality and comparability of material properties‘. In order to give true comparability it is essential that the standards used are clearly stated together with specifications that are quoted.

Coverphoto courtesy ale sco

And finally we received the promised article on ‘oxo-biodegradable plastics‘.

I think it is remarkable that the author, Professor Scott, clearly states that oxobiodegradable plastics are not marketed for composting, nor are they designed for anaerobic digestion or landfill. Oxo-biodegradable plastic addresses the problem caused by plastic waste which gets accidentally or deliberately into the open environment - i.e. littering.

As always, this issue also brings you a number of industry news items and details of new applications. For next year I once again encourage all companies offering bioplastics products or services to contribute to the magazine with articles, news, or statements of opinion. On page 45 you will find the editorial calendar with all editorial focus subjects for 2010, as well as the editorial deadlines.

I hope you enjoy reading this issue of bioplastics MAGAzINE.

Yours Michael Thielen

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

3

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

Conference on Technical Applications 10

Applications

PLA Films are a Team Sport 17

PLA Film Applications 18

High-Performance and Biodegradable 19

New Performance Profiles for Food and Non-Food 20

Bioplastic Films from the Netherlands 23

Biomassbased Bathroom Scale 24

Eco-Centric Mobile Phone 25

New ‘Eco.‘ Cordless Telephone

26

Vacuum Cleaner Housing

26 Green Nordic Walking – with Biobased Polyamide 32

A Magic Powder in a PLA Powderette 33

Evaluating Quantity, Quality and Comparability of Biopolymer Materials

Basics of Anaerobic Digestion

Coverphoto courtesy alesco

Oxobiodegradable Plastic

A large number of copies of this issue of bioplastics MAGAZINE is wrapped in a compostable film manufactured and sponsored by novamont (www.novamont.com)

10

Envelope

4th European Bioplastics Conference New Record

Editorial contributions are always welcome.

Please contact the editorial office via mt@bioplasticsmagazine.com.

Editorial News Application News Event Calendar Editorial Planner 2010 Glossary Suppliers Guide

bioplastics MAGAZINE tries to use British spelling. However, in articles based on information from the USA, American spelling may also be used.

14

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.

A Holistic Approach

Not to be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.

12

bioplastics MAGAZINE is read in 85 countries.

November/December

bioplastics MAGAZINE is printed on chlorine-free FSC certified paper.

Films | Flexibles | Bags

ISSN 1862-5258 bioplastics magazine is published 6 times a year.

This publication is sent to qualified subscribers (149 Euro for 6 issues).

Event Review

bioplastics magazine

Deep-Freeze Bio Packaging

Tölkes Druck + Medien GmbH 47807 Krefeld, Germany Total Print run: 3,500 copies

Print

Elke Hoffmann phone: +49(0)2351-67100-0 fax: +49(0)2351-67100-10 eh@bioplasticsmagazine.com

Media Adviser

Polymedia Publisher GmbH Dammer Str. 112 41066 Mönchengladbach, Germany phone: +49 (0)2161 664864 fax: +49 (0)2161 631045 info@bioplasticsmagazine.com www.bioplasticsmagazine.com

Head Office

Mark Speckenbach

Layout/Production

Samuel Brangenberg

Dr. Michael Thielen

Publisher / Editorial

Impressum Content 03

05

34

45

45

46

48

06|2009

Materials 28

Basics

38

42

Consumer Electronics

News

100% Bio-Sourced Thermoplastic Elastomers Capitalizing on its long-standing experience in castor oil chemistry, France based Arkema has now developed Pebax® Rnew100, a range of thermoplastic elastomers produced entirely from renewable raw materials.

By combining a bio-sourced polyol with castor oil chemistry, Arkema further extends its program to substitute fossil raw materials with raw materials of plant origin, in line with its sustainable development policy. Complementing the Pebax Rnew range which is based on 20 to 95% plant origin carbon, Pebax Rnew100, Arkema’s latest high performance thermoplastic elastomer range, is entirely derived from renewable resources. Thanks to a reduction in fossil energy requirements during their production and in overall equivalent CO2 emissions, these products will find a natural place within the eco-design programs initiated by many manufacturers.

As with the other Pebax grades, Pebax Rnew100 boasts outstanding mechanical properties, together with excellent resistance to thermal and ultra-violet ageing. Light weight and outstanding dynamic behavior, hence excellent resistance to both flexural and tensile stress, also set this product apart. Pebax Rnew100 therefore offers the best possible compromise between rigidity and mechanical strength at cold temperature.

Pebax Rnew and Rnew100 have countless industrial applications involving the manufacture of high added value products. They fulfil stringent specification requirements in many sectors, including automotive, electronics and sports equipment. www.arkema.com

Bio-Based Plastics: New Study Forecasts Enormous Potential New bio-based polymers have been available in the market for approximately one decade. Recently, standard polymers like polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC or PET, but also highperformance polymers like polyamide or polyester have been totally or partially substituted by their renewable raw materials equivalents. The starting raw materials are usually sugars or starches, partially also recycled materials from food or wood processing.

In a jointly commissioned study, recently published by the associations European Bioplastics and the European Polysaccharide Network of Excellence EPNOE, Martin K. Patel, Li Shen and Juliane Haufe (Utrecht University) demonstrate that up to 90 % of the current global consumption of polymers can technically be converted from oil and gas to renewable raw materials. “Bio-based plastics will not substitute oilbased polymers in the near future for several reasons including low oil price, high production cost and restricted production capacity of biomass-based polymers that limit the technically possible growth of these plastics in the coming years“, explains Patrick Navard, Chairman of the Governing Board of EPNOE. Based on recent company announcements the production capacity of bio-based plastics is projected to increase from 360,000 tons in 2007 to about 2.3 million tons by 2013. This corresponds to an annual growth of 37 %. “We should keep a close eye on these figures“, says Hasso von Pogrell, Managing Director of European Bioplastics. “Important major projects were delayed in the years 2008 and 2009 due to the financial

and economic crisis. Despite the still uncertain data, which of course has to be further consolidated, we deem such studies to be very essential. The role that lightweight conventional plastics played in the past, substituting durable materials like iron and steel in vast products, could soon be taken over by bio-based plastics. As the study shows, the potential is enormous“, adds von Pogrell.

The study discusses for all major groups of bio-based plastics the production process, the material properties and the extent to which they could substitute petrochemical polymers from a technical point of view. Further aspects covered are the prices of these novel materials and their main producers. Three scenarios are distinguished to establish potential future growth trajectories, i.e. a baseline scenario, an optimistic and a conservative scenario. The results for these scenarios are also compared to the findings of a previous study made in 2005. The new study confirms that substantial technological progress has been made in bio-based plastics in the past five years. Innovations in material and product development, environmental benefits as well as the gradual depletion of crude oil increasingly call for polymers made from renewable raw materials. www.european-bioplastics.org www.epnoe.eu

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

5

News

Bioplastic from Algae California (USA) based Cereplast Inc. recently announced that it has been developing a breakthrough technology to transform algae into bioplastics and intends to launch a new family of algae-based resins that will complement the company’s existing line of Compostables® & Hybrid® resins.

Cereplast algae-based resins could replace 50% or more of the petroleum content used in traditional plastic resins. Currently, Cereplast is using renewable material such as starches from corn, tapioca, wheat and potatoes and IngeoTM PLA. “Our algae research has shown promising results and we believe that in the months to come we should be able to launch this new family of algae-based resins,” stated Frederic Scheer, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Cereplast. “Algae-based resins represent an outstanding opportunity for companies across the plastic supply chain to become more environmentally sustainable and reduce the industry‘s reliance on oil.

We are still in the development phase, but we believe that this breakthrough technology could result in a significant new line of business in the years to come.”

“Based on our own efforts, as well as recent commitments by major players in the algae field, we believe that algae has the potential to become one of the most important ‘green‘ feedstocks for biofuels, as well as bioplastics,” continued Mr Scheer. “Clearly, our focus will be on bioplastics. However, for our algaebased resins to be successful, we require the production of substantial quantities of algae feedstock. We are very encouraged when we see big players entering the algae production business, including Exxon’s $600 million investment in Synthetic Genomics and BP’s $10 million investment in Martek Biosciences.”

Cereplast has initiated contact with several companies that plan to use algae to minimize the CO2 and NOX gases from polluting smoke-stack environments. Algae from a typical photo-bioreactor is harvested daily and may be treated as biomass, which can be used as biofuel or as a raw material source for biopolymer feed stock. The company is also in direct communication with potential chemical conversion companies that could convert the algae biomass into viable monomers for further conversion into potential biopolymers. “Algae as biomass makes sense in that it helps close the loop on polluting gases and can be a significant renewable resource,” added Mr. Scheer. www.cereplast.com

6

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

Multilayer Films Breakthrough for Food Contact Market Global sustainable resins supplier Cardia Bioplastics, headquartered in Mulgrave,VIC, Australia, has announced a new range of Cardia Biohybrid™ based films that comply with the European Commission standard 2002/72 EC for food contact.

Cardia Bioplastics has lodged new provisional patents to protect this innovative technology, which expands its extensive patent portfolio. Cardia Bioplastics Managing Director Dr Frank Glatz said the multilayer film technology provides the food industry with excellent clarity, and mechanical and processing properties.

“This development enables customers to move confidently into more sustainable packaging solutions and opens significant new market opportunities for Cardia Bioplastics, which extend from commodity packaging into the food packaging industry. The sustainability benefit of Cardia Biohybrid multilayer film also offers food marketers packaging solutions with a competitive edge for their products,“ said Frank Glatz.

Interest from international brands in Cardia Compostable and Cardia Biohybrid resins has resulted in the company‘s decision to expand its manufacturing facility in Nanjing, China. The relocation to a larger site will effectively double the company‘s manufacturing capacity.

In addition, Cardia Bioplastics has opened a new Global Application Development Centre at the company‘s Melbourne, Australia headquarters. This facility focuses on the application of Cardia Compostable and Cardia Biohybrid resins to customers‘ specific products.

Frank Glatz said interest in sustainable resins is growing consistently as international marketers seek a streamlined path to technologies that meet more demanding environmental solutions for their packaging and plastics products. - MT www.cardiabioplastics.com

News

New Joint Venture in India A new bioplastics joint venture will be the first of its kind in India, where Earthsoul India Private Limited, through its promoters the Bilimoria family, will hold 60% and the balance of 40% will be held by the state-owned J&K Agro Industries Development Corporation Ltd, led by Dr. G. N. Qasba, managing director.

Earthsoul India have been the pioneers in India since 2002 for 100% compostable and biodegradable packaging materials made from renewable raw materials such as waste stream starch. Market leaders in the field of biopolymer products, they have been associated with Novamont (Italy) for the past 8 years.

J&K Agro Industries Development Corporation Ltd has been involved in the manufacture of food products, cattle feed, etc in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The corporation is also proactively engaged in the agricultural and irrigation sectors, as distributors and facilitators in the supply of machinery and equipment, fertilizers, mulching films for greenhouses etc.

The two organisations are convinced that they have the necessary synergies to group together in order to foster and grow the bioplastics industry in India and South East Asia.

Currently the bioplastics industry worldwide has been enjoying a growth rate of approximately 20% per year.

The joint venture has earmarked an existing manufacturing facility, owned by J&K, at Sidco Industrial Area, Bari Brahmna, which is classified as an industrially backward area. The head office of the joint venture company will be situated at Srinagar.

Equipped with state-of-the-art plant and machinery, both domestic and imported, the facility will have a capacity of approximately 50 tonnes per month and will be J&K’s first carbon neutral manufacturing facility.

The designated executive chairman of the new joint venture, Perses M. Bilimoria, is a well-known bioplastics personality in India. He was the first significant introducer of biopolymer products into India and has been on various committees of the Ministry of Enviroment and Forests, New Delhi, for plastics in waste management and on the BIS committee, New Delhi, for adopting international standards on compostable and biodegradable raw materials, made from renewable resources.

The company will be managed by a team of professionals chosen by the board of directors from a wide spectrum of the manufacturing industry.

The product range of the new company comprises 100% compostable and biodegradable bags, mulching films for agriculture, nursery pots and sapling bags for the horticulture and floriculture markets.

The facility is due to commence trial production in 12/09 and to enter the commercial market before 03/10. MT www.jkagro.com,

www.earthsoulindia.com

Plastics in the North Pacific Gyre Commenting on Project Kaisei‘s findings on plastics in the North Pacific Gyre, the British Plastics Federation (BPF) believes that plastics litter is far too common in the marine environment, it should not be there and more effort is needed by all concerned to ensure good waste management on shore and on vessels, and to provide education on littering. Furthermore, the Federation wishes to draw attention to a major initiative it has recently launched to stop any loss of plastics raw material into the environment.

The United Nations Environmental programme‘s report last year pointed to the difficulties in obtaining accurate information but to tackle the problem of all waste in the oceans they called for: integrated waste management to tackle litter; raise public awareness and education; improved port waste collection facilities; and stronger economic incentives, fines, and enforcement.

The BPF supports all these objectives and recently launched an initiative in the UK called ‘Operation Clean Sweep - Plastic Pellet Loss Prevention’, to ensure that raw material does not escape into the environment. The BPF hopes to get the commitment of every company, from top management to shop floor employees to use the Operation Clean Sweep manual on prevention, containment and clean up of plastic materials to ensure no escape into the environment.

Peter Davis, BPF Director-General says: “The Plastics industry does not put plastic into the seas.

This is caused by littering, illegal dumping, poor waste management. We want the plastic back to be recycled or provide much needed energy through energy from waste combustion. International cooperation is needed to make this work, it is a global problem.”

Concerning so-called ‘oxo-biodegradable’ plastics the BPF believes that littering is a behavioural issue and not one related or confined to the use of specific materials. MT www.bpf.co.uk

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

7

News

Design and Technology Award

Biograde® is a transparent, injection mouldable bioplastic based on cellulose. This co-developed product from German FKuR and Fraunhofer UMSICHT combines renewable and biodegradable cellulose acetate with special additives and couplers by means of an adapted biocompounding process from FKuR. Biograde is transparent (depending on grade), dyeable, scratch and heat resistant. The cellulose acetate used is gained from European soft wood. The Design+Technology Award 2009 has been granted within the framework of the international fair ‘Materialica‘ in Munich, Germany on October 13, 2009. An independent panel of seven experts has determined in a non-public meeting a total of 20 awardees in different categories out of approximately 100 international submitted nominations. www.fkur.com

Biomaterials Services from Finland Based on the long experience in biomaterials Hycail Finland has evolved from a R&D department into an independent company offering development and analytical services within the biomaterials field.

Following a management buyout of Hycail Finland the company has changed the focus from developing own products to help its customers utilizing the technology it once developed.

“We offer years of experience and expertise in biomaterials development, we already made all the mistakes and are now able to make biomaterials easy for our customers” says Svante Wahlbeck, Managing Director.

The service lab includes polymerization and compounding equipment as well as characterization and testing equipment.

In addition to development services Hycail Finland offers complete quality control programs for production processes or end products.

One of Hycail Finland’s unique capabilities is using different PLA-stereo complex based materials to modify material properties.

“Of course, PLA is a focus area but we also work with blends and testing of plastics materials in general. Presently our customers range from big multinational packaging companies to highly specialized biomedical companies.” says Heikki Siistonen, Sales Manager. www.hycail.fi

Field Trial of Bioplastic-Producing Tobacco Crop Successful Metabolix, Inc., a bioscience company from Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, focused on developing sustainable solutions for plastics, chemicals and energy, recently announced that it has completed a field trial of tobacco, genetically engineered to express polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biobased polymers. Metabolix obtained the necessary permits from the U.S. Department of Agrculture Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to perform an open air field trial in March of 2009 and field trial experiments were completed in early October. The trial was performed on 3,237 m² (0.8 acres) of land and provided valuable data and information relating to polymer production, with the best plants producing 3-5% PHA. This furthers development of Metabolix crop technologies for the coproduction of biobased plastics in non-food bioenergy crops.

