The Car Scoop Blog has an entertaining article about a new possible source for bioplastic being innovated in Canada: tissue infected with Mad Cow disease.
You may remember that several years ago they had an outbreak of the disease ("bovine spongiform encephalopathy") that caused an incredible scare. In response to the outbreak, the government banned the use of any tissue that might by infected with the disease in byproducts. Of course, this lead to the inevitable problem of what to do with the masses of skulls, brains, eye-sockets, kneecaps, and whatever other miscellaneous body-parts were laying around after the epidemic.
This spurred an innovative idea: use it to make bioplastic! David Bressler, an associate professor at University of Alberta Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, is working on finding a way to break down the proteins into smaller pieces and polymerizing them into rigid plastic. His vision is that this plastic could be used in the manufacture of car parts.
So far, it's still in the early research stages. But it definitely looks like it could be promising. The bioplastics that comes out as the end result is strong and has good properties, and this solves one of the big problems that is often raised as a complain against bioplastic: if the bioplastic comes from polymers that could also be used as food, doesn't it compete with our food supply and potentially raise food prices? That's the argument against corn plastic, at any rate.
And in the case of bioplastic made from infected cow eye-sockets... well, let's just say that isn't an issue.
One of the more high-profile participants this year will be L'Oreal, with their Sustainable Transformations Manager, Dr. Michel Philippe, opening up for a pre-event interview:
Q. L’Oréal decided to give special attention for green biobased products. Can you give some examples of already commercialized products?
L'Oréal launched recently new innovative ingredients originating from wood biomass such as PRO-XYLANETM and rhamnose from hemicellulose.
Q. How do you see the future?
Development of biotechnologies is crucial for the design of innovative and sustainable ingredients.
Q. I believe this is your first visit to EFIB - Which elements of EFIB 2011 are you looking forward to?
We are looking forward to cutting-edge knowledge in biotechnological processes allowing access to innovative building blocks and ingredients originating from plants.
For more information about this event, you can visit their website or contact Stacey Ludlow at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or on +44 1372 802052.
Dutch researcher Jean-Paul Meijnen has come up with an environment friendly method of transforming biowasts into bio plastics, an environment friendly substitute of plastics by training bacteria to convert glucose content in the food wastes into bioplastics. Click here to find out more!
“Unfortunately, the production of plastics from bio-wastes is still quite an expensive process, because the waste material is not fully utilized,” explains Jean-Paul Meijnen. 'A logical way of reducing the cost price of bioplastics is thus to 'teach' the bacteria to digest xylose and arabinose too.'
Four of the five eleventh-graders on the bioplastics project team at the ECOTEK lab. Clockwise, from bottom left: Keith Young, Jr.; Jordan Massey; Aaron Harrigan; William Marshall. All are from Renaissance High School except Aaron Harrigan, who is from Henry Ford Academy. The fifth member, Tendiya Pillow, was not available for the photo.
DETROIT, November 18, 2010: Most teenagers have an interest in athletic shoes, but five Detroit high school students who aspire to careers in science have also shown strong interest in the technology behind such shoes, in particular the potential for replacing conventional shoe components with bioplastics.
In a five-month research project sponsored by the Detroit Section of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE), the five youths studied plastics production, athletic shoe construction, and the science of bioplastics before testing various bioplastic formulations. The object was to identify the best formulation for replacing non-biodegradable materials in insoles. After testing materials for melting point, durability, absorption, and elasticity, they gave high marks to one they called “G-2,” a blend of glycerin, agar, gelatin, and water.
The students—Aaron Harrigan, William Marshall, Jordan Massey, Tendyia Pillow, and Keith Young, Jr.—went a step further. They created a science kit called “Bioplastic-in-a-Box,” which they hope SPE can help make available to other students as encouragement to pursue “green” science as a career.
The project work took place at the Detroit laboratory of ECOTEK, an organization that supports research projects by middle and high school students who aspire to careers in science or engineering. ECOTEK founder Keith Young, Sr. supervised the five-student team. The liaisons from the SPE Detroit Section were Thomas Miller and James Keeler.
“Green science, alternative energy, and other timely fields of inquiry that are the focus of student projects at ECOTEK promise a wide range of career opportunities for today’s young people,” said Sandra McClelland, past president of SPE’s Detroit Section. “The work carried out by the bioplastics team at ECOTEK may well inspire other SPE Sections as they look for ways to engage the participation of students in their communities.”