Dr. Oliver Peoples, Chief Scientific Officer of Metabolix, commented, “The experience and knowledge we have gained during our tobacco field trial is laying the groundwork for planning and permitting activities for field trials in bioengineered, non-food oilseed and biomass crops producing PHA. We believe that our crop programs offer a number of commercialization options and hold significant potential. We are excited to continue to push this technology forward and believe it will ultimately support a diverse array of bioengineered, environmentally conscious and economically viable alternatives to petroleum-based products.“ www.metabolix.com

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

News

Another World-First The highly innovative technical team at Ultimate Packaging believes it has produced a world first environmentally-friendly product as part of a joint venture with Innovia Films and Sun Chemical. Staff at the North East Lincolnshirebased company believe that Ultigreen™ is the first ever truly biodegradable and home compostable printed laminate for the food industry.

Using hybrid biodegradable inks, Ultimate Packaging has reverse-printed Natureflex™ and laminated the material using a unique biodegradable adhesive to metallised Natureflex.

The company has already established itself as one of the UK‘s flexographic print suppliers to the food industry, but the experienced team continue to focus on finding innovative new solutions for its customers.

Ultimate Packaging Technical Manager, Derek Gibson, explains “Until now, only a small coverage of standard inks could be used to enable products to pass the EN13432 standard and to be rated as biodegradable. The new Sun Chemical hybrid inks allow total print coverage on food packs and the biodegradable adhesive applied to bond these two Innovia materials means that this product can be classed as being made from totally biodegradable components.

“We selected a promotional tea design to prove that the newly developed biodegradable inks and adhesive were compatible and then printed the Ultigreen product on our recently commissioned Soma Imperia 10 colour press.“ The new product development team at Ultimate Packaging is now working on further products using the new ink and adhesive technology to bring additional completely biodegradable and home compostable flexible films to their food industry customers.

“This really is an exciting development for us and we believe that it has enormous potential,“ says Chris Tonge, Ultimate Packaging Sales and Marketing Director. “It is only the first of several new products that will set our family-run business apart from our competitors.“ www.ultimate-packaging.co.uk

New Eco-Label: OK biobased Halfway through the 1990s, Vinçotte developed the OK compost conformity marks for products meeting the European EN 13432 standard, thereby playing a pioneering role during that period of time. Thanks to the new OK biobased certification system manufacturers can officially demonstrate the use of renewable raw materials via the independent OK biobased conformity marks.

This is the first time an official certification body has launched a similar conformity mark based on exact measurements. Demand rose in particular from the packaging industry, as it is constantly on the look-out for renewable materials, owing to growing pressure on raw material prices and the way environmental regulations are being changed all over the world. The buying public‘s growing awareness of environmental concerns is also ensuring an expanding market for these products. What is more, consumers are anxious to have a rock-solid guarantee about the claims found on packaging. Thanks to the new OK biobased eco-label, Vinçotte can offer a completely independent guarantee about the origin of products. In this case, ‘biobased‘ refers to products of a biologically renewable rather than a fossil origin.

Petroplastics versus bioplastics The keen interest in bioplastics can be summed up in one concept: carbon footprint. Biobased products help limit our carbon footprint, while making us less dependent on fossil fuels. For several years now a whole host of companies have been marketing bio-resources partly or entirely on the basis of biologically renewable carbon.

OK biobased certification: clear and straightforward Apart from fuels, products (partly) made from bioplastics and/ or materials of natural origin are eligible for the OK biobased certification mark. The basic material is assessed in the light of exact analyses for determining the renewable organic carbon content. The same analysis method (C14) is used for dating bones.

A straightforward calculation can be used to convert the analysis findings into an exact ‘biobased’ percentage.

As a result of promoting correct and documented claims, Vinçotte is making a contribution to the harmonized development of alternative and sustainable technologies.

One to four stars The communication strategy is based on a logo with one to four stars. The principle is quite straightforward: the more stars there are, the higher the biobased carbon content: one star means between 20% and 40% biobased material, two stars between 40% and 60%, three stars between 60% and 80% and four stars over 80%. www.okbiobased.be

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

9

Event review

New Record: Bioplastics Continue On the Road to Success

www.conference.european-bioplastics.org

The European Bioplastics Conference took place for the fourth time in Berlin on the 10th and 11th of November and despite the difficult financial situation the event broke all records. 380 visitors and 27 exhibitors attended the conference hosted by the industry association European Bioplastics. Experts still expect continued growth in the field of compostable and biobased materials.

“Where will the industry be in five years‘ time?“, “What are the trends?“, “Which materials will dominate the market?“, “How can we communicate the advantages for the environment and what are the optimum utilisation fields for bioplastics?“ 28 speakers and 380 participants dealt with these and other questions during the two-day bioplastics conference in Berlin.

Altogether 237 companies from 27 countries attended the event. Approximately 78 % came from Europe, 16 % from Asia and over 5 % from North and South America.

The European Bioplastics Conference is now in its fourth year and has become an established industry event. “To have broken attendance records, in spite of the difficult economic background is extremely heartening. Market interest and uptake is very real and bioplastics producers continue to increase both capacity and the technical capability of their materials“, cheers Andy Sweetman (left picture above), Chairman of the board of European Bioplastics.

Professor Patel (Utrecht University)

www.hanser-tagungen.de/biokunststoffe

Conference on Technical Applications Biobased materials are today finding a wider usage, especially for technical (non-packaging) applications. With this shift from compostable packaging to durable applications increased demands regarding the material’s performance and processing properties can be observed. On the subjects on injection moulding performance, rheological processing parameters as well as long-term behaviour our knowledge today is still limited.

Thus these questions and technical applications were the focus of a conference, ‘bioplastics - technical applications of biobased materials’, held in Duisburg, Germany in early

10

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

October. The conference was chaired by Prof. Hans-Josef Endres (University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Hanover) and Prof. Johannes Wortberg (University of Duisburg).

In addition to a general overview of the current situation experts from raw material suppliers such as DuPont, Kuraray, Sukano or FKuR informed the conference about the processing, application and challenges of biopolymers.

Speakers from companies such as KraussMaffei Berstorff, Huhtamaki, Bosch and Volkswagen discussed the processing and properties of biopolymers in technical applications.

Polylactic Acid

Uhde Inventa-Fischer extended its portfolio to technology and production plants for PLA, based on its long-term experience with PA and PET. The feedstock for our PLA process is lactic acid which can be produced from local agricultural products containing starch or sugar.

The application range is similar to that of polymers based on fossil resources. Physical properties of PLA can be tailored to meet the requirements of packaging, textile and other applications.

Think. Invest. Earn.

Uhde Inventa-Fischer GmbH Holzhauser Strasse 157–159 13509 Berlin Germany Tel. +49 30 43 567 5 Fax +49 30 43 567 699 Uhde Inventa-Fischer AG Reichenauerstrasse 7013 Domat/Ems Switzerland Tel. +41 81 632 63 11 Fax +41 81 632 74 03 www.uhde-inventa-fischer.com

Uhde Inventa-Fischer A company of ThyssenKrupp Technologies

Films | Flexibles | Bags

Deep-Freeze Bio Packaging

D

eep freezing is a method of preserving foodstuffs containing water. During deep freezing the storage temperature of the food is set significantly below freezing point (at least -18 °C), thus slowing down or even stopping the growth of micro-organisms. Chemical and physical processes in food are also slowed down or avoided completely. Biochemical, and most notably enzymatic, reactions are also slowed down [1].

Requirements of deep-freeze packaging plastics materials Deep-freeze packaging preserves frozen food from drying-up and protects it against outside influences: light, air (oxygen), moisture uptake, contamination and infection by micro-organisms, outside odours and tastes, as well as mechanical damage. It needs to exhibit barrier properties and mechanical properties, and also needs to be printable and weldable.

‘Freezer burn‘ ‘Freezer burn‘ is a form of dehydration usually caused by improper packaging. The surface moisture has evaporated, and the food may appear lighter in colour and ‘dried out‘. While the food is safe to eat, the quality is lower. It often has an ‘off-flavour‘.

Article contributed by Andreas Bergmeier, Director Development, Dettmer Verpackungen GmbH, Lohne, Germany and Dr. -Ing. Christian Bonten, Director Technology, FKuR Kunststoff GmbH, Willich, Germany

12

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

Whilst at home one can manage to package the goods to be frozen rather carefully, however the filling process under industrial conditions looks different: frozen goods - some with sharp edges - may fall from a belt weigher directly into an open bag, which will then be immediately closed.

Bio-Flex – bioplastics for deep-freeze packaging.

FKuR´s trade name Bio-Flex® stands for copolyester blends based on PLA which – depending on the respective grade – are produced from a high amount of natural resources. Bio-Flex does not contain any starch or starch derivatives. The material’s mechanical properties at low temperatures are particularly crucial for an overall deep-freeze packaging performance. High impact strength and dart drop strength at

Films | Flexibles | Bags Tear Rresistance

Modulus of Elasticity

Puncture Resistance

Elongation at Break

Seal Strengh — PE — Bio 1. generation Tear strength

— Bio 2. generation

Fig. 1 Comparison of mechanical properties

these temperatures are a must in order to achieve approval. Low glasstransition temperature as well as homogeneous material and distribution of synergetic additives are the keys to meeting these requirements.

Dettmer Verpackungen (Delo) in Lohne, Germany, uses Bio-Flex F 2110 as a basis for a multilayer system for deep-freeze packaging.

A packaging film has been developed for the market leader in deep frozen potato products that meets the many and various requirements.

McCain´s philosophy behind this concept is coherent: ‘100 % Bio – inside and outside’. McCain´s Bio Harvest products derive from certified, ecologically controlled cultivation. To emphasize this, packaging made from renewable resources was needed - which also had to be biodegradable. The biodegradation, including the inks, has been tested and certified according to EN 13432. High quality printing with up to 10 colours is possible and the packaging carries the well-established seedling logo. But, what about the mechanical properties?

Astonishing results were achieved when the biofilm was compared with polyethylene of the same thickness. Delo, as market leader in deep-freeze packaging, with 13 blown film units, is known for its highly demanding performance. Delo coextrudes up to seven layers and prints on 12 flexo print lines, five of which are equipped with 10 colour decks.

The latest generation of biofilms from Delo´s director of development contains up to 70 % renewable resources, without any compromise.

Fig. 1 shows clearly that by means of Bio-Flex a leap into new dimensions of mechanical properties of thin packaging films has been achieved.

There is currently no technical obstacle to a broad market launch.

Delo have even managed to offer solutions that have so far not been possible with PE. Excellent puncture resistance or rigidity previously only achievable in multilayer systems, open up completely new scopes for design. High quality raw materials and compounds such as BioFlex today allow for a broad variety off coextruded films as ‘customized products‘.

[1] www.lebensmittellexikon.de

www.fkur.com www.de-lo.de

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

13

Films | Flexibles | Bags

Carbon-Neutral and Compostable Films A Holistic Approach

S

ustainability has long been more than just a buzzword at the packaging film manufacturer alesco from Langerwehe, Germany. The business is committed to pursuing a holistic approach in this respect – conservation of resources, environmental protection, carbon neutrality, social responsibility and environmentally friendly innovation are all factors in this strategy. And because these issues are a way of life at the company, with its 210 employees, rather than just being a marketing slogan, the manufacturer of PE and biofilm packaging is happy to show its cards and be open about its approach in order to encourage others to follow this responsible path.

“We developed a mission statement and a vision together with our staff in a number of joint workshops. These provide the basis for our environmental protection goals, our commitment to development that conserves resources and also our principle of carbon neutrality,” explains alesco Managing Director Philipp Depiereux with regard to the emergence of the revamped corporate philosophy with its focus on sustainability. Depiereux joined the new management team in 2004 and wanted to do more than merely produce marketing material focusing on new green products in the company. He wanted the company to really live and work in a green way on a daily basis.

Not an easy task, as he admits in retrospect: persuading employees that have worked for decades with products manufactured from the finite resource that is oil to switch to green and sustainable strategies requires some well chosen words. However, the results of the drive for holistic sustainability in the business and in the products are now tangible throughout the company.

For example, in the compostable film produced from sustainable raw materials. After three years of development work, the first biofilm from alesco was presented at the special show entitled “Bioplastics in Packaging” at interpack 2008 in Düsseldorf, and the fruit and vegetable bags proved to be a real hit at the trade fair.

New areas of application, such as brochure packaging films for direct mailings and catalogues (e.g. bM 5/2009), compostable shopping bags, deep freeze films and the new Bioshrink, which was presented at drinktec (Munich, Germany), show that all the staff at alesco are now right behind this groundbreaking approach. But alesco has also put a great deal of thought into issues beyond the actual products themselves; for example, all biofilms are manufactured exclusively using green electricity produced from hydropower.

And this commitment to green electricity will be extended by alesco to all of its production facilities in Langerwehe from 2010.

But a holistic approach requires more than environmentally friendly products alone. alesco pursues its strategy in the production process as well

14

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

Films | Flexibles | Bags

– such as with the solvent recovery facility in the print shop. This system allows solvents, which are used in large volumes in the print shop, to be separated from the paint sludge, after which they are returned to the production system to be used again. The system led to a reduction in solvents of 70,000 litres (which therefore did not need to be newly purchased or expensively disposed of) in 2008 alone - the first year of operation – and the trend is on an upward trajectory. This means that important resources are conserved, roads are relieved of traffic due to reduced freight requirements and CO2 emissions are also reduced as a direct consequence of this.

A paint mixing facility was also installed in the print shop in 2008. This means that alesco now generally only has to order basic colours as it can mix special colours on-site, and it also means that waste is avoided as only the required amount of paint has to be mixed. If, for example, a customer in the consumer goods sector reduces its printing order at short notice, then already ordered paint does not have to be disposed of or put into long term storage. In its very first year, this measure led to a reduction in requirements equating to 40,000 litres of paint, which would otherwise have had to be transported away and disposed of.

Lotta, our four year old cover girl says: „Oh, I loved the yummy carrots and my daddy made the plastic bags from bioplastics“.

The company has also worked to achieve environmental optimisation with regard to the actual paints it uses. This is where solvent free, water-based paints were the solution. The research and development team worked for quite some time on these in order to achieve exactly the right composition and, as a result, it has been possible since 2009 to order print runs for compostable biofilms with this even more environmentally friendly paint. Printing can be carried out on up to eight printing units and the use of new paints does not necessarily lead to a compromise with regard to quality; part of a holistic approach also involves never losing sight of the needs of customers – who like nice, glossy printed images.

Regranulation avoids unnecessary transportation At alesco, film regranulation of edge strips and rejects is handled internally: an in-house film regranulation system and a service provider based on-site results in short transportation distances for the reprocessing. This avoids the emissions that would otherwise have been produced during transportation to a regranulation plant some distance away. The entire stock of alesco regranulate material is then returned to the production process and not sold on to other film manufacturers, which would also result in transportation emissions.

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

15

A CO2 footprint makes environmental protection measurable at alesco In order to be able to measure the overall positive environmental effects of the innovative developments and modernisation in the production process, alesco commissioned the calculation of a corporate carbon footprint (CCF) for the entire company and a product carbon footprint (PCF) for all the packaging film products at the beginning of 2009. These footprints show how much carbon dioxide is emitted for each kilogramme of film produced.

However, the environmental efforts of the film manufacturer cannot be gauged from the first CO2 footprint as this is a reference from which to measure progress, so stopping at that would not fit in with the holistic approach of the company.

“We will only be able to see what we have achieved when we commission the calculation of a new footprint next year and can compare the values to see by how much our CO2 emissions per kilogramme of film produced have decreased,” adds Depiereux.

Although this may sound very simple, it actually requires a lot of careful planning: as well as the entire energy consumption at alesco and relevant data from suppliers (raw material suppliers, paint suppliers, additive suppliers, suppliers of solvents and also suppliers of other consumables etc.), all commuting-related CO2 emissions generated by the 210 members of staff at alesco were also determined – which involves taking into account the routes taken as well as the use of cars, bicycles, trains and buses. The PCF also included the entire supply chain, the processing stages (film production, film printing, film packaging) and the subsequent route to their place of utilisation. The footprints were calculated by an independent climate protection consultancy - ClimatePartner Deutschland GmbH. Only the process of packaging products using the film at the customer and the subsequent use and recycling by consumers could not be taken into account.

“Unfortunately, we do not know if the consumers arrive at the point of sale on foot or by vehicle in order to acquire the packaged product,” explains Alexander Rossner, Managing Director of ClimatePartner Deutschland GmbH.

Carbon neutral packaging The CO2 footprint also provides another benefit: if it is known how much CO2 is still produced as a result of the

16

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

production process despite the implementation of a range of measures, the film can at least be produced in a carbon neutral way by means of acquiring the corresponding amount of climate protection certificates to enable carbon offsetting. alesco is one of the first packaging film manufacturers in the world to offer its customers this service. All alesco biofilms are already produced and supplied carbon neutrally at no extra cost. And, if customers wish to acquire other types of film carbon neutrally, then the only additional charge made is the actual cost of acquiring the necessary climate protection certificates.

The number of certificates required is determined using a climate calculator, which provides alesco with exact emission figures for the production of each individual type of film. “In this way, we can offset the emissions in accordance with the provisions of the Kyoto protocol. For the neutralisation of the biofilm products, we have chosen an approved and certified biomass project in India,” comments Depiereux. alesco has also not forgotten the marketing opportunities that this approach can provide for customers, who now have the option with printed films of including information about the carbon neutrality of the packaging film. And this seems to be a popular choice: since the certification of the films was started, numerous orders have been produced carbon neutrally and a number of customers have chosen to have the film labelled as being carbon neutral.

There is still a lot of scope for improvement in the future.

With their holistic approach, the staff at alesco have by no means exhausted all the potential measures that can be implemented: hauliers must also consider using trucks with low fuel consumption figures, and raw material and additive suppliers can investigate environmentally friendly production methods. An environmental report is currently being produced in order to document all alesco’s environmental initiatives and projects. “The green strategies of conservation of resources, avoidance of emissions and reduction of emissions will continue to be pushed, even in tough economic times,” states Philipp Depiereux as a clear indication of the company’s steadfast commitment. Rest assured, the alesco staff will continue to do their utmost to protect the environment. www.alesco.net

Films | Flexibles | Bags Fig. 1: PLA film laminated on paper bags

PLA Films are a Team Sport

A

s the supplier base has grown recently, a wide diversity of Ingeo™ films are being used in bags, wraps, lids, and labels. Among all the products in the bioplastic industry, films may best exemplify the supply chain’s team effort through close engineering cooperation to build innovation into the products delivered to consumers.

For example, French manufacturer Polyfilms, which operates a state-of-the-art plant for coextruded, bioriented films near Paris, has developed Polybio — a range of Ingeo-based oriented films. Polybio film is laminated on paper bags for bread or salad (Fig. 1). It is also used for sealable film lidding and both white and transparent film labels. Once metalized (either with transparent or white film) the barrier properties are enhanced and the product has high opacity and brilliance.

Article contributed by

By Stefano Cavallo, European Marketing Manager, NatureWorks, LLC www.natureworksllc.com

Polyfilms also sells Polybio to a family of converters that add to the film’s barrier properties to expand the number of potential applications for this product. Metalvuoto has developed a lacquer coated oxygen-barrier film under the brand name Oxaqua®.

One of these converters, Alcan Packaging, offers CERAMIS®-PLA films which are transparent high barrier films with a silicon oxide coating.

Goglio Cofibox SpA manufactures a printable laminated film, which Sant’Anna® uses for the labels on its bottled water. Fres-co System USA has developed a hybrid solution for coffee packaging. This development incorporates Ingeo film into a multilayer structure made with traditional materials. The company says this is Kyoto protocol ready packaging.

This industry now goes beyond oriented or blown film developers and value added converters. Sleever International, for example, has developed an Ingeo heat shrink film under the Biosleeve® brand. Sleever International provides its food and cosmetic packaging customers with colorfully vibrant heat shrink labels. Biosleeve can also be used for tamper evident bands (Fig. 2).

As these examples show, the bioplastic supply chain has invested in innovation. From these supply chain efforts, brand owners and consumers can expect an expanding choice of performance Ingeo films that help to reduce the overall environmental impact of packaging as compared to petroleum-based films.

Fig. 2: Biosleeve heat shrink film

Polyfilms is not the only company producing PLA-based oriented films and working closely with converters. SKC offers its Skywel® branded film, and Ingeo licensee Huhtamaki Films Global has developed a wide range of functional and tailor-made Ingeo™ film grades characterized by adjustable mechanical properties for a broad range of applications, e.g. improved impact resistance and high barrier properties.

Sidaplax/Plastic Suppliers offers a range of clear and white films under the EarthFirst® brand name(see page 18)

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

17

Films | Flexibles | Bags

PLA Film Applications

T

EarthFirst as a shrink sleeve label around their plant pots. In the United States, ConAgra has made the switch from PVC to EarthFirst for their tamper evident bands around their table spread product offerings.

The transition to biopolymer films has been slow.

However, the introduction of EarthFirst® has allowed for greater penetration into plastic film markets because of its environmental and mechanical benefits.

Large envelope houses in Europe like GPV, Hamelin and the Mayer Kuvert Network have adopted the use of EarthFirst for their envelope window film offerings. The film compliments their full line of FSC paper based envelope offerings. The crystal clear look of EarthFirst offers envelope windowing applications an alternative to the traditional films in the market today.

he trend toward using biopolymers and environmentally friendly films continues to expand into traditional plastic film applications. The flexible packaging, lamination, bread bag, windowing (envelope and folding carton), shrink sleeve label and tamper evident band markets are some of the many applications that currently incorporate the use of biopolymer films.

Made from Ingeo™ PLA, EarthFirst is produced using annually renewable resources, and is a certified compostable product under the DIN 13432 and ASTM D6400 standards for industrial composting.

And it is more than just an environmentally friendly product. While the environmentally friendly attributes make it attractive to ‘green’ minded companies, the mechanical properties allow it to run as well as traditional plastic films on a wide range of processing equipment. Having a natural dyne level of 38 makes it suitable for printed applications and its direct food contact (FDA) compliance has opened the door to the flexible packaging market.

Shrink sleeve label and tamper evident bands are utilizing EarthFirst TDO film. Low shrink initiation temperatures and the ability to shrink up to 75% makes EarthFirst the ideal shrink film. In addition, EarthFirst shrink sleeve film can be stored up to 40° celsius offering energy savings that petrochemical films cannot. Jiffy Pot in Europe is using

18

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

Bread bags are another market utilizing the EarthFirst product. Retailers understand the environmental benefits of EarthFirst as the high moisture vapor transmission rate of EarthFirst guarantees that the bread inside remains crispy.

EarthFirst can be found in Delhaize, Carrefour and Auchan bread bag products.

In many cases EarthFirst even outperforms petrochemical based films when it comes to printing, sealing and overall machinability.

Plastic Suppliers, Inc. / Sidaplax v.o.f is committed to a strong environmental leadership role in protecting the planet. As active members of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC), European Bioplastics, Belgian Biopackaging and UK Compostable Group, the companies are committed to understanding the impact of such products upon the environment. MT www.earthfirstpla.com.

Films | Flexibles | Bags

Paper cups and shrink film are the first two applications for BASF’s new biodegradable plastic Ecovio® FS

High-Performance and Biodegradable

A

t the 4th European Bioplastics Conference (see page 10) BASF presented a new biodegradable plastic branded as Ecovio® FS. BASF has optimized this new plastic for two specific applications: for coating paper and for manufacturing so-called shrink films, which serve to easily wrap packaged goods. For this reason, the first two new plastic types are called Ecovio FS Paper and Ecovio FS Shrink Film. Sample material is already available. Initial production tests at customers’ facilities have been successful. Introduction into the market at large is scheduled for the first quarter of 2010.

Biodegrading even more quickly As has been demonstrated in recent composting experiments, the new Ecovio FS biodegrades even more rapidly than its predecessors, and it has a higher content of renewable raw materials. “Ecovio FS consists of the likewise new, now bio-based Ecoflex® FS (a biodegradable polyester made by BASF) and of PLA. The use of the new Ecoflex FS raises the proportion of biobased material in Ecovio FS Shrink Film to 66% and that of Ecovio FS Paper to a full 75%,” explains Jürgen Keck, who heads BASF’s global business with biodegradable plastics.

Paper cups and packaging film: high-performance counts The experts who developed the new Ecovio FS focused on the properties that are required of these special applications. “In order to obtain effective paper coatings, a film made of the new Ecovio FS Paper has to be easy to process and exhibit good adhesion to the paper, even when applied in thin layers. Such coatings are used, for example, on paper cups or cardboard boxes,” explains Gabriel Skupin, who is in charge of technical product development for biodegradable plastics. Ecovio FS Shrink Film, in contrast, has a selected ratio of shrinkage to strength, so that its mechanical load capacity at a film thickness of merely 25 μm is greater than that of a conventional polyethylene film that is 50 μm thick.

We want to become more specialized With this new product family, BASF’s experts for biodegradable plastics are further expanding their assortment. The company is aiming to become more specialized in this realm, so as to meet the requirements of very specific market segments. This is reflected in the nomenclature, which will comprise three elements. The first stands for the processing technology – in this case, F for ‚film‘. The second, S, stands for ‚special‘ and indicates that the new bio-based Ecoflex FS is present. The actual application itself forms the third element of the name such as, for instance, Paper or Shrink Film. “This consistent designation method, which will be implemented early next year together with the new products, illustrates the broad potential we anticipate for technically advanced biodegradable products in this market, which has become very diversified,” explains Andreas Künkel, head of BASF’s market development for new biodegradable plastic products. www.ecovio.com

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

19

Films | Flexibles | Bags

Compostable New Performance Profiles Article contributed by Stefano Facco New Business Development Manager Novamont S.p.A. Novara, Italy

T

he demand for compostable bioplastics has been steadily growing for many years at an annual rate of between 20 and 30%. The research related to these polymers derived from RRM (Renewable Raw Materials), which in the case of Novamont swallows up 10% of its turnover, today permits the production of a large range of consumer products. These include food and non-food packaging, hygiene products, bags and sacks, agricultural tools and food-service ware, all with a positive environmental impact (End of Life options) and a positive effect on product performance.

An interesting growth rate has been noticed within the area of films and flexibles, especially multilayer structures.

At the beginning of the 1990‘s Novamont had already started to understand that the use of compostable biopolymers would be taking a growing market share in the area of flexibles, as the following article will describe. The latest expansion of Novamont’s production capacity is also a demonstration of the steady growth of this market sector.

Environmental Impact Novamont’s main mission is to offer original solutions both from the technical and environmental points of view, starting from renewable raw materials. Mater-Bi is a generation of established biodegradable and compostable polymers, continuously evolving, containing compostable polyesters (based on synthetic and renewable monomers), starch and other renewable resources. They are able to significantly reduce the environmental impact in terms of energy consumption and greenhouse effect in specific closed-loop applications (such as food packaging, catering items, mulch films, bags for kitchen use and garden waste, etc). They perform as traditional plastics when in use, and completely biodegrade within a composting cycle through the action of living organisms when they have been engineered to be biodegradable and compostable.

The technology that stands behind these new materials has evolved over the years in various steps: the first based purely on the complexing of starch, and later the continuous improvement of the environmental profile of Novamont‘s polymers through the increased use of non-food renewable resources in various steps, the backwards integration into production of polyesters and their monomers from RRM’s.

Today we find flexible industrial applications in the areas of waste bags and liners, shopping bags, loop handles, T-shirts, packaging based on single and multilayer films, either coextruded or laminated, and of course hygiene and agricultural applications.

Various process technologies are available, for monolayer or multilayer structures. The latter variant is used in order to combine different substrates with each other and to obtain very specific and tailored properties. There are quite different film families available, which offer very specific properties (such as puncture resistance, oxygen barrier etc) and, when combined, suddenly open up a completely new application profile. Suitable new

20

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

Films | Flexibles | Bags

Film Structures, for Food and Non-Food technologies, such as extrusion coating and lamination, are fast growing at a similar pace as that of the new multilayer (coex) films.

Processing Processing is nowadays no longer subject to critical discussion, as in the early 90‘s. Today converting these materials may be carried out on standard extruders, such as LDPE film blowing lines (minimum thickness in the range of 10-12µm). Productivity, if the line is specifically designed for Mater-Bi, is similar to that obtained with conventional polyolefines. Other converting aspects, such as sealing and printing, are also comparable with standard materials. Recycling is done conventionally by most of the converters.

Their properties are also very much comparable to those of standard polyolefines, except some very special properties in the area of OTR (oxygen transmission rate) and WVTR (water vapour transmission rate): MFR (g/10 min)

3.5 – 7

ASTM D 1338

E Modulus (MPa)

90 - 700

ASTM D 882

Stress at break (MPa)

22 – 36

ASTM D 882

Elongation at break (%)

250 – 600

ASTM D 882

COF

0.1 – 0.6

DIN 53375 A

Haze (%)

26 - 90

ASTM D 1003

WVTR (g·30μm/m2·24h)

200 – 900

ASTM E 96; 38°C 90% RH

OTR (cc·30μm)/(m2·24h·atm)

500 - 2000

ISO 15105-1; 23°C 50% RH

Extrusion Coating and Lamination Newly developed applications are based on the extrusion coating and lamination processes.

In this case special grades do offer the same processability as for given polymers on standard lines, offering excellent adhesion on most of the substrates (paper, cardboard, biopolymers, tissues etc), high line speed, web stability and low gauges.

The main applications may be found either in the area of light flexible packaging, such as food wrapping, industrial bags and sacks, or in rigid packaging, such as the one based on heavy cardboard for containers, trays, deep freeze boxes and for foodservice ware such as cups and plates.

The barrier to oils and fats is quite good, average WVTR is in the range of 250 g/m²·24h (23°C, 50% RH) Coextruded films also offer a good barrier against fats and oil (compared to polyolefines), with WVTR ranging from 300 – 800 g·30μm/m²·24h and OTR in the range of 700 – 2.000 cc·30μm/m²·24h (23°C, 50%RH). Special sealing layers are used, characterised by a ∆T above 50°C, which allow easy running on most of the packaging lines, whether they be VFFS (Vertical Form Fill Seal) or flowpack. Specific film grades are available here, with improved toughness, modified COF (coefficient of friction) or transparency. In addition some unique ‘Home Compostable‘ solutions are available, intended for use in specific markets in which this property might be specifically requested.

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

21

Laminated films, as with multilayer compostable and certified products, were first introduced in the UK. Mater Bi was laminated onto a cellulose film, achieving a structure which offers a suitable barrier property, excellent organoleptic and very high mechanical properties in terms of toughness and tear resistance, which are needed to pack such ‘sharp‘ edged products as müsli flakes. The reverse printed external cellulose film, which has excellent visual properties, is combined with a high tenacity Mater-Bi film in order to obtain packaging which fully covers the mechanical, organoleptic and processing needs of such products. This is still one of the unique combinations on the market able to offer compostability under industrial conditions. New developments are close to being introduced, such as in the case of coffee packaging.