To prepare for their work in formulating bioplastics, the five students began by reading Green Plastics: An Introduction to the New Science of Biodegradable Plastics, by E.S. Stevens. They visited the BASF Corp. plant in nearby Wyandotte, MI to learn about plastics manufacture. To familiarize themselves with the types of athletic shoes on the market and the materials of which they are made, they took field trips to shoe retailers like Foot Locker and dissected shoes to identify their components and understand how they are made.
But here are some of the questions that you can see answers to in the article:
What is the best benefit from a bioplastic: the biodegradability or the renewable source reducing the carbon footprint?
What about anaerobic degradation in a closed landfill?
How long does it take ASTM D6400 to fully degrade into safe emissions in comparison to the other biodegradable products?
What are the exact conditions of a landfill to facilitate biodegradation? How many landfills with these conditions currently exist (and in which markets)?
Can you speak a bit about the recyclability of biobased plastics? For example, Coke now has a PET PlantBottle that is 100% recyclable. How is this resin different from other biobased plastics?
Related to the issue of recyclability of bio-plastics, what is the latest on developing a recyclability standard, whether for biobased plastics or fiber-based, etc?
With respect to the bio-sources of the plastics described by these presenters, are there any conflicts with sources for food products?
In March, the company relocated its manufacturing facility from Hawthorne, Calif., to the new facility in Seymour, Ind., which occupies 105,000 square feet on 14 acres of industrial land. The new manufacturing facility would be capable of producing approximately 80 million pounds of bioplastic resin once operating at full capacity, and would allow the company to deliver stronger financial performance from increased operational efficiencies and greater capacity.
As a result of relocation, Cereplast reported a decline in sales due primarily to the ramp up of the new facility. However, the operating efficiencies achieved at the Seymour facility, as well as lower cost of doing business in Indiana as compared to California allowed the company to report stronger gross margins, which increased from 8.6% in the second quarter of 2009 to 30.8% in the second quarter of 2010.
Going forward, the company reported significant new client additions during the first half of 2010 and expect a ramp up in orders on older contracts. To date Cereplast reported agreements to ship 16 million pounds of bioplastic resins in 2010, representing up to a 400% increase in shipments over 2009. As a result, the company expect revenues for 2010 to increase more than 190% over last year to between $8 million-$10 million as demand for its products remain strong as a result of contracts and commitments it is securing from around the world.
Moreover, the company has recently announced two multi-million dollar agreements to bring its bio-plastics to the European marketplace. In August, Cereplast announced a multi-million dollar contract with RI.ME. Masterbatch S.r.l., based in Italy, to supply bioplastic resins for use in its masterbatch process for adding colorant to bulk, uncolored resins. The company will supply its Compostable 3000 film grade for use in RI.ME.’s masterbatching processes for the production of items such as carry out bags and compostable trash bags. Cereplast will begin shipping its bio resins in September 2010 and is currently in discussions to extend the contract on other RI.ME. product lines. The initial contract runs through December 2011.
An article "Natural bioplastic material could make cars biodegradable" on http://reviews.cnet.com/ tells us about a new bioplastic material developed by Solegear, a Canadian green chemistry start-up, that can be used to replace the hard plastic parts of a car's interior, such as knobs, steering wheels, and door panels. From the article:
Until now, the bioplastic industry standard has been able to mix 40- to 60-percent biomaterial with petroleum- based plastic, but Solegear's Polysole could inspire the switch to 100-percent bioplastic in a range of industries, including automotive.
But manufacturers may not ready to make that leap and might prefer to start with Solegear's Traverse--a wood-fiber-filled polymer that can be blended with petroleum-based polymer.
"Traverse is kind of like a hybrid car," said Toby Reid, Solegear's president and chief marketing officer, "because it allows our customers to use less gas. Polysole is like our electric vehicle because it allows our customers to use no gas."
Solegear is speaking with several automotive industry groups, including an undisclosed North American automotive parts supplier and Ford Motor Company, according to Reid. Ford has been a prominent early adopter of green materials in its vehicles, including soy-based foam seats and leather processed without chromium. The company is interested in using Solegear's Traverse product to create partially biodegradable steering wheels.
The website greenbiz.com recently published an article called "Improved Standards Needed for Bioplastic Claims." The gist of the article is just what the title says: there is a lack of standards for biodegradable plastics, and that causes problems.
But to anyone who is new to the field and interested in learning more, this leaves open a whole host of questions.
Who creates standards? Who enforces them?
How are standards actually measured?
What do these standards actually define, anyway?