Beside the applications described above, films dedicated to the lamination process on various substrates offering selective barrier/ transmission properties, such as a high water vapour transmission rate, have found interest amongst producers of hygiene products such as diapers, overalls etc. Specific requirements are based on a soft, noiseless and highly breathable material. Recent developments, with films blown in the range of 10µm, are laminated onto cellulose, viscose and other non-woven substrates. The main applications may be found in bed linen, mattress covers and overalls used in clean rooms.

Depending on the application, these converting techniques provide a very efficient and versatile way to build specific, tailor-made, multilayer structures.

Flexible Applications Flexible applications, such as organic waste bags, find their logical EOL (End of Life) option in the waste stream meant for perishable waste, such as kitchen and food waste. This application has been in use for many years and is well implemented amongst thousands of communities spread all over the world. The environmental advantage of such application has been well demonstrated.

Other sectors have been identified, in which compostability offers a unique property, such as in the case of highly contaminated food packaging, where standard recycling loops cannot be used and compostability offers the solution to maximize material recovery.

Examples may be found in the area of food processing streams, characterized by a high level of food waste and very short shelf life products. Furthermore compostability might offer advantageous solutions in the case of date-expired packaged food, highly contaminated kitchen waste, as in fast food restaurants, canteens and schools.

It is becoming increasingly evident that compostable polymers are finding their industrial use in ‘virtuous waste systems‘, like some of those described above. Very high technical performance standards have been reached, which allow these polymers to be used in very demanding applications, in the food as well as the non-food area.

The performance of these flexible applications, combined with the renewable content and its compostability, are the criteria that define the environmental benefit of such products. www.novamont.com

22

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

Films | Flexibles | Bags

Bioplastic Films from the Netherlands

R

esponding to the increase in the demand for biodegradable and compostable films and packaging Oerlemans Plastics bv, a packaging producer from Genderen (the Netherlands), is cooperating with FKuR in Germany in order to better serve the upcoming organic market.

BI-OPL is the brand name for a wide range of biodegradable and compostable products such as shoppers, bags, films and sheets. All products are certified according to EN 13432, NF AFNOR 52001 (France), OK Compost, Ecocert and OF&G (Organic Farmers & Growers, UK).

All biodegradable and compostable products are based on special blends of Ecoflex (a co-polyester by BASF) and Ingeo™ PLA by NatureWorks. A big advantage compared to starch is that the PLA blends have a higher water resistance.

This can be very important in more humid applications such as anti-weed film for horticultural use. Also this indicates the possibility of using thinner PLA based films compared to starch based films.

according to customers‘ demands and can be printed in up to 8 colours. Films for use on shrink and wrapping machines, or for manual use, are available in many different sizes.

Horticultural films The fastest growing market in food production is the organic food market. Especially for this market Oerlemans Plastics bv developed a large variety of films to help the growers of organic food. As anti-weed film the BI-OPL is already used on many different crops throughout the world. Vegetables and fruits such as pineapples, fennel, strawberry, zucchini, pickles, onions and also nursery products and cut flowers are cultivated with the help of BI-OPL. All of these films can be produced as unfolded film between 10 cm and 205 cm. A new feature is the possibility to produce pre-perforated plant holes in these films.

Plant permeable films

A correct material thickness helps to create a product that will degrade more slowly or faster according to the application.

BI-OPL is available in thicknesses from 12 to 120 µm. Widths can be between 10 cm and 205 cm as plain film, and folded up to 6 metres.

Right now Oerlemans Plastics is preparing the introduction of a type of BI-OPL film which is ‘plant permeable‘. This means that certain types of plants, like white and green asparagus, can be covered with this film and due to the properties of the film the plant can grow through it. It is expected that these new types will contribute to a better and easier way to grow vegetables and fruit for organic growers.

Shoppers, bags, sheets and films

Renewable sources

Oerlemans Plastics can produce shopper bags from single BI-OPL material without a reinforcement inlay or with double folded topside so that the shoppers are 100 % made from compostable materials. Bags and sheets, based on BI-OPL materials, for many different applications can be produced

The different types of raw materials used for the production of biodegradable and compostable products are partly based on renewable sources. In the future the percentage of renewable materials will increase significantly. MT www.oerlemansplastics.nl

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

23

Consumer Electronics

Biomassbased Bathroom Scale

U

nitika Ltd. of Osaka, Japan, has successfully developed a new blend of biomass-based resin, which has unprecedented properties such as mouldability, heat resistance, durability and impact resistance. Unitika’s techniques for improving polylactic acid (PLA) and their accumulated knowledge of producing engineering plastic blends have brought this latest development to a successful conclusion. The new PLA blend, known as TERRAMAC® resin, offers impact properties comparable to those of ABS. Tanita is a world leader in precision electronic scales. With an almost 50% share of the domestic market the name of Tanita is now a household word in Japan. Tanita recently introduced their second generation of ‘green’ products with the HS-302 Solar Digital Scale. This environmentally conscious scale has built-in solar cells that draw power from sunlight or from ordinary household light, eliminating the need to buy or recharge batteries, as well as saving landfill sites from additional battery contamination. The new eco-friendly bathroom scale, nicknamed ECO Living, is equipped with a chassis made from the new Terramac resin, which contributes to about a 20% reduction in CO2 emission for the product compared with the previous model. Tanita has started selling this new bathroom scale mainly in Europe, where the population is relatively ecologicallyminded, and plans to expand the sales area step by step.

Technological background of Unitika In order to improve the properties of PLA, Unitika developed a world-first commercially available heat resistant PLA sheet in October 2002. After that, the shortcomings with regard to heat resistance, flame retardation, and impact resistance of PLA resins for injection moulding and foam were overcome by applying Unitika’s nanotechnology, plant-based reinforcements, inorganic fillers, etc. Unitika’s PLA-based durable Terramac resins have been used in commercially available cell phones, dishwasher-proof lacquered bowls, digital printers, copying machines, and more. These ground-breaking resins have driven the expansion of the PLA market. The new Terramac alloy type can also be used for high mechanical load conditions.

Unitika’s new Terramac alloy, as used in Tanita’s new bathroom scale, has the following features:  heat resistance, durability, impact resistance, and processability equal to or surpassing ABS  about 20% less emission of CO2 than ABS  suitable for many of the same applications as ABS  compliance with ‘BiomassPla’, which means biomass-based plastics, certified by Japan Biomass Plastics Association (JBPA)

24

www.unitika.co.jp www.tanita.com

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

Consumer Electronics

Eco-Centric Mobile Phone The North American telephone company Sprint Nextel, headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, USA is making it easier than ever for customers to ‘go green‘ with new eco-friendly products, services and programs and expanding its commitment as a leader in sustainability. Last August, Sprint and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) announced Samsung Reclaim™ as the first phone in the U.S. constructed from eco-centric bio-plastic materials. Made from 80 % recyclable materials, Samsung Reclaim is a feature-rich messaging phone that offers environmentally conscious customers a perfect blend of responsibility without sacrificing the latest in network speeds and must-have features.

When customers purchase Samsung Reclaim from Sprint, $2 of the proceeds will benefit the Nature Conservancy‘s Adopt an Acre program, which supports land conservation across the United States and protects some of the world‘s most beautiful and important natural habitats.

“Sprint is proud of our leadership with environmentally-responsible initiatives,“ said Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO, “and Samsung Reclaim enables customers to go green without sacrificing the latest in wireless technology.“ Up 40 % of the Reclaim’s outer casing is made of a blend of PLA (40%), a bioplastic material, made from renewable resources (corn) and Polycarbonate (60%).

This material is mostly used on the rear side and battery cover of the device.

Samsung Reclaim is free of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and phthalates, and nearly free of brominated flame retardants (BFR) three materials commonly targeted on green electronics guidelines.

The outer packaging and the phone tray inside the box are made from 70 % recycled materials, printed with soy-based ink. The typical thick paper user manual has been replaced with a virtual manual that users can access online. The Energy Star approved charger. It consumes 12 times less power than the Energy Star standard for standby power consumption. ”Samsung Reclaim is more than just an eco-centric device, its also a powerful and stylish phone that’s easy-to-use,” said Omar Khan, senior vice president of Strategy and Product Management for Samsung Mobile. “When you combine the Reclaim’s impressive feature set with its bio-plastic hardware and eco-centric packaging, you’re using a phone that is good for you and the environment.”

Reclaim has been available from August 16, 2009 in all Sprint retail channels, including Best Buy, Radio Shack, internet and telesales. It‘s also available at WalMart since early September.

Reclaim is Samsung’s latest contribution toward its commitment to the environment. Samsung Electronics Co. was recently named as the second highest rated company in Greenpeace International’s Guide to Greener Electronics scorecard. MT

26

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

www.sprint.com www.samsungmobileusa.com www.samsung.com

(Photo: Philips)

Consumer Electronics

New ‘Eco.‘ Cordless Telephone

Vacuum Cleaner Housing

he latest innovation for Ingeo™ bioplastic is Telecom Italia’s environmentally friendly ‘Eco.‘ cordless telephone. NatureWorks PLA material forms the exterior shell of the new cordless which matches high technical performance with sustainability and energy savings. Eco.’s advanced features include backlight display, handsfree, an integrated backlight keypad and polyphonic ringtones. This cordless is also projected to minimize energy consumption.

n early 2009 the Dutch company Philips started to use a durable PLA-based polymer for the housing of the Performer EnergyCare FC9178 vacuum cleaner. And even the packaging consists of about 90% recycled material.

T

Telecom Italia’s Eco. cordless has been designed and made real with the cooperation of Telecom Italia Lab, the University of Palermo and the MID design studio. In addition to providing certified environmental credentials, Ingeo provides a naturebased innovation which enhances the Eco.’s performance and aesthetics.

This initiative can be marked among those that will surely improve energy efficiency. As an example, NatureWorks notes that for 30.000 cordless units, the savings which result from replacing conventional oil based material with Ingeo bioplastic, are equivalent to 36 barrels of oil, a full month of electrical energy for 108 European citizens or driving the average car 75.000 km.

In addition to its low carbon footprint benefits, Ingeo biopolymer offers more disposal options than conventional oil-based plastics, such as composting in controlled industrial systems when available locally, feedstock recovery which enables reuse in all end products and markets as well as matching conventional incineration or landfill routes where they are appropriate. MT

I

Durable bioplastics applications in Europe became possible with a specially developed ’Nanoalloy’ technology from the Japanese Toray Industries.

“Conventional PLA-based polymers were not suitable for the manufacturing process because of their physical properties and mouldability,“ said a spokesperson from Toray Industries. Toray were able to solve the challenge with ‘Ecodear’, a specially developed bioplastic material. Thus it was possible to meet the technical demands of the application namely heat resistance, impact strength, durability, mouldabilty and shrinkage factors equivalent to the standard materials which are currently used in the market. Finally this led to the first adoption in a consumer electronics application in Europe.

With this new generation of bio durable bioplastics Toray has taken an important step into the future for the next generation of developments for environmentally friendly products. MT www.toray.com

www.natureworksllc.com, www.telecomitalia.it

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

27

Materials

Oxobiodegradable Plastic Article contributed by Professor Gerald Scott DSc, FRSC, C.Chem, FIMMM Professor Emeritus in Chemistry and Polymer Science of Aston University UK Chairman of the British Standards Institute Committee on Biodegradability of Plastics Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Oxo-biodegradable Plastics Association.

I

have been asked by Symphony Environmental Technologies (UK) to respond to a request from Bioplastics Magazine for an article about their d2w Controlled-life plastics, which degrade by a process of oxo-biodegradation1. My views are based on the research carried out in my own and in many other laboratories throughout the world since my original patent was filed in 1971, and on my review of independent test reports carried out on d2w products.

Let us be clear at the outset that oxo-biodegradable plastic is not normally marketed for composting, and it is not designed for anaerobic digestion nor for degradation deep in landfill. Let us also be clear that oxo-biodegradable plastic is not designed to merely fragment – it is designed to be completely bioassimilated by naturally-occurring micro-organisms in a timescale longer than that required for composting (180 days) but shorter than for nature’s wastes such as leaves and twigs (10 years or more), and much shorter than for normal plastics (many decades). All plastics will eventually become embrittled, and will fragment and be bioassimilated, but the difference made by oxo-biodegradable technology is that the process is accelerated.

Oxo-biodegradable plastic is intended to address the environmental problem caused by plastic waste which gets accidentally or deliberately into the open environment. This is a well known problem in all countries, and cannot be ignored by calling it a behavioural issue. Oxo-biodegradable plastic is designed to harmlessly degrade then biodegrade in the presence of oxygen and to return the carbon in the plastic to the natural biological cycle. Accordingly, tests in anaerobic conditions or in composting conditions are not appropriate Industrial composting is not the same as biodegradation in the environment, as it is a process operated according to a much shorter timescale than the processes of nature. EN13432 (and similar composting standards such as ISO 17088, ASTM D6400, ASTM D6868, and Australian 4736-2006) are not relevant to oxo-biodegradable plastic. Indeed EN13432 itself says that is not appropriate for plastic waste which may end up in the environment through uncontrolled means.

Oxo-biodegradable plastic products are normally tested according to ASTM D6954-04 ‘Standard Guide for Exposing and Testing Plastics that Degrade in the Environment by a Combination of Oxidation and Biodegradation’. There are two types of Standards – Standard Guides and Standard Specifications ASTM 6954 is an acknowledged and respected Standard Guide for performing laboratory tests on oxo-biodegradable plastic. It has been developed and published by ASTM International – the American standards organisation – and the second Tier is directed specifically to proving biodegradation.

Tests performed according to ASTM D6954-04 tell industry and consumers what they need to know – namely whether the plastic is (a) degradable (b) biodegradable and (c) non phyto-toxic. It is not necessary to refer to a Standard Specification unless it is desired to use the material for a particular purpose such as composting, and ASTM D6954-04 provides that if composting is the designated disposal route, ASTM D6400 should be used.

ASTM D6954-04 not only provides detailed test methods but it also provides pass/fail criteria. The oxobiodegradable plastics most commonly used consist of

28

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

Materials

single polymers to which section 6.6.1 applies. This section requires that 60 % of the organic carbon must be converted to carbon dioxide. Therefore if the material does not achieve 60% mineralisation the test cannot be completed and the material cannot be certified.

Having achieved 60% mineralisation, the Note to 6.6.1 provides that testing may be continued to better determine the length of time the materials will take to biodegrade. It is not however necessary to continue the test until 100% has been achieved, because it is possible, by applying the Arrhenius relationship2 to the test results, to predict the time at which that is likely to occur.

There is no requirement in ASTM D6954-04 for the plastic to be converted to C02 in 180 days because, while timescale is critical for a commercial composting process, it is not critical for biodegradation in the environment. Timescale in the natural environment depends on the amount of heat, light, and stress to which the material is subjected, and as indicated above, nature’s wastes such as leaves twigs and straw may take ten years or more to biodegrade.

The requirement in EN13432, ASTM D6400 and similar standards for 90% conversion to CO2 gas within 180 days is not useful even for composting, because it contributes to climate change instead of contributing to the fertility of the soil. ‘Compostable’ plastic, 90% of which has been converted to CO2 gas, is virtually useless in compost, and nature‘s lignocellulosic wastes do not behave in this way.

The applications for which oxo-biodegradable plastics are normally used can vary from very short-life products such as bread-wrappers intended to last a few months, to durable shopping bags intended to last five years or more. The conditions under which they are likely to be discarded can also vary from cold and wet conditions to hot and dry desert conditions. It is for the companies producing or using these products to evaluate the test results to judge the suitability of the tested material for those applications and conditions, and to market them accordingly.

The pro-oxidant additives which cause accelerated degradation are usually compounds of iron, nickel, cobalt, or manganese together with carefullyformulated stabilisers, and are added to conventional plastics at the extrusion stage. These reduce the molecular weight of the material – causing it to be ultimately consumed by bacteria and fungi. Symphony’s d2w additives have been tested and proved not to be phyto-toxic, and they do not contain ‘heavy metals’.

1: Oxo-biodegradation is defined by CEN/ TR15351-06 as “degradation identified as resulting from oxidative and cell-mediated phenomena, either simultaneously or successively.”

Oxo-biodegradable technology is commonly used for Polyethylene and Polypropylene products, but it can also be used for Polystyrene. Experiments are continuing with PET but I am not as yet satisfied that the technology will work satisfactorily with PET. Experiments are also continuing with PVC.

3: See D. Gilead and G. Scott “Developments in Polymer Stabilisation”-5. App. sci. Pub., 1982, Chapter 4 and references therein for details of environmental effects on oxo-biodegradation

Tests on oxo-biodegradable plastic products are usually conducted by independent laboratories such as Smithers-RAPRA (US/UK), Pyxis (UK), Applus (Spain), etc, according to the test methods prescribed by ASTM D695404. Conditions in the laboratory are designed to simulate so far as possible conditions in the real world, but have to be accelerated in order that tests may be done in a reasonable time. Pre-treatment does not invalidate the results.

2: See eg. Jakubowicz, :Polym. Deg. Stab.

80,39-43 (2003)

4: There is insufficient space here for all the relevant publications, but visit www. bioplasticsmagazine.com/200906/2.pdf to see reference to some reviews for some of the recent papers

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

29

In the real world the temperature of the soil varies between 0 and 50°C depending on the location. The rate of molar-mass reduction and biodegradation can be extrapolated for any soil temperature by means of the Arrhenius relationship3.

I have read many independent laboratory test reports on oxobiodegradable materials supplied by Symphony and by other manufacturers, which are entirely consistent with the published scientific literature4 and with my own research. These manufacturers are not surprisingly unwilling to disclose their data to their competitors, but having seen the reports I am satisfied that if properly manufactured, oxo-biodegradable products will totally biodegrade in the presence of oxygen.

I am aware of suggestions that fragments of plastic (whether oxobiodegradable, compostable, or normal plastic) attract toxins in a marine environment and are ingested by marine creatures. I am not however persuaded that fragments of plastic are any more likely to attract toxins than fragments of dead seaweed or any of the other trillions of fragments which are always present in the sea.

I regard it as a positive factor that oxo-biodegradable plastics are made from naphtha - a by-product of oil, which used to be wasted.

For so long as the world needs petroleum fuels and lubricants for engines it makes good environmental sense to use this by-product.

I agree with the June 2009 report from Germany’s Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, which concluded that oil-based plastics, especially if recycled, have a better Life-cycle Analysis than compostable plastics. They added that “The current bags made from bioplastics have less favourable environmental impact profiles than the other materials examined” and that this is due to the process of raw-material production.” (see eg. www.bioplasticsmagazine. com/200906/1.pdf).

Compostable plastics are designed to be deliberately destroyed in the composting process, but oxobiodegradable plastics can be reused many times and can be recycled if collected during their useful lifespan, which in the case of shopper-bags is about 18 months.

Plastics of any kind should not be used for home-composting as they are often contaminated with meat and fish residues and temperatures may not rise high enough to kill the pathogens.

Editor‘s note: This article is based on a counterstatement

by Michael Stephen, Symphony Environmental in bM issue 03/2009 page 40, which included an offer by bM to contribute a scientifically based paper and to present data (e.g. ‘reports’ as required in section 7 of ASTM D6954-04).

However, no data using the referenced standard was provided. The literature we received, is a list of publications that can be seen at www.bioplasticsmagazine.com/200906/3.pdf MT

30

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

It is not desirable to send otherwise recoverable plastic to landfill, as plastic is a valuable resource. Nor is it desirable for anything to degrade in landfill unless the landfill is designed to collect the resulting gases, which most are not. However if oxo-biodegradables do end up in landfill, they are designed to disintegrate and partially biodegrade at or near the surface. Any particles deep in anaerobic landfill are minimal, and will remain inert indefinitely. They can never emit methane – unlike compostable plastics, paper, etc.

So far as recycling is concerned, oxo-biodegradable plastic can be recycled in the same way as ordinary plastic (see www. bioplasticsmagazine.com/200906). By contrast, ‘compostable’ plastic cannot be recycled with ordinary plastic, and will ruin the recycling process if it gets into the waste stream.

Please see www.bioplasticsmagazine.com/200906/3.pdf for a comprehensive list of Key scientific papers on the biodegradation of polyolefins.

L^hhZc cjioZc Ă„ Zg[da\gZ^X]Zg hZ^c

8_efeboc[h[ Ă… CÂ?]b_Y^a[_j[d dkjp[d" Pkakd\j ][ijWbj[d

&'$%&($ <[XhkWh (&'& _d H[][diXkh]

EijXWo[h_iY^[i J[Y^debe]_[#JhWdi\[h#?dij_jkj [$L$ EJJ? GZ\ZchWjg\ Ă&#x2022; IZaZ[dc ). .)& '.+--"(' :"BV^a c^XdaZ#l^iibVcc5dii^#YZ

Â&#x2122; 9Z[^c^i^dcZc! <ZhZioZ jcY GV]bZcWZY^c\jc\Zc kdc 7^dedanbZgZc Â&#x2122; :^\ZchX]V[ihegd[^aZ kdc 7^dedanbZglZg`hid[[Zc Â&#x2122; =ZghiZaajc\! KZgVgWZ^ijc\! BdY^[^o^Zgjc\ jcY iZX]c^hX]Zg :^chVio Â&#x2122; CVX]]Vai^\`Z^i! :cihdg\jc\hdei^dcZc jcY :cihdg\jc\hZ^\ZchX]V[iZc Â&#x2122; B~g`iZ! =ZghiZaaZg! BViZg^VaineZc! KZg[Â&#x201C;\WVg`Z^i!

EgZ^hZ! Oj`jc[iheZgheZ`i^kZc Â&#x2122; @ZcclZgiZ jcY >c[dgbVi^dchWZhX]V[[jc\

magnetic_148,5x105.ai 175.00 lpi 45.00° 15.00° 14.03.2009 75.00° 0.00° 14.03.2009 10:13:31 10:13:31 Prozess CyanProzess MagentaProzess GelbProzess Schwarz

mmm$ejj_$Z[

c i t e n tics g s a a l P r M fo

Biopolymere_210*148.indd 1

23.10.2009 8:46:50 Uhr

â&#x20AC;˘ International Trade in Raw Materials, Machinery & Products Free of Charge

â&#x20AC;˘ Daily News from the Industrial Sector and the Plastics Markets

C

M

â&#x20AC;˘ Current Market Prices for Plastics.

Y

CM

â&#x20AC;˘ Buyerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Guide for Plastics & Additives, Machinery & Equipment, Subcontractors and Services.

MY

CY

CMY

K

er.com lastick www.p

â&#x20AC;˘ Job Market for Specialists and Executive Staff in the Plastics Industry

l ssiona â&#x20AC;˘ Profe t s a F date â&#x20AC;˘ Up-to-

Applications

Green Nordic Walking – with Biobased Polyamide

www.esb-sport.de www.mpp-austria.at www.dupont.com

T

he first commercial, injection-molded use of renewablysourced DuPont™ Zytel® RS polyamide in Europe is for the hand grip, tip, cap and inter-locking elements of the new ‘Exel NW ECO Trainer’ Nordic walking stick from EXEL Sports Brands (ESB), Stephanskirchen, Germany. The unreinforced polyamide 610 is produced using sebacic acid extracted from castor oil plants. The renewably-sourced content of unreinforced Zytel RS is 58 % by wt.

This was a crucial factor in the sports equipment manufacturer decision to not only base its production in Europe, but to also launch its own competence model made in the material.

“Both sustainability and the responsible handling of resources are strongly encouraged within our company. This includes the use of products with a reduced environmental footprint products offering the best levels of performance based on high quality standards.

Accordingly, innovative products developments, such as Zytel RS from DuPont, fit perfectly into our corporate strategy,” states Richard Holzner, product manager at ESB for the Exel walking sticks. “All the components are solvent- and toxin-free. Thus, we are able to guarantee that our customers receive environmentallyfriendly products offering the best performance according to European quality standards.”

For the hand grip, a cork or wooden shell can be used on top of the Zytel RS, enhancing its feel for the user. Carbide is overmolded with Zytel RS for the tip. Beyond its very good surface finish, the long chain polyamide 610 offers excellent chemical resistance, low moisture absorption and temperature resistance between -40°C and 50° C. The parts were designed and manufactured by Metall und Plastikwaren Putz GmbH (MPP) of Abtenau in Austria. “The processability of unreinforced Zytel RS is similar to that of polyamide 66. The material is also easy to color,” reports Georg Putz, managing director of MPP. “The only differences were an approximately 40°C lower melt temperature and minor variations in shrinkage behavior. The technical support provided by the polymer distributor Biesterfeld-Interowa was very helpful during the transition.”

Following its launch at the relevant sporting goods trade shows such as the ispo winter 2010, the ‘Exel NW ECO Trainer’ will be available to consumers from specialist sports shops from spring 2010.

The DuPont portfolio of engineering polymers includes a series of products based on renewable resources. They are either entirely or partially produced using agriculturally-sourced raw materials such as corn or castor-oil beans instead of crude oil, thereby helping reduce the industry’s dependence on increasingly limited crude oil reserves. - MT

32

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

Applications

A Magic Powder in a PLA Powderette

by Rainer Bittermann, IFA-Tulln

I

n Austria a new product was launched in October based on an aromatic powder which puts the consumer in a state of ‘relaxed alertness’, according to Rouven Haas the inventor of Blue Elph®. It is an absolutely new and innovative edible leisure product - just unwrap the Powderette™, tap the capsule, and suck in the powder - but whatever does it have to do with bioplastics? OK, the powder consists exclusively of harmless, edible substances and the capsule is made of gelatine, but the Powderette™ is made from NatureWorks PLA and additives from Sukano and Polyone.

The development started in 2005 together with the Institute of Natural Materials Technology at the University Research Institute at Tulln (IFA-Tulln) in Austria. After screening various bioplastics for injection moulding, PLA was selected because of its high transparency and excellent mechanical properties. The product design and recipe development took a long time but ended with a perfect shape and excellent processability.

During the project the properties of PLA in the injection moulding process were investigated. The high flowability, transparency and rigidity allowed the adoption of a special design that could not be easily realised using standard polymers. The high variation in wall thickness and the sharp point necessary for piercing the powder-filled capsule should also be noted here. Thanks to different additives the ejection and constant colour at a constant transparency level could also be achieved in the end. The next step will be the construction of a 32-cavity tool to reach the planned output (300,000 for the next 6 months).

For the launch and rapid penetration into the market over 600 people – including press, partners, friends and celebrities - were invited to the launch party in the ‘Skykitchen‘ club, up above the rooftops of Vienna, to experience the world of Blue Elph.

The novelty of Blue Elph is not so much its effect as the way of ingesting it, and the associated benefits.

The powder in the capsule is sucked into the mouth using the patented Powderette and acts directly over the oral mucosa. Caffeine and guarana immediately awaken and sharpen the senses, L-Phenylalanin has the effect of lifting the mood and passion flower is relaxing. Because of the absorption of Blue Elph via the oral mucosa the active substances enter the body faster and more directly. The concentration of these substances is up to 10 times lower than in products that can be drunk or eaten, and so are harmless to the body.

www.blue-elph.com www.ifa-tulln.ac.at

The inventor Rouven Haas first had the idea for the product eleven years ago. At that time he asked himself why he didn‘t stop smoking. To cut out such a habit without finding a substitute is very hard, and with smoking in particular a very personal need is satisfied. This was the moment of birth. He wanted to create a harmless substitute that combines the fascination and feel of a cigarette with a stimulating effect as well as an extraordinary taste.

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

33

Application News

Naturalmente Cosmestics ‘Naturalmente‘ is a brand created and registered in Europe in 2004 by the Italian company Artec, whose logistic and head offices are based in Brescia and research, innovation, development and production laboratory in Tuscany.

The company is specialized in vegetal cosmetic products for hair, body and environment derived derived from the botanical kingdom: plants, flowers, roots, seeds, oils, fruits, spices and resins cultivated in their countries of origin, from all over the world, with biological, biodynamic and spontaneous agricultural.

Thanks to a continuous research of sustainable ingredients and materials, Naturalmente has made a responsible choice: converting 22 bottles from polypropylene to Ingeo™ PLA bottles. For its launch about 30.000 pieces have been distributed in hairstyling shops. An annual consumption of 115.000 pieces is expected. The bottle of 250 ml, which is opaque, is made from PLA while the cap still is in polypropylene. There is no label on the packaging, all information is printed directly on the bottle. Product shelf life is 12 months. www.naturalmente-artec.com

Green Cups in the Skies over Asia High technology lies behind a seemingly simple innovation led by All Nippon Airways (ANA), which aims to be the number one airline group in Asia and also to be a leader of environmental action in the aviation industry. ANA’s passengers will now enjoy their drinks in an Ingeo™ natural plastic cup.

The cup was planned and developed jointly by NatureWorks and ANA for ANA’s fourth environmental flights campaign, ‘e-flight‘, which went from October 1 - 31, 2009.

The drinking cups consist of NatureWorks’ Ingeo PLA. ANA held its first ‘e-flight‘ campaign in 2006.

Under the catchphrase “Think about the earth and human beings”, the fourth ‘e-flight‘ promotes these public awareness initiatives that feature eco-friendly services and products like the PLA cup in addition to other steps, which include wine in PET bottles and an optional passenger carbon offset program. The programs will enable ANA to realize its environmental goals both on the ground and in flight.

Plans call for the Ingeo natural plastic cup to be used on all the domestic flights in Japan and for coach class passengers on the Narita-Singapore route as a part of ‘e-flight‘ programs.

ANA group is an innovator in environmental action. The company has set targets to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the end of 2011 with its domestic flights in Japan, and has been saving fuel during the flights to achieve this corporate goal. In addition, ANA is deeply involved in a number of forest and marine environment restoration projects. As a result of these activities, ANA was the first company in the aviation industry to be certified as an ‘Eco-First Company‘ by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment.

“The new ANA Ingeo plastic drinking cups will give airline passengers the opportunity to hold a product symbolic of greater sustainability through innovative thinking and technology,” said Marc Verbruggen, president and CEO, NatureWorks LLC. “We are proud to have Ingeo playing a role in the ANA e-flight program.”

BP Consulting, Japan, headed by President Takeyuki Yamamatsu, an unwavering advocate for sustainability and sustainable products, also worked closely with both ANA and NatureWorks to develop, produce, and implement the Ingeo plastic cups concept. - MT

34

www.natureworksllc.com www.ana.co.jp

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

New Sunglasses made from Clear Bio-Polyamide Sport and fashion sunglasses (photo) have become high performance objects by being adapted to consumer‘s comfort and fashion evolution.

G830 Rnew, a bio-renewable sourced polymer derived from castor oil. This new collection perfectly fits in with Smith Optics‘s durable eco-design strategy.

Glass frames are subjected to various requirements like expanded decoration possibilities, lightness and comfort.

They must also be easy to process while having excellent chemical and stress cracking-resistance.

Rilsan Clear G830 Rnew uses 54% bio-based raw material, thus helping reduce CO2 emissions. It naturally offers the same key benefits as classical Rilsan Clear G350, namely a combination of key properties such as chemical resistance and mechanical performance. It allows new design possibilities for injection-molded eyewear, especially thanks to its easy processing and its higher flexibility increasing comfort of wear and durability.