This article will give a brief answer to each of these questions, and point you in the right direction for finding out more. It will also highlight an important conclusion: The big problem in the "green plastics" industry today isn't a lack of standards; it is the misuse and misunderstanding of existing standards by producers, consumers, politicians and the media.
ChemMatters is celebrating the 40th anniversary of Earth Day with its second episode, which highlights how scientists are trying to make plastic, one of the world's most abundant man-made materials, more environmentally friendly.
In this episode, find out how scientists are developing more environmentally friendly plastics using plant materials. By 2020, these “bioplastics” could provide an alternative for about a fifth of the estimated 200 billion pounds of plastics manufactures produce each year worldwide.
At the World's biggest trade show on plastics and rubber, K'2010 in Düsseldorf, bioplastics will certainly play an important role.
On three days during the show from Oct 28 - 30, biopolastics MAGAZINE will host a Bioplastics Business Breakfast: From 8 am to 12 noonthe delegates get the chance to listen and discuss highclass presentations and benefit from a unique networking opportunity. The trade fair opens at 10 am.
Topics will be
• Thu. 28. Oct.: Bioplastics in packaging (more ...) • Fri. 29. Oct.: PLA, an innovative bioplastic (more ...)
• Sat. 30. Oct.: Injection moulding of bioplastics for durable applications (more ...)
These breakfast meetings (including tea/coffee and croissants) will be at the
CCD Ost, Messe Düsseldorf, Germany, right on the fairgrounds.
Have a look into the programme, to see topics and speakers.
Or register now, to save your seat. Registration fees start at EUR 199.00
This conference will explore the environmental challenges facing users and producers of plastics packaging and identify innovative solutions that meet demanding sustainability and economic criteria.
WHERE & WHEN
Dec. 8-9, 2010 -- Westin Atlanta Airport
WHY
Never before has packaging been so high up the political, environmental and consumer agenda. Today, the pressure is on all in the packaging supply chain, from retailers and brand owners to packaging manufacturers and fillers, to deliver products that meet the everyday needs of consumers while satisfying their demand for improved environmental credentials.
While the pressure is on the packaging industry in its entirety, it is without doubt being felt at its most intense by the plastics sector. Against this challenging background, plastics packaging producers are being asked to deliver solutions that very clearly put sustainability first. But exactly what does sustainability mean? And how can it be measured? How can reduced energy use be balanced against ethical sourcing? Or weight reduction against ease-of-recycling? In fact, can the environmental and social impacts of plastics packaging even be considered sensibly in isolation from the rest of the supply chain?
This conference will bring together expert speakers to provide clear and informative insights into issues impacting every stage in the plastics packaging supply chain. This high-level conference and networking event will ensure you understand how demands for improved sustainability can be converted into a successful strategy for your business.
The BioJapan 2010 World Business Forum will start the day after tomorrow, September 29, for a three-day run at the Pacifico Yokohama Convention Hall in Minatomirai, Yokohama. Over four hundred companies from all over the world, from venture businesses to big companies, will showcase their bio-industry accomplishments in four major themes: health, environment, food, and biocluster/venture companies. There will also be over a hundred conferences by university and other research facilities on cutting-edge research in the field.
Toyota’s SAI, a hybrid car that uses bioplastic in its interior, will be displayed at the Bio-Plastics zone on the exhibition floor.
Cereplast is a fantastic company that is at the forefront of bioplastic technology and development. Their compostable resins are not only certified compostable, but made from bio-based material such as corn, wheat, tapioca and potato starches that primarily come from the Midwest (versus oil from the Middle East). The manufacturing process for Cereplast Compostables resins takes place at a lower heat than required with traditional plastics, further reducing the manufacturing costs for converters. So in the three factors that make a plastic green -- made from renewable resources, biodegradability, and environmentally-friendly processing -- Cereplast resins are way out ahead of any material based on additives.
Cereplast has a gigantic and effective marketing department, as well, so they really don't need another fan-letter. If you follow the news about bioplastic, as we do, then you have also been inundated with press-releases about their multi-million dollar deal to work with a producer of plastic twist films to make "bio twist film":
Cereplast (CERP) a leading manufacturer of compostable and sustainable plastics, has announced a multi million dollar partnership with Sezersan Ambalaj (Sezersan), a subsidiary of Asc Group in Turkey, to produce bio twist films made from Cereplast Compostables(R) resins which has form memory and is heat sealable. The patented product will serve as wrap packaging for a variety of food products distributed throughout Europe.
Keep in mind that the primary application of the bulk of "twist films" produced are, basically, candy wrappers.
This is a fantastic development that is leading us in the right direction.
But there is also a tiny bit of irony here, as well, that we at Green Plastics feel compelled to point out to you:
Candy wrappers--the main application of twist films--were among the very first things to be made from bioplastic... back in 1912!!!
In the early 1900's, cellophane was introduced to the market. Although never marketed as such, it was a large step forward for green plastics, as this sheer, flexible plastic covering was made from cellulose culled from natural sources like cotton, hemp, and trees. Cellophane was originally created in 1900 by Jacques Brandenberger in Switzerland in an attempt to create a spill-proof tablecloth; but when the flexible plastic easily peeled back from the fabric, Brandenberger abandoned his original idea. Cellophane would go on to become a popular candy wrapper, thanks to its use as packaging for Whitman's Sampler candy in 1912. It was quickly adopted as an industry standard.
So technology marches forward! And with all due respect to Cereplast, I have to smile when I read that almost exactly 100 years later, Cereplast is re-inventing the bioplastic candy wrapper!
Bioserie iPhone covers consist of a unique blend of biodegradable and environmentally friendly components, which are 100% derived from plants and annually renewable natural resources. The majority of the material blend is made up of Ingeo™ biopolymer, under license from NatureWorks LLC, a key partner in our product material development. Ingeo™ is made in the USA, and derived from plant sugars.
The review is a positive one, giving it full praise for its appearance and texture and it's price of only $34.95. But a skeptical and inquisitive reader will probably have questions about some of the claims made by the reviewer.
The reviewer says, "bioserie covers do not pollute the environment once discarded as they don’t contain toxic materials that come from petrochemicals," but this is not a sure thing by any stretch of the imagination: whether the cover is biodegradable, compostable, or toxic depends entirely on other additives in the material and how the material is processed. The fact that it is made from Ingeo biopolymer does not insure that the final product has any of these desirable qualities.
The reviewer says, "they use considerably less petroleum and contribute considerably less greenhouse gases to the atmosphere than traditional plastic materials," but again this depends a lot on the manufacturing process. Just because the plastic material itself is not made from petroleum, doesn't mean that petroleum aren't used, and greenhouse gasses aren't emitted, during the manufacturing process.
This is not meant as a criticism of this product or of Ingeo plastic products in general. (We are Green Plastics are great supporters of Ingeo, actually.)
But it is important to think critically about these issues. If you are a student of Green Plastics, you will take a second look and research some of these questions above and beyond the off-hand claims made in a press release or product review.
This is great for educating people about additives that make traditional plastics biodegradable. But where is the marketing genius from the bioplastics supporters?
Plastic is going into landfills in enormous amounts.There are many possible long-term solutions to this problem: some people advocate recycling, while others believe that using plastics that can be composted is the only sound environmental solution. These ideas are important to pursue, but they do not deal realistically with the immediate problem of waste disposal. Millions of tons of plastic waste are carted off to landfills each year, and remain there for an indefinite period of time.We need to find a solution that deals with this reality as it is today, not how we hope it will be in 10-15 years. We need a realistic solution that can be implemented right now, that will make the plastic that is going to the landfills disappear....
The state of Nebraska is sending half a million dollars in Community Development Block Grant funds to the small town of Laurel.
The money will aid a local start-up company with infrastructure costs, according to a statement from Gov. Dave Heineman’s office Thursday.
Laurel BioComposite, the beneficiary of the CDBG, is a producer of bioplastic enhancer that will bring 20 jobs to town of under 2000 people.
“Nebraska’s biotechnology industry is growing and I’m pleased to congratulate everyone involved in this new start-up company,” Heineman said. “Creating new jobs opportunities in this and other growth-oriented industries is important for Nebraska’s economic development.”
In addition to CDBG funding, the city of Laurel will provide $340,000, and Laurel BioComposite will provide more than $18.3 million to help complete the project, for a total investment of more than $19 million. The project includes a $14 million facility used to turn distillers’ grain into plastic.
A second site planned for later development includes an ethanol plant utilizing fractionation technology to produce 50 million gallons of ethanol a year
Administered by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, federal CDBG funds are made available to the state from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Keeping up with the news about bioplastics can sometimes feel like an endless stream of press-releases about new partnerships, new "promising" research, and new business collaborations. What can get lost in the river of details is the fact that these announcements are all usually driven by the same underlying motivation. All of the businesses know "where the money is" in bioplastics, and it is in answering a single underlying question: what is the perfect combination of A + B + C?