At the Outdoor Retailer Summer fair in Salt Lake City, Utah last summer Smith Optics® and Arkema unveiled the new ‘Evolve’ sunglasses collection using Rilsan® Clear G830 Rnew.

Rilsan Clear G830 Rnew offers all the necessary characteristics to provide Smith Optics with the required quality for their new ‘Evolve’ sunglasses collection: optimal comfort, lightness, good impact resistance, superior durability, and nice flexibility. A total of 20 new ‘Evolve’ sunglass frame models are made entirely of Rilsan Clear

The use of Rilsan Clear G830 Rnew in the new Smith Optics models marks the start of a new adventure and a close collaboration between Arkema and Smith Optics.

www.arkema.com www.smithoptics.com

Hair Care Products in PLA bottles Nature‘s Organics began in the late 1950‘s as a small business pioneering naturally based products, such as bath cubes, hair colourants, and various toiletry ranges in Australia. Since then it has rapidly become the forefront of the business. The company provides their consumers with a choice of naturally enriched products that are pure, gentle and effective. They use plant-derived ingredients as far as possible that helps to produce extremely efficient, biodegradable formulas. All products are stringently controlled to reduce unnecessary waste of non-renewable resources, offering ‘Sustainable development through responsible environmental management’. In early 2008, Nature‘s Organics introduced an Ingeo™ PLA bottle which offers an improved environmental footprint. With the continued success of this brand and proven track record of the Ingeo bottle, Nature‘s Organics has begun exporting this organic hair care line to Europe as well. The company produces the PLA bottles in their Ferntree Gully, Victoria, Australia factory. www.naturesorganics.com.au

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

35

Application News

‘Organic Plug’ made from Bio PA

T

he fischer group of companies of Waldachtal, Germany recently presented its first prototype of an ‘organic plug’. The material of the fischer Universal Plug UX consists of polyamide by DuPont which is mainly made of renewable substances.

UX with staying power The fischer UX Universal Plug made of conventional nylon has been established in the market for many years, giving users the feeling of reliability and safety. With every turn of the screw, the plug tightens more and more – until it is safely expanded inside the drill hole or knotted inside the cavity. A true all-rounder, the plug gets a perfect grip in any wall, whether in plasterboard, solid bricks, perforated bricks or concrete.

Same retaining power as the standard plug The ‘Organic Plug’ is made of the Zytel® RS polyamide

by DuPont, 58 % by wt. of which consist of renewable base materials. “Extensive tests and long-term trials have shown that the UX made of this new material has the same values as the tried and tested product made of conventional nylon”, says Rainer Fischer, head of synthetics development at fischer. In continuous tests, the ‘Organic Plug’ consistently shows the same retaining values as the conventional UX. Investigations involving the performance at high temperatures also show the same temperature resistance for both plugs.

The UX Plugs recently shown at FAKUMA, a German plastics trade fair, are the first prototypes presented to a wider public. “Our aim is not only to demonstrate that we can make plugs from sustainable and renewable materials”, says Rainer Fischer. “We also want to fathom out the market acceptance because the ‘Organic Plugs’ can currently not be made with the same cost structure as the standard plug”. www.fischer.de www.renewable.dupont.com

Gourmet Canadian Packaging

A

Canadian company, Nature’s Farm™, is going to wrap its range of gourmet pasta products in NatureFlex™ NE from Innovia Films.

Founded in 1987 in Steinbach, Manitoba, Nature’s Farm is a family-owned business with a poultry operation producing eggs.

In 1993 after several years of careful research and some time as a ‘designer-egg’ wholesaler, they introduced Nature’s Pasta™, which now appears on the menus of some of North America’s best eating establishments.

The farm’s fresh free-range eggs (from hens fed an allnatural vegetarian diet) go through a stringent quality inspection before being shipped to the nearby pasta-making facility. Strict adherence to old-world, small-batch production methods has created gourmet pasta that is setting new standards in taste, texture, and quality. The products are packed in-house on a Bosch Terra 25 VFFS machine set up to run at 15ppm.

According to company founder, Hermann Grauer, NatureFlex is an ideal packaging choice, “We are committed to ecological sustainability and stewardship. NatureFlex has fitted into our production line process with only minimal adjustment required.

The reaction of our customers’ to the packaging has also been very positive and enthusiastic.”

“NatureFlex is a very versatile product,” stated Christopher Tom, Innovia Films’ Account Executive, Canada, “we are delighted to support Nature’s Farm by providing packaging that aligns with their environmentally and socially responsible values.” For a packaging like a pasta bag, a good sealability is important.

NatureFlex NE was used in this application as it offers the best seal performance in the NatureFlex range of products. www.innoviafilms.com www.naturesfarm.ca

(Photo: fischerwerke) 36

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

Basics

383

Evaluating Quantity, Quality and Comparability of Biopolymer Materials Article contributed by Hans-Josef Endres, Andrea Siebert-Raths, and Maren Bengs, all University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Hanover, Germany

R

ather than biodegradability the focus of current material development in the field of biopolymers is increasingly on a biobased raw material input to produce durable products, i.e. the use of resistant biopolymers in technical applications. And the properties required of the materials are increasing in parallel with the number of these different applications.

As a result of this current development more and more manufacturers are publishing material specifications. At first glance this can be seen as a positive move from the point of view of technical marketing support, however, the quantity, quality and comparability of available material data are still very unsatisfactory. When establishing such product data it is often the case, for example, that different standards are used for the tests, as well as different testing conditions, such as the prevailing environment when the sample was taken, the temperature conditions or humidity before and during the test, or the period of time over which the test was conducted. A further problem area lies in the fact that too little experience has been gained with new types of biopolymer to be able to lay down the optimum test conditions. Furthermore many of the published test results do not specify any standard test methods or conditions, or do not adequately define the selected conditions. Unfortunately consequence it is often in the case that the material performance specifications published until now have limited informative value.

The intention of this article is, with the help of various concrete examples, to point out some of the common mistakes made when attempting to ascertain the performance characteristics of biopolymers and to increase the understanding of testing of biopolymers.

Melt Index An important value for plastics processors is, for example, the melt flow index (Melt mass flow rate = MFR [g/10 min]) as specified in DIN EN ISO 1133. Without quoting a temperature and the pressure applied as the significant parameters for the test, the readings cannot be evaluated. These data, which complement the values quoted, are therefore essential but are left out by many manufacturers and are missing from numerous published documents. In addition, with biopolymers there is often the problem that, unlike conventional plastics, the MFR of these new polymers no recommendations are given with regard to the test parameters when measuring. This leads to different companies choosing different test parameters, hence making it even more difficult to compare readings.

Temperature Resistance Another very sensitive figure that should be known for practical application of a biopolymer is its resistance to temperature. In many documents published about biopolymers, or in press releases, we more and more often read, for

38

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

Basics

Measuring HDT (Heat Deflection Temperature or Heat Distortion Temperature) in accordance with DIN EN ISO 75 and measuring the VST (Vicat Softening Temperature) in accordance with DIN EN ISO 306. For the HDT test a standard sample is placed in an oil bath and subjected to a defined and constant bending force under a constantly increasing temperature (120°C/h). The HDT is reached when the outer fibre distortion of the material reaches 0.2 %. In the Vicat test the sample is also placed in an oil bath with a defined temperature gradient. However the Vicat test is not based on bending but on point load deflection. The Vicat softening temperature is reached when a flat-ended needle of a defined geometry, penetrates 1 mm into the sample under a defined pressure [1].

HDT A (1.85 Mpa)

HDT B (0.45 Mpa)

140 120 100 80 60 40 20 PCL

PHB

PHA

Copolyester blend

PLA

0 Starch blend

To measure heat resistance the following two different standard test methods are generally used:

160

[°C]

instance, about PLA/PLA blends with a temperature resistance of around 100°C. Since the low temperature resistance of PLA often seriously limits its use, this increase from the figure of about 60°C (which is normally quoted for this material) to values around 100°C is extremely significant. Unfortunately it has emerged that this impressive figure is not supported by the facts but can largely be traced back to widely varying test methods that are not really comparable. Here too it is absolutely essential that one is given details of the test method and conditions with regard to heat resistance values.

Fig.1: The influence of different bending loads on the measured temperature resistance using the HDT test.

Temperature gradient in each case = 120°C/h (incomplete, just as an example)

Both methods permit variations of the load and temperature gradient within the norm. With the HDT method the central bending load can be chosen from the following values: 1.85 MPa (HDT A), 0.45 MPa (HDT B) and 8.0 MPa (HDT C). This means that even within one method there can be significant variations in the value depending on the chosen loading, which is often not specified in the quoted results, as can be seen in Fig. 1. If, for example, the temperature resistance of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) is published it may seem high, returning a value of 140°C, or, with a greater loading, be as much as 60°C lower at about 80°C. The situation is similar with the VST temperature resistance test.

Here too the piercing needle force can be selected from either 10 N (VST A) or 50 N (VST B). In the VST method A represents a lower loading and hence higher resistance values, whilst method B, uses higher loading and hence a lower resistance value in contrast to method A. When comparing the temperature resistance of biopolymers the two methods can return figures that vary by as much as 100°C. Furthermore when testing temperature resistance either of two temperature gradients may be selected; either 50°C/h or 120°C/h. At the faster rate the thermodynamic loading time of the biopolymer before reaching a certain temperature is less than at a lower temperature gradient. Hence the resulting values at the higher temperature gradient are likewise correspondingly higher.

It is therefore essential that the exact and full methodology used when measuring temperature resistance is specified. Where adequate data on the test methods is not supplied the temperature resistance cannot be properly evaluated.

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol.

39

Basics 160 VSTA (10N), 120°C/h)

For the values obtained using the VST test it is thus necessary to clearly distinguish between results obtained using, for example, VST A 50 (load applied to the needle = 10 N and temperature gradient = 50°C/h), VST A 120 (10 N @ 120°C/h), VST B 50 (50 N @ 50°C/h) and VST B 120 (50 N @ 120°C/h) [1].

HDT A (1.85 Mpa, 120°C/h)

140 120

[°C]

100 80 60 40 20 PHB

PCL

Copolyester blend

Copolyester

Starch blend

PLA

0

Fig.2: Influence of the test method used to determine temperature resistance (incomplete, just as an example)

45 40 Storage period: 4 months (23°C/ 50% RH)

35

Storage period: 4 months (23°C/ 50% RH) - before testing dried to about 1% moisture content

30 25 20

Storage period: 24 hours (23°C/ 50% RH)

15 10 5 0 Moisture content [%] Tensile strength (Mpa)

Fig.3: The effect of conditioning and storage on the tensile strength of a PLVA based polymer

Without these data mistakes are often made in the practical application of biopolymers, such as PLA, due to a lack of understanding of this problem and directly comparing temperature resistance values that have been obtained using different test methods and/or under different test parameters. As shown in the table of temperature resistance figures obtained using Vicat A and HDT A for various biopolymers (Fig. 2), these results are not at all comparable.

Alongside the often inadequate data concerning the test parameters there are other factors (such as storage time and/or conditioning/ drying) that are not given with regard to the biopolymers being tested.

The chart in Fig 3 uses as an example the tensile strength of a polyvinyl alcohol (PVAL) based biopolymer to demonstrate the significant effect that humidity and/or length of storage may have on the mechanical properties of the material. It is important, when testing in line with an international standard, to supply information on the storage and conditioning of the sample as well as how much time elapsed between preparation of the sample and the actual test.

Fig. 4 also shows that with biopolymers it is not only conditioning and the age of the finished components that have a significant impact, but that also the effect of exceeding recommended storage times of the resins before processing is a factor not to be underestimated. The following chart shows the impact on a starch based biopolymer of exceeding the storage times.

The starch based polymer was tested immediately on delivery and then after a clearly excessive storage period. The almost quadruple melt flow index points to a reduction in the length of the molecular chain as a result of the polymer degradation. The same applies to the tensile strength. Here again the material was tested immediately upon delivery and again after an extended storage period. The significant drop of the mechanical specification also points clearly to a molecular breakdown.

Barrier Properties of Films

90 80 Melt Mass Flow Rate (190°C, 2.16kg) in [g/10min]

70 60

Tensile strength (in Mpa)

50 40 30 20 10 0 Storage time not Storage time exceeded (about 9 months) exceeded

Fig. 4: Effect of extended storage period on the material (23°C, 50% RH)

40

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

Further examples of a lack of data when evaluating biopolymers is also seen in the area of biopolymer films. This can be testing oxygen permeability in line with DIN 53380 for example. In this process a permeation cell is separated by a sample of the film. The test gas, i.e. the oxygen, is introduced into one half of the cell. It will permeate to a greater or less degree through the film and into the other half of the cell where it is perceived by a carrier gas. A sensor and appropriate software are used to measure the amount of oxygen in the carrier gas and so determine the oxygen permeability of the film. In addition to temperature, the relative humidity of the oxygen and the carrier gas can also be regulated. When stating the barrier property of a film, i.e. the coefficient of permeation, the temperature and relative humidity parameters often fail to be supplied, but as can be seen in Fig. 5 the moisture content of the oxygen (or other gases being tested), and the carrier gas have a significant influence on the permeability especially of biopolymers.

Basics Film Thickness

23°C/0% RH

350

23°C/50% RH

[cm³/(m²*d*bar)]

Another difficulty with biopolymer film lies in the presentation of performance data without mentioning the film thickness. With barrier performance in particular it is important to state the film thickness concerned or to adhere to a recognised standard with a unified film thickness. In some published data we still find barrier properties of film being quoted without any mention of the thickness.

400

300 250 200 150 100 50

Test Speed A further shortcoming with regard to biopolymer film lies in the testing of its mechanical performance and in particular the tensile test. With regard to the speed applied during the tensile test there is no specific standard laid down by DIN EN ISO 527; several speeds (1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 mm/min) may be applied by the tester.

In practice a speed of 1, 2 or 5 mm/min is chosen to determine the secant modulus. For other mechanical values (e.g. tensile strength) higher speeds are usually selected. The chart in Fig. 6 shows the effect of test speed on the secant modulus of a regenerated cellulose film.

0 PLA based film Starch based film (standardised to 100 μm) (standardised to 100 μm)

Fig.5: Oxygen permeability in relation to the relative humidity of the gas being tested (oxygen) and the carrier gas.

As is clear from the illustration, the secant modulus measured at 1 mm/min lies well below that of the modulus measured at the higher speed by almost 1000 MPa. At the lower speeds the molecular chains have more time to change shape and orient themselves. Hence the film is less resistant to elastic deformation.

The effect of testing speed on mechanical values is also seen with injection moulded parts, but the effect on films, due to their much reduced thickness, is more significant. Hence, when tensile testing films in particular, it is very important to have information on the test speed in order to be better able to assess and compare data on different materials.

For the future it can be assumed that the development of biopolymers will move ahead swiftly and more and more materials will be presented to the market. It is however important at this stage that the performance characteristics published for new types of biopolymers are comparable and meaningful.

More information about biopolymer testing can be found in the book ‘Technical Biopolymers’ [1]. This book can be ordered via the bioplastics MAGAZINE website. It is available in German language, an English version is expected for spring 2010.

6200 6000

Secant modulus (Mpa)

Help on this whole topic is available from a freely accessible database at www.materialdatacenter.com, assembled by the authors of this article in collaboration with the company M-Base GmbH and with support of the German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (the BMELV). All commercially available polymers are tested under standardised conditions in line with the published norms here, and are can find all of the necessary information regarding the relevant test parameters in parallel with the numerical specifications of biopolymers.