Let me explain.
As an educational site about bioplastics, we have emphasized again and again that bioplastics are created by a combination of three types of ingredients: one or more types of polymer (like starch or poly-lactic acid), one or more types of plasticizer (like glycerol), and one or more types of additives. You vary the kinds and amounts of each of these three things to get plastics with different properties. This is why it's so easy to make basic bioplastics at home, like our do-it-yourself article on how to make algae bioplastic explains. You just have to make sure you have the three basic ingredients: A + B + C.
But for the big manufacturing companies, the key is to find the perfect combination of ingredients to have exactly the perfect desired set of properties. It has to be strong, it has to be heat-resistent, it has to look good. For some applications, it has to bend without breaking; for other applications it has to be solid and inflexible. Unfortunately, this involves balancing a number of different factors. Much of the time, an additive that will make a bioplastic stronger will also make it less biodegradable, or will be derived more from non-renewable resources, so that the "green value" of the plastic is decreased. The big money and big research opportunities in bioplastic right now are in coming up with the ideal recipe for bioplastics that balance all of these requirements.
And sure enough, that is what they are doing. For example, recently in the news there have been reports about the U.S. Department of Agriculture chemist William J. Orts and a team of collaborators being hard at work figuring out what needs to be added to poly-lactic acid (PLA) to allow it to be more heat-resistant.
Similarly, all of the recent media fuss over NEC's plastic based on cashew shells was really about the problem of balancing the need to keep the materials in the plastic green and the need to have a final product that has the right properties. As observed in one article, the big breakthrough that NEC was responsible for was finding a particular combination of polymer and additive that allowed the resulting plastic to (simultaneously) be based primarily on renewable non-food resources, be biodegradable, and be heat-resistent enough to use in electronics.
So when you are scanning the news for talk of bio-plastics (as we do here at green-plastics.net) you should keep this "theme" in mind. Most of the research announcements and big business collaborations are focused, in one way or another, around this one very fundamental question: what is the perfect combination of ingredients we need to combine to get the perfect combination of properties in our plastic?
The Biopolymers Symposium 2010 will be October 11- 13, in Denver, Colorado.
The industry's market leading event where new technologies, trends, developments in applications, new guidelines and waste strategies are unveiled. You can still register at www.biopolymersummit.com.
The 5th annual Biopolymers Symposium 2010 brings together the industry's movers and shakers from leading manufacturers, brand owners, end-users, innovators and policy makers to address the many moving parts affecting the industry now and in the future, including policy, regulations, labeling, end of life management and product performance.
This is the top networking and educational forum to present or see the state of the art technologies.
Coming up in May 2011, the Annual Technical Conference sponsored by the Society of Plastics Engineers:
ANTEC Top 5 -- Top 5 Reasons to Attend ANTEC
Broaden Your Understanding of the Plastics Industry - Attend sessions exploring the full spectrum of the plastics industry. ANTEC is the place to gain exposure to developments and people from throughout the entire industry.
Network - Meet with fascinating, informed and creative collegues from around the world to share insights from a broad range of disciplines and industries within plastics.
Visit with Exhibitors - Walk the tradeshow floor and talk with representatives from leading companies who offer solutions for your business.
Understand the Impact of New Technology - Confer with the plastics industry's leading experts to learn what new technologies and techniques are being developed today.
Build New Skills - ANTEC offers seminars, workshops and other forums for people of all levels within the plastics industry. Take advantave of one or more of our special sessions to enhance your skills and increase your knowledge.
While renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and geothermal have reached commercialized levels of development, algae is still very much under development. But recent news suggests that all of this is about to change in a major way, putting algae on the fast-track to sustainable growth. Will you and your business be ready?
Even in the noble world of sustainability, money talks. And nowhere is this more prevalent in a recent story that appeared in Money, of all places. In a nutshell, the magazine is reporting that the global algae biofuel market is heating up big time, with some major players in the financial services industry lining up to back significant projects.
The idea of using algae as an "oil substitute" has been around a long time. In fact, you should check out oilgae.com, the website dedicated to the topic!
But here at Green Plastics, we know something else about algae that makes it a good business prospect for the future.
Almost exactly a year ago, Cereplast announced that it would be working on an algae-based bioplastic, and provided a press-release update last April:
Cereplast, Inc., a leading manufacturer of proprietary bio-based, sustainable plastics, announced today that its plan to develop a new family of algae-based resins is progressing well and that the Company expects to offer the first grade of Cereplast Algae Plastics® for commercial use by the end of the year.
"Our view is that developing alternative feedstock unrelated to fossil fuels and to the food chain is the next 'frontier' for bioplastics and Cereplast is moving ahead very aggressively on this front."
Cereplast algae-based resins represent a breakthrough in industry technology and have the potential to 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 in the manufacture of bio-based resins. Algae-based resins, which are revolutionary in the industry, will complement the Company’s existing line of Compostables® and Hybrid® resins.
"Algae-based resins represent the latest advancement in bioplastics technology and our product development efforts over the last several months has yielded very encouraging results," said Frederic Scheer, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Cereplast, Inc. "The properties of hybrid materials that we have developed with algae are now very close to meeting our expectations, and are on target to introduce a new family algae-based plastics by the end of the year. In the not so distant future, we believe that algae will become one of the most important 'green' feedstocks in bioplastics as well as biofuels." Added Mr. Scheer, "Our view is that developing alternative feedstock unrelated to fossil fuels and to the food chain is the next 'frontier' for bioplastics and Cereplast is moving ahead very aggressively on this front.
So if you are keeping an eye out for the keyword algae in your daily scans of "environmental news", remember that it's not just poised to be the Next Big Fuel.... it could be the Next Big Plastic, as well.
AZO CleanTech just published a very well-written science article about some of the science behind biofuels and biopolymer technology. They specifically spend some time talking about the chemistry underlying "furanics", a type of material made up of a particular type of organic compound (furan) that can be derived from sugars and other carbohydrates, but most importantly can be made from non-food sources. They talk about this in the context of biofuels, but this article is a good read for anyone who is interested in learning about the chemistry behind bioplastics, as well.
Why? Consider this: NatureWorks and Avantium, two leaders in the field of sustainable materials, announced last year that they are starting to work together on a research project that could lead to a new type of bioplastics. And it is based on furanics.
A little background: Avantium has been working for some time now with furanic materials. Initially, Avantium tried to develop this material as a biofuel, but this was met with limited success. They successfully were able to test it as an engine fuel, and even had prototype cars running on it in Brazil. However, it is too expensive to go into wide use as fuel in motorcars (about US$1900 per metric ton), and the processing can be expensive and difficult (although Avantium has invested a lot in a special Furanic Processing Plant).
So what is the next step for this bio-material? Since both have biopolymers as their foundation, it is only natural to make the intuitive leap from biofuel to..... bioplastic!
NatureWorks, of course, has been hugely successful in developing a wide range of end markets & products for its Ingeo(TM) biopolymer, and so is teaming up with Avantium to see what can be done with furanic material. It is still exploratory, but of course they are optimistic:
"We believe it is incumbent on us to investigate tomorrow's potential solutions beginning today," said Marc Verbruggen, president and CEO of NatureWorks. "For example, development of NatureWorks Ingeo(TM) biopolymer began in the 1990s. Avantium's work to date is impressive, and we look forward to a productive joint collaboration."
Procter & Gamble recently announced that it will use sugarcane-based high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic made by Braskem in some of its packaging on its Pantene Pro-V, Covergirl and Max Factor brands. Pilot products will be rolled out globally over the next two years with first commercial products expected on the shelf in 2011.
The products will probably carry Braskem's "Im Green" seal. Braskem said Brazilian consumers will see the new bioplastic packaging in Pantene hair treatment products.
Braskem's new 200,000 tonne/year green polyethylene plant located in Triunfo (in the state of Rio Grande do Sul) is expected to start in September. The facility will consume about 500 million liters/year of ethanol initially purchased from other regions.
Other notable prospective customers for the green PE include Toyota and Shiseido. P&G by the way is already a long-time customer of Braskem's traditional PE plastic, according to Braskem.
There is a great deal of confusion about the term “bioplastic”.Some believe that the definition of bioplastic means biodegradable plastic. Some people think that bioplastics will automatically "melt" when exposed to water. There is a tendency to lump many of the new green plastics under the same umbrella: bioplastics, biodegradables, etc. These leads to the media using a number of terms as if they were interchangeable: “eco-friendly”, “green”, “compostable”, “biodegradable”, “degradable”, “bioplastic”, etc. But these terms are very different when looking at them from a scientific perspective.
Bioplastics in a technical sense are simply plastics created from the use of a biological feedstock: the starch from corn, potatoes, grass, trees, or other living or once living material.Biodegradable plastics, on the other hand, are defined scientifically as “…when the degradation is the result of naturally-occurring micro-organisms such as bacteria, fungi and algae.” As it turns out, creating plastic from biological feedstock (“bioplastic”) could result in plastics that are biodegradable, compostable, or even non-biodegradable like the traditional plastics like we see on the market today!