Test speed 1 mm/min Test speed 5 mm/min

5800 5600 5400 5200 5000 4800

www.fakultaet2.fh-hannover.de www.materialdatacenter.com

[1] Endres, H.-J.; Siebert-Raths, A.: Technische Biopolymere, Carl Hanser Verlag, München 2009

4600 Test speed 1 mm/min

Test speed 1 mm/min

Fig.6: Effect of test speed on the secant modulus

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

41

Basics

Anaerobic digestion plant (single-phase) at WĂźrselen (Germany)

These graphs also show that the anaerobic digestion capacity in Europe is increasing rapidly. Many digesters are being built in Mediterranean countries such as Spain and France. Most plants are dry and single-phase, and run at mesophilic temperatures.

The evolution for the coming years can be deduced from the two graphs, the data for which are based on the bids for proposals published in the European Journal.

Bioplastics and anaerobic digestion First of all, just as with aerobic composting, since anaerobic digestion is a biological waste treatment process, bioplastics

30.000

400.000

20.000

200.000

10.000

Figure 1. Evolution of AD capacity in Europe (EU + EFTA countries) (with tpa = tons per annum)

Finland

Poland

Norway

Denmark

Malta

Luxemburg

0 Sweden

0 Austria

2010

40.000

600.000

Belgium

2005

50.000

800.000

Portugal

2000

60.000

1.000.000

Italy

1995

70.000

1.200.000

Spain

1990

80.000

1.400.000

Germany

281.000 tpa 1.400.000 tpa 3.470.000 tpa 5.204.000 tpa 18 plants 62 plants 116 plants 171 plants

Average Capacity

1.600.000

France

87.000 tpa 3 plants

Installed Capacity (t/y)

Total Capacity

Switzerland

Recently, anaerobic digestion has also become an important player in the area of renewable energy production from energy crops (e.g. corn). The net energy yield per hectare is higher compared to the production of bio-diesel or bio-ethanol. Also, in bio-refineries, anaerobic digestion could play an important role with high-value plant parts being used for green chemistry and residual vegetable matter (after processing of low-value plant parts, such as stems and leaves or straw) being treated in anaerobic digestion for production of energy and compost.

Figure 1 below gives an overview of the development of biogasification capacity in Europe in the last two decades.

From just three plants in Europe with a total capacity of 87,000 tonnes per year in 1990, European anaerobic digestion facilities have now grown to a total of 171 plants with a digestion capacity of more than 5 million tonnes per year in 2010. Figure 2 gives an overview of the AD capacities in different European countries. Both the total capacity in a given country is quoted as well as the average capacity per plant. As can be seen, some countries tend to have smaller plants (e.g. Germany, Switzerland, Austria, â&#x20AC;Ś) while others have larger installations (e.g. Spain, France).

NL

The major differences from aerobic composting include the production of energy, less odour production, less health risk (i.e. killing off of pathogens, typical for thermophilic digestion), less need for surface area (smaller footprint), and a higher level of technology. Consequently, anaerobic digestion is often the preferred biological waste treatment option in densely populated areas such as big cities or countries such as Japan or Korea.

Current distribution and prospective of technology

UK

Even though anaerobic digestion can be applied to very different types of waste streams, it is particularly suited to organic waste with a high moisture content such as kitchen waste and food waste. Anaerobic digestion plants have been built and have been operational for many years for the treatment of mixed, municipal solid waste, for biowaste (obtained after source separated waste collection), for residual waste and for many types of industrial waste.

Figure 2. AD capacity in various European countries (2010)

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

33

Basics

should be biodegradable in order to be compatible. Whether bioplastics are produced from renewable resources or not, doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t matter. The key element is that they must be biodegradable under anaerobic conditions or at least be compatible with an anaerobic digestion process.

Concerning technical preconditions of treating bioplastics in anaerobic digestion plants, a distinction must be made between wet and dry technologies. In general, wet technologies, especially in the pretreatment phase, cannot treat bioplastics easily: in the first pulping and hydrolysis phase they are removed either by flotation or by sedimentation and therefore are not really entering the digestion (except when bioplastics are quickly soluble or dispersible, which is rarely the case). A solution could be to add the bioplastics directly to the second step, the aerobic composting step (considering the retention time in this second step is much shorter than the residence time in a typical composting process). Another solution might be new developments in the pretreatment phase. In most dry systems, bioplastics can be added when some random conditions are fulfilled: they should be shredded (to reduce the particle size) before entering the digestion (just like biowaste itself) and sieving is better located at the end of the process in order to enable as much biodegradation and disintegration as possible in both the anaerobic digestion and the aerobic composting step.

The major underlying reason why several bioplastics show a different biodegradation behavior in aerobic composting from their behavior in anaerobic digestion is the influence of fungi. Fungi are abundantly available and very active in aerobic composting while in anaerobic fermentation no fungi are active. Some polymers are mainly (or even only) degraded by fungi and not by bacteria and will therefore biodegrade in aerobic composting and not in anaerobic digestion - or only much slower. As a matter of fact, this is also the case for the natural polymer lignin which can be found in wood, straw, shells, etc.

On the other hand, when bioplastics do also biodegrade in anaerobic fermentation there is a double benefit. First of all, energy is produced from the bioplastics in the form of biogas that can be converted to electricity. Secondly, as most bioplastics are very rich in carbon and do not contain nitrogen (or very little), the addition of bioplastics to biowaste will improve the C/N ratio of the mixture. Biowaste tends to be low in C/N, which is sometimes a problem in anaerobic digestion, by adding a carbon-rich substrate the C/N ratio is increased.

So far, the knowledge of anaerobic biodegradation and treatability of bioplastics is limited and further research would be welcome. Ideally, bioplastics would biodegrade and also disintegrate during the anaerobic phase in an anaerobic digestion plant, just as the major part of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;naturalâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; biowaste does. However, if the bioplastic disintegrates during the anaerobic phase and then afterwards biodegrades completely during the aerobic stabilization phase or during the use of digestate or compost in soil, it can also considered to be compatible with anaerobic digestion. www.ows.be

34

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

Anaerobic digestion plant in (two-phase) at Vitoria (Spain) (all photos: OWS nv)

Events

Event Calender

March 15-17, 2010 4th annual Sustainability in Packaging Conference & Exhibition Rosen Plaza Hotel, Orlando, Florida, USA www.sustainability-in-packaging.com

December 2-3, 2009 Dritter Deutscher WPC-Kongress Maritim Hotel, Cologne, Germany www.wpc-kongress.de

www.ismithers.net

December 2-3, 2009 Sustainable Plastics Packaging Sheraton Hotel, Brussels, Belgium http://sustainableplasticspackaging.com

www.InnovationTakesRoot.com

March 8-10, 2010 GPEC 2010 Global Plastics Environmental Conference The Florida Hotel & Conference Center Orlando, Florida, USA

June 22-23, 2010 8th Global WPC and Natural Fibre Composites Congress an Exhibition Fellbach (near Stuttgart), Germany

www.4spe.org

www.wpc-nfk.de

You can meet us!

April 13-15, 2010 Innovation Takes Root 2010 The Four Seasions - Dallas, Texas, USA

Please contact us in advance by e-mail.

March 16-17, 2010 EnviroPlas 2010 Brussels, Belgium

Editorial Planner 2010 # - Month

Publ.-Date

Edit/Ad/Deadl. Editorial Focus (1)

Editorial Focus (2)

Basics

01 - Jan/Feb

08.02.2010

15.01.2010

Automotive

Foams

Basics of Cellulosics

02 - Mar/Apr

05.04.2010

12.03.2010

Rigid Packaging

Material Combinations

Basics of Certification

03 - May/Jun

07.06.2010

14.05.2010

Injection Moulding

Natural Fibre composites

Basics of Bio-Polyamides

04 - Jul/Aug

02.08.2010

09.07.2010

Additives / Bottles / Labels / Caps Materbatches / Adhesives

Compounding of Bioplastics

05 - Sep/Oct

04.10.2010

10.09.2010

Fiber Applications

Polyurethanes / Elastomers

Basics of Bio-Polyolefins

K‘2010 preview

06- Nov/Dec 06.12.2010

12.11.2010

Films / Flexibles / Bags

Consumer Electronics

Recycling of Bioplastics

K‘2010 review

Further topics to be covered in 2010:

Beauty and Healthcare

Non-Food Bioplastics

Lignin

Printing inks

Fair Specials

Paper-Coating

and much more …

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

45

Basics

Glossary In bioplastics MAGAZINE again and again the same expressions appear that some of our readers might (not yet) be familiar with. This glossary shall help with these terms and shall help avoid repeated explanations such as ‘PLA (Polylactide)‘ in various articles.

Bioplastics (as defined by European Bioplastics e.V.) is a term used to define two different kinds of plastics:

Blend | Mixture of plastics, polymer alloy of at least two microscopically dispersed and molecularly distributed base polymers.

a. Plastics based on renewable resources (the focus is the origin of the raw material used)

Carbon neutral | Carbon neutral describes a process that has a negligible impact on total atmospheric CO2 levels. For example, carbon neutrality means that any CO2 released when a plant decomposes or is burnt is offset by an equal amount of CO2 absorbed by the plant through photosynthesis when it is growing.

b. à Biodegradable and compostable plastics according to EN13432 or similar standards (the focus is the compostability of the final product; biodegradable and compostable plastics can be based on renewable (biobased) and/or non-renewable (fossil) resources).

Bioplastics may be - based on renewable resources and biodegradable; - based on renewable resources but not be biodegradable; and - based on fossil resources and biodegradable.

Amylopectin | Polymeric branched starch molecule with very high molecular weight (biopolymer, monomer is à Glucose).

Amyloseacetat | Linear polymeric glucosechains are called à amylose. If this compound is treated with ethan acid one product is amylacetat. The hydroxyl group is connected with the organic acid fragment.

Amylose | Polymeric non-branched starch molecule with high molecular weight (biopolymer, monomer is à Glucose).

Biodegradable Plastics | Biodegradable Plastics are plastics that are completely assimilated by the à microorganisms present a defined environment as food for their energy.

The carbon of the plastic must completely be converted into CO2 during the microbial process. For an official definition, please refer to the standards e.g. ISO or in Europe: EN 14995 Plastics- Evaluation of compostability - Test scheme and specifications. [bM 02/2006 p.

34f, bM 01/2007 p38].

46

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

Cellophane | Clear film on the basis of à cellulose.

Cellulose | Polymeric molecule with very high molecular weight (biopolymer, monomer is à Glucose), industrial production from wood or cotton, to manufacture paper, plastics and fibres.

Cradle-to-Cradle | (sometimes abbreviated as C2C): Is an expression which communicates the concept of a closed-cycle economy, in which waste is used as raw material (‘waste equals food’). Cradle-to-Cradle is not a term that is typically used in àLCA studies.

Cradle-to-Grave | Describes the system boundaries of a full àLife Cycle Assessment from manufacture (‘cradle’) to use phase and disposal phase (‘grave’).

Fermentation | Biochemical reactions controlled by à microorganisms or enyzmes (e.g. the transformation of sugar into lactic acid).

Gelatine | Translucent brittle solid substance, colorless or slightly yellow, nearly tasteless and odorless, extracted from the collagen inside animals‘ connective tissue.

Compost | A soil conditioning material of decomposing organic matter which provides nutrients and enhances soil structure. (bM 06/2008, 02/2009)

Glucose | Monosaccharide (or simple sugar).

G. is the most important carbohydrate (sugar) in biology. G. is formed by photosynthesis or hydrolyse of many carbohydrates e. g. starch.

Compostable Plastics | Plastics that are biodegradable under ‘composting’ conditions: specified humidity, temperature, à microorganisms and timefame. Several national and international standards exist for clearer definitions, for example EN 14995 Plastics - Evaluation of compostability - Test scheme and specifications [bM 02/2006 p. 34f, bM 01/2007 p38].

Humus | In agriculture, ‘humus’ is often used simply to mean mature à compost, or natural compost extracted from a forest or other spontaneous source for use to amend soil.

Composting | A solid waste management technique that uses natural process to convert organic materials to CO2, water and humus through the action of à microorganisms [bM 03/2007].

Copolymer | Plastic composed of different monomers.

Cradle-to-Gate | Describes the system boundaries of an environmental àLife Cycle Assessment (LCA) which covers all activities from the ‘cradle’ (i.e., the extraction of raw materials, agricultural activities and forestry) up to the factory gate

Hydrophilic | Property: ‘water-friendly’, soluble in water or other polar solvents (e.g. used in conjunction with a plastic which is not waterresistant and weatherproof or that absorbs water such as Polyamide (PA).

Hydrophobic | Property: ‘water-resistant’, not soluble in water (e.g. a plastic which is waterresistant and weatherproof, or that does not absorb any water such as Polethylene (PE) or Polypropylene (PP).

LCA | Life Cycle Assessment (sometimes also referred to as life cycle analysis, ecobalance, and àcradle-to-grave analysis) is the investigation and valuation of the environmental impacts of a given product or service caused (bM 01/2009).

Basics

Readers who know better explanations or who would like to suggest other explanations to be added to the list, please contact the editor. [*: bM ... refers to more comprehensive article previously published in bioplastics MAGAZINE)

Microorganism | Living organisms of microscopic size, such as bacteria, funghi or yeast.

PCL | Polycaprolactone, a synthetic (fossil based), biodegradable bioplastic, e.g. used as a blend component.

PHA | Polyhydroxyalkanoates are linear polyesters produced in nature by bacterial fermentation of sugar or lipids. The most common type of PHA is à PHB. PHB | Polyhydroxyl buteric acid (better poly3-hydroxybutyrate), is a polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), a polymer belonging to the polyesters class. PHB is produced by micro-organisms apparently in response to conditions of physiological stress. The polymer is primarily a product of carbon assimilation (from glucose or starch) and is employed by micro-organisms as a form of energy storage molecule to be metabolized when other common energy sources are not available. PHB has properties similar to those of PP, however it is stiffer and more brittle.

PLA | Polylactide or Polylactic Acid (PLA) is a biodegradable, thermoplastic, aliphatic polyester from lactic acid. Lactic acid is made from dextrose by fermentation. Bacterial fermentation is used to produce lactic acid from corn starch, cane sugar or other sources.

However, lactic acid cannot be directly polymerized to a useful product, because each polymerization reaction generates one molecule of water, the presence of which degrades the forming polymer chain to the point that only very low molecular weights are observed.

Instead, lactic acid is oligomerized and then catalytically dimerized to make the cyclic lactide monomer. Although dimerization also generates water, it can be separated prior to polymerization. PLA of high molecular weight is produced from the lactide monomer by ring-opening polymerization using a catalyst.

This mechanism does not generate additional water, and hence, a wide range of molecular weights are accessible (bM 01/2009).

Saccharins or carbohydrates | Saccharins or carbohydrates are name for the sugar-family.

Saccharins are monomer or polymer sugar units. For example, there are known mono-, di- and polysaccharose. à glucose is a monosaccarin. They are important for the diet and produced biology in plants.

Sorbitol | Sugar alcohol, obtained by reduction of glucose changing the aldehyde group to an additional hydroxyl group. S. is used as a plasticiser for bioplastics based on starch.

Starch | Natural polymer (carbohydrate) consisting of à amylose and à amylopectin, gained from maize, potatoes, wheat, tapioca etc. When glucose is connected to polymerchains in definite way the result (product) is called starch. Each molecule is based on 300 -12000-glucose units. Depending on the connection, there are two types à amylose and à amylopectin known.

Starch (-derivate) | Starch (-derivates) are based on the chemical structure of à starch.

The chemical structure can be changed by introducing new functional groups without changing the à starch polymer. The product has different chemical qualities. Mostly the hydrophilic character is not the same.