According to a recent announcement, we may be able to use cashews in our phones.
NEC says that it has developed a new form of bio-plastic that could be used for mobile phones and is 70% made from a mixture of cellulose, a main component of plant stems, with cardanol, a primary component of cashew nut shells.
Current bio-plastics include large amounts of oil-based additives, which results in a low plant component ratio.
As an alternative to oil-based components, cellulose is the plastic's major ingredient. The cellulose, which is produced in large amounts by plants, including grass stems, etc., is modified by cardanol, an oil-like material that is extracted from cashew nut shells. Most of these stems and nut shells are abundant resources, which are often discarded byproducts of the agricultural process.
This not only will decrease the amount of non-plant additive used in the phone's material, but it does it in a way that won't cause a problem for food prices.
Global bioplastic packaging consumption is projected to reach 125,000 tonnes in 2010, while the market value is forecast at $454 million. The Future of Bioplastics for Packaging to 2020 quantifies current and future demand for bioplastic packaging globally. It examines the key drivers facing suppliers and processors of bioplastic packaging and assesses the most important technology developments. With markets broken down by product type, pack type, end-use sector and geographic region, quantitative market data covering 2005–09, and forecasts for 2010, 2015 and 2020, this brand new report will provide you with the complete, invaluable guide to the bioplastic packaging supply chain.
Find out about:
The future of the bioplastic packaging market
Technology forecasts for biopolymers, bioplastics and non-biodegradable bio-derived thermoplastics
In a long and interesting article about the use of databases in genetic engineering, bioplastics get a special mention:
Toyoda is also a member of the RIKEN Biomass Engineering Program, which was initiated in April 2010. Through the program, Toyoda aims to improve the efficiency of producing bioplastic materials based on rational genome design methods for plants. Genome design methods and programs collected through GenoCon would also be used for that purpose.
I fear this will drive some environmentalists crazy, bringing together an idea they stereotypically love (the idea of green plastics) and an idea they stereotypically hate (genetic engineering).
But as a scientist, my question to you is: why are so many environmentalists so scared of genetic engineering? There are some very good ecological arguments for genetic engineering, and now we can add one more to the list: the production of better, stronger, cheaper biodegradable plastics.
This will be the second year of the Shenzhen China International Bio-plastic Exhibition. It serves as a platform for trade and technology exchanges for business people from all over the world. In 2009, enterpreneurs from about 20 countries and areas paticipated in this fair, many of which were from the U.S.A., the U.K., Germany, Italy, Tailand, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan and Hongkong. During the exhibition, world-renowned corperations like as BSF and INNOR had discussions on the application and future of biodegradable materials.
To meet the demands of many bio-degradable enterprises, the Second Shenzhen International Bio-plastic Exhibition will be held in Great China Exchange Plaza from 16th to 17th, November 2010. Present will be business people in plastic manufactoring ,catering, packaging, machine building, and top officials form star-rate hotels. Officials from local government departments for economic development and International Investment Organization will also be invited to the fair. The fair is expected to be of high-level and distinctive feature with an inflence on the world bio-degradable industry.
Preparation: 2010-11-14 to 2010-11-15 Main Event: 2010-11-16 to 2010-11-17 Conclusion: 2010-11-17
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I would like you to read a pair of articles, and think about them in relation to eachother.
First is a recent study that estimates that...in theory up to 90 % of all plastic products and plastic consumption could be replaced by bioplastics. In theory. Of course, we're not even close, and won't be for a long time. But if you take the "long view", we know that at least in principle we can use bioplastics for a vast majority of the things we use plastics for.
How close are we? Enter a second article that claims that the demand for bioplastics should rise to 900,000 metric tons in 2013. The most important driver, according to the study, is an expected continuation of high prices for crude oil and natural gas.
Of course, nobody can predict the future, and there is always a "conservative" and an "optimistic" view.
California-based company Cereplast has revealed that it is developing breakthrough technology to transform algae into bioplastics, and predicts that it could replace 50% or more of the petroleum content used in traditional plastic resins.
According to Frederic Scheer, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Cereplast, "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."
Polystyrene. It's those firm, oddly-shaped foam pieces that fit around the computer or television when you first take it out of the box. It can be used to make plates and cups. (You can find a fun introduction to the material here.)