Starch-ester | One characteristic of every starch-chain is a free hydroxyl group. When every hydroxyl group is connect with ethan acid one product is starch-ester with different chemical properties.

Starch propionate and starch butyrate | Starch propionate and starch butyrate can be synthesised by treating the à starch with propane or butanic acid. The product structure is still based on à starch. Every based à glucose fragment is connected with a propionate or butyrate ester group. The product is more hydrophobic than à starch.

Sustainable | An attempt to provide the best outcomes for the human and natural environments both now and into the indefinite future.

One of the most often cited definitions of sustainability is the one created by the Brundtland Commission, led by the former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. The Brundtland Commission defined sustainable development as development that ‘meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ Sustainability relates to the continuity of economic, social, institutional and environmental aspects of human society, as well as the non-human environment).

Sustainability | (as defined by European Bioplastics e.V.) has three dimensions: economic, social and environmental. This has been known as “the triple bottom line of sustainability”. This means that sustainable development involves the simultaneous pursuit of economic prosperity, environmental protection and social equity. In other words, businesses have to expand their responsibility to include these environmental and social dimensions. Sustainability is about making products useful to markets and, at the same time, having societal benefits and lower environmental impact than the alternatives currently available. It also implies a commitment to continuous improvement that should result in a further reduction of the environmental footprint of today’s products, processes and raw materials used.

Thermoplastics | Plastics which soften or melt when heated and solidify when cooled (solid at room temperature).

Yard Waste | Grass clippings, leaves, trimmings, garden residue.

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

47

10

Suppliers Guide

2. Additives / Secondary raw materials

1. Raw Materials 20

30

40

50

60

70

BASF SE Global Business Management Biodegradable Polymers Carl-Bosch-Str. 38 67056 Ludwigshafen, Germany Tel. +49-621 60 43 878 Fax +49-621 60 21 694 plas.com@basf.com www.ecovio.com www.basf.com/ecoflex 1.1 bio based monomers

80

90

100

110

120

150

160

Natur-Tec® - Northern Technologies 4201 Woodland Road Circle Pines, MN 55014 USA Tel. +1 763.225.6600 Fax +1 763.225.6645 info@natur-tec.com www.natur-tec.com

1.3 PLA PURAC division Arkelsedijk 46, P.O. Box 21 4200 AA Gorinchem The Netherlands Tel.: +31 (0)183 695 695 Fax: +31 (0)183 695 604 www.purac.com PLA@purac.com 1.2 compounds

Division of A&O FilmPAC Ltd 7 Osier Way, Warrington Road GB-Olney/Bucks.

MK46 5FP Tel.: +44 844 335 0886 Fax: +44 1234 713 221 sales@aandofilmpac.com www.bioresins.eu

170

1.4 starch-based bioplastics

200

210

BIOTEC Biologische Naturverpackungen GmbH & Co. KG Werner-Heisenberg-Straße 32 46446 Emmerich Germany Tel. +49 2822 92510 Fax +49 2822 51840 info@biotec.de www.biotec.de

220

230

240

250

Cereplast Inc. Tel: +1 310-676-5000 / Fax: -5003 pravera@cereplast.com www.cereplast.com European distributor A.Schulman : Tel +49 (2273) 561 236 christophe_cario@de.aschulman.com

260

270

48

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

PSM Bioplastic NA Chicago, USA www.psmna.com +1-630-393-0012

Du Pont de Nemours International S.A. 2, Chemin du Pavillon, PO Box 50 CH 1218 Le Grand Saconnex, Geneva, Switzerland Tel. + 41(0) 22 717 5428 Fax + 41(0) 22 717 5500 jonathan.v.cohen@che.dupont.com www.packaging.dupont.com

Huhtamaki Forchheim Herr Manfred Huberth Zweibrückenstraße 15-25 91301 Forchheim Tel. +49-9191 81305 Telles, Metabolix – ADM joint venture Fax +49-9191 81244 Mobil +49-171 2439574 650 Suffolk Street, Suite 100 Lowell, MA 01854 USA Tel. +1-97 85 13 18 00 Fax +1-97 85 13 18 86 www.mirelplastics.com Maag GmbH Leckingser Straße 12 58640 Iserlohn Germany Tel. + 49 2371 9779-30 Fax + 49 2371 9779-97 shonke@maag.de Tianan Biologic www.maag.de 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 www.earthfirstpla.com www.sidaplax.com 1.6 masterbatches www.plasticsuppliers.com Sidaplax UK : +44 (1) 604 76 66 99 Sidaplax Belgium: +32 9 210 80 10 Plastic Suppliers: +1 866 378 4178

BIOTEC Biologische Naturverpackungen GmbH & Co. KG Werner-Heisenberg-Straße 32 46446 Emmerich Germany Tel. +49 2822 92510 Fax +49 2822 51840 info@biotec.de Sukano Products Ltd. www.biotec.de Chaltenbodenstrasse 23 CH-8834 Schindellegi Tel. +41 44 787 57 77 Fax +41 44 787 57 78 www.sukano.com

Limagrain Céréales Ingrédients ZAC „Les Portes de Riom“ - BP 173 63204 Riom Cedex - France Tel. +33 (0)4 73 67 17 00 Fax +33 (0)4 73 67 17 10 www.biolice.com

3.1 films

1.5 PHA

PolyOne Avenue Melville Wilson, 2 Zoning de la Fagne 5330 Assesse Belgium Tel. + 32 83 660 211 info.color@polyone.com www.polyone.com

180

190

Plantic Technologies Limited 51 Burns Road Altona VIC 3018 Australia Tel. +61 3 9353 7900 Fax +61 3 9353 7901 info@plantic.com.au www.plantic.com.au

3. Semi finished products

Du Pont de Nemours International S.A. 2, Chemin du Pavillon, PO Box 50 CH 1218 Le Grand Saconnex, Geneva, Switzerland Tel. + 41 22 717 5428 Transmare Compounding B.V. Fax + 41 22 717 5500 Ringweg 7, 6045 JL jonathan.v.cohen@che.dupont.com Roermond, The Netherlands www.packaging.dupont.com +31 475 345 900 Tel. Fax +31 475 345 910 info@transmare.nl www.compounding.nl

130

140

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

3.1.1 cellulose based films

INNOVIA FILMS LTD Wigton Cumbria CA7 9BG England Contact: Andy Sweetman Tel. +44 16973 41549 Fax +44 16973 41452 andy.sweetman@innoviafilms.com www.innoviafilms.com 4. Bioplastics products

alesco GmbH & Co. KG Schönthaler Str. 55-59 D-52379 Langerwehe Sales Germany: +49 2423 402 110 Sales Belgium: +32 9 2260 165 Sales Netherlands: +31 20 5037 710 info@alesco.net | www.alesco.net

6.2 Laboratory Equipment

Simply contact: President Packaging Ind., Corp.

PLA Paper Hot Cup manufacture In Taiwan, www.ppi.com.tw Tel.: +886-6-570-4066 ext.5531 Fax: +886-6-570-4077 sales@ppi.com.tw

MODA : Biodegradability Analyzer Saida FDS Incorporated 3-6-6 Sakae-cho, Yaizu, Shizuoka, Japan Tel : +81-90-6803-4041 info@saidagroup.jp www.saidagroup.jp 7. Plant engineering

Postbus 26 7480 AA Haaksbergen The Netherlands Tel.: +31 616 121 843 info@bio4pack.com www.bio4pack.com

Forapack S.r.l Via Sodero, 43 66030 Poggiofi orito (Ch), Italy Tel. +39-08 71 93 03 25 Fax +39-08 71 93 03 26 info@forapack.it www.forapack.it

natura Verpackungs GmbH Industriestr. 55 - 57 48432 Rheine Tel. +49 5975 303-57 Fax +49 5975 303-42 info@naturapackaging.com www.naturapackagign.com

NOVAMONT S.p.A. Via Fauser , 8 28100 Novara - ITALIA Fax +39.0321.699.601 Tel. +39.0321.699.611 Info@novamont.com

Pland Paper® WEI MON INDUSTRY CO., LTD. 2F, No.57, Singjhong Rd., Neihu District, Taipei City 114, Taiwan, R.O.C. Tel. + 886 - 2 - 27953131 Fax + 886 - 2 - 27919966 sales@weimon.com.tw www.plandpaper.com

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 present among top suppliers in the field of bioplastics.

For Example: Wiedmer AG - PLASTIC SOLUTIONS 8752 Näfels - Am Linthli 2 SWITZERLAND Tel. +41 55 618 44 99 Fax +41 55 618 44 98 www.wiedmer-plastic.com 4.1 trays 5. Traders 5.1 wholesale 6. Equipment 6.1 Machinery & Molds

Minima Technology Co., Ltd. Esmy Huang, Marketing Manager No.33. Yichang E. Rd., Taipin City, Taichung County 411, Taiwan (R.O.C.) Tel. +886(4)2277 6888 Fax +883(4)2277 6989 Mobil +886(0)982-829988 esmy325@ms51.hinet.net Skype esmy325 www.minima-tech.com

Tel.: +49 02351 67100-0

FAS Converting Machinery AB O Zinkgatan 1/ Box 1503 27100 Ystad, Sweden Tel.: +46 411 69260 www.fasconverting.com

Molds, Change Parts and Turnkey Solutions for the PET/Bioplastic Container Industry 284 Pinebush Road Cambridge Ontario Canada N1T 1Z6 Tel. +1 519 624 9720 Fax +1 519 624 9721 info@hallink.com www.hallink.com

Uhde Inventa-Fischer GmbH Holzhauser Str. 157 - 159 13509 Berlin Germany Tel. +49 (0)30 43567 5 Fax +49 (0)30 43567 699 sales.de@thyssenkrupp.com www.uhde-inventa-fischer.com 8. Ancillary equipment 9. Services 9. Services Siemensring 79 47877 Willich, Germany Tel.: +49 2154 9251-0 , Fax: -51 carmen.michels@umsicht.fhg.de www.umsicht.fraunhofer.de

Bioplastics Consulting Tel. +49 2161 664864 info@polymediaconsult.com www.polymediaconsult.com

Wirkstoffgruppe Imageproduktion Tel. +49 2351 67100-0 luedenscheid@wirkstoffgruppe.de www.wirkstoffgruppe.de

MANN+HUMMEL ProTec GmbH Stubenwald-Allee 9 64625 Bensheim, Deutschland Tel. +49 6251 77061 0 Fax +49 6251 77061 510 info@mh-protec.com www.mh-protec.com

10

20

30 35

Sample Charge: 35mm x 6,00 € = 210,00 € per entry/per issue

Sample Charge for one year: 6 issues x 210,00 EUR = 1,260.00 € The entry in our Suppliers Guide is bookable for one year (6 issues) and extends automatically if it’s not canceled three month before expiry.

10.2 Universities

Michigan State University Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science Professor Ramani Narayan East Lansing MI 48824, USA Tel. +1 517 719 7163 narayan@msu.edu

10. Institutions 10.1 Associations

Roll-o-Matic A/S Petersmindevej 23 5000 Odense C, Denmark Tel. + 45 66 11 16 18 Fax + 45 66 14 32 78 rom@roll-o-matic.com www.roll-o-matic.com

Polymedia Publisher GmbH Dammer Str. 112 41066 Mönchengladbach Germany Tel. +49 2161 664864 Fax +49 2161 631045 info@bioplasticsmagazine.com www.bioplasticsmagazine.com

35 mm

Arkhe Will Co., Ltd. 19-1-5 Imaichi-cho, Fukui 918-8152 Fukui, Japan Tel. +81-776 38 46 11 Fax +81-776 38 46 17 contactus@ecogooz.com www.ecogooz.com

Suppliers Guide

BPI - The Biodegradable Products Institute 331 West 57th Street, Suite 415 New York, NY 10019, USA Tel. +1-888-274-5646 info@bpiworld.org

University of Applied Sciences Faculty II, Department of Bioprocess Engineering Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans-Josef Endres Heisterbergallee 12 30453 Hannover, Germany Tel. +49 (0)511-9296-2212 Fax +49 (0)511-9296-2210 hans-josef.endres@fh-hannover.de www.fakultaet2.fh-hannover.de

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

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

49

Companies in this issue Company A&O Filmpac Alcan Packaging alesco All Nippon Airways ANA Arkema Arkhe Will Artec Auchan BASF Best Buy BIO4PACK bioplastics24 Biotec BlueElph Bosch BP Consulting BPI British Plastics Federation BPF Cardia Bioplastics Carrefour Cereplast Delhaize Dettmer Verpackungen DuPont Earthsoul EPNOE European Bioplastics EXEL Sports Brands FAS Converting Machinery Fres-co Systems USA FH Hannover fischer group FKuR Forapack Fraunhofer UMSICHT Goglio Cofibox GPV Hallink Hamelin Huhtamaki Hycail Finland IFA Tulln Innovia Films J&K Agro Industries Jiffy Pot Krauss Maffei Berstorff Kuraray Limagrain Maag Mann + Hummel Protech Mayer Kuvert Network McCain

Next Issue

50

Editorial 17 14 34 5, 35

Advert 48 48

49 34 18 19, 23 26

48 49 31 48

33 10 34 49 7 6 18 6 18 12 10, 32, 36 7 5 5, 10 32

48

48

49 49

17 10, 38 36 8, 10, 12 8 17 18

49 2, 48 49 49

49 18 10, 17 8 33 36 7 18 10 10

48

48

48 48 49 18 12

Company Metabolix Metalnuovo Michigan State University Minima Technology natura Verpackung Nature‘s Farm Nature‘s Organics NatureWorks NaturTec Novamont Oerlemans Plastics Organic Waste Systems Ostbayerisches Technologie-TransferInstitut Philips Plantic Plastic Suppliers Plasticker Plastikwaren Putz Polyfilms Polymediaconsult Polyone President Packaging PSM Purac Radio Shack Saida Samsung Sidaplax SKC Sleever International Smith Optics Sprint Nextel Sukano Symphony Environmental Tanita Telecom Italia Telles Tianan Biologic Toray Industries Transmare Uhde Inventa-Fischer Ultimate Packaging Unitika Universität Duisburg Utrecht University Vinçotte Volkswagen Wal-Mart Wei Mon Wiedmer

Editorial 8 17

49 49 49 36 35 17, 23, 27, 33, 34 7, 20 23 42

48 49, 52

31 27 17, 18

48 48 31

32 17 49 33 49 48 48 26 25 26 17, 18 17 17 35 26 10, 33 28 24 27

48

48

48, 51 48 27 48 11 9 24 10 5, 10 9 10 26 37, 49 49

For the next issues of bioplastics MAGAZINE (among others) the following subjects are scheduled:

Month

Publication Date

Editorial Focus (1)

Editorial Focus (2)

Basics

Jan/Feb

01 Feb 2010

Automotive Applications

Foam

Basics of Cellulosics

Mar/Apr

05 Apr 2010

Rigid Packaging

Material Combinations

Certification

May/June

07 Jun 2010

Injection Moulding

Natural Fibre Composites

Polyamides

bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4

Advert 48, 51

EcoComunicazione.it

2008 and Terra Madre to us G l de ne lo Sa 80,000 e del Gusto 1 Visitors of Salon 26,000 Terra Madre Meals served at kg 7,000 ced* Compost produ kg 13,600 CO2 saved ection – Novamont proj * data estimate

The future, with a different flavour: sustainable Mater-Bi® means biodegradable and compostable plastics made from renewable raw materials.

Slow Food, defending good things, from food to land.

For the “Salone del Gusto” and “Terra Madre”, Slow Food has chosen Mater-Bi® for bags, shoppers, cutlery, cups and plates; showing that good food must also get along with the environment.

Sustainable development is a necessity for everyone.

For Novamont and Slow Food, it is already a reality.

info@novamont.com www.novamont.com