In one of its forms, it looks like tiny puffy white beads pressed together into a solid, hard shape. And normally, those tiny puffy white balls are made from petroleum.
According to the article, the process works generally like this:
A standard plastic resin extruder is used to heat and mix starch and other all-natural compounds.
The extruder squeezes out long strings, called "thermoplastic melt,"
These strings are later cut into small beads about half the size of a marble
The beads are put into the cavity of a heated mold to press them into the desired shape
The heat mold process causes the beads to puff and expand until they press against eachother, creating a strong matrix that's much like the bead matrix of polystyrene foams.
When you compost your PLA plastic products, you are working to create a closed "cradle to cradle" loop for the material:
Corn, processed to make...
Lactic Acid, polymerized to make...
PLA, which is used to create
PLA Products, which are
Used, and then
Disposed of, when it is
Composted, returning to the soil to grow more
Corn.... go to #1
This is a pretty long loop (and also inefficient, from an energy perspective).
One way to shorten this loop would be to recycle, as we do with regular plastics:
Corn, processed to make...
Lactic Acid, polymerized to make...
PLA, which is used to create
PLA Products, which are
Used, and then
Recycled, where it is
Mashed up into PLA... go to #3
This is "mechanical recycling". The problem with this is, PLA doesn't recycle as nicely or easily as regular plastic. There are difficulties with getting a nice-looking, pure product.
So what can we do? LOOPLA (by Galactic) has a possible answer: chemical recycling.
The LOOPLA process can provide a major short-cut that increases the efficiency of the cradle-to-cradle PLA loop:
Corn, processed to make...
Lactic Acid, polymerized to make...
PLA, which is used to create
PLA Products, which are
Used, and then
Sent to a LOOPLA plant, where it is
Broken down into Lactic Acid, go to #2
Although this process is still cutting-edge and in its experimental and testing phase, it promises to provide a real answer: it promises to be cost efficient, and provides a mechanism that will allow us to keep re-cycling the same feedstock around and around... each time producing PLA products that are exactly the same quality as products made from virgin PLA.
Plastics News has a great article about new efforts to create standards and specifications for "bio-based" food packaging.
The main point of this is to prevent "greenwashing" and all of the false claims out there by some manufacturers that claim to be "green" or "biodegradable" when they really are not. They talk about ideas for certification and standards for labeling packaging at different levels (gold, silver, etc).
Ideally, they say, they want to work toward a world where we have three dumpster options: recyclable, compostable, and other trash.
Midcromidas, Inc. has turned its green eye on wastewater, and it is seeing gold. The company has developed a strain of microbes that can convert the carbon in wastewater into PHA (polyhydroxylalkanoate), a high performance plastic. PHA biodegrades quickly in compost piles and landfills, but otherwise it behaves the same or better than conventional petroleum-based plastic. It resists water and odor permeation, and it holds up under high temperature and exposure to sun. As a sustainable alternative to petroleum as a plastics feedstock, wastewater could be setting the gold standard.
Using municipal wastewater virtually guarantees a steady supply of feedstock rich in carbon from human waste. Aside from the potential for long term price stability and potential for managing global warming through carbon sequestration, the many advantages of wastewater-to-bioplastics over petroleum include easing pressure on landfills, converting a municipal waste disposal liability into a marketable asset, reducing the amount of petroleum-based plastic in the waste stream, and virtually eliminating environmental disasters related to oil spills and accidents. Add the logistical and job-creation advantages of siting bioplastic manufacturing facilities near the feedstock source, and it's a no-brainer.
This is a biodegradable plastic that seems to have all of the upsides of well-known bioplastics, but is made from waste, instead of corn or potatoes.
Pay special attention to the list of benefits of this kind of plastic. A lot of people who argue against bioplastic want you to think that the only thing bioplastic has to offer is that it is biodegradable. This is far from the truth.
We all know the normal list of reasons to like bio-plastics. They reduce our dependence on oil, they are made from renewable resources, they don't goober-up the environment with non-biodegradable waste, and so on.
"We have as a company started with the application of bioplastics because we want to stand out for our quality and are very keen to conserve the environment. After we solved the initial problems, it was surprising to find that the potatoes had a much longer shelf life with no adverse effect on the quality," said Jaap Kodde, director and owner of Flevostar. "We also found that by using bioplastic no condensation formed inside the packaging because the packaging 'breathes'. Droplets of water which come into contact with a fresh product such as potatoes lead to faster rotting and reduction in quality."
There has been so much focus in the industry on being able to replicate properties of traditional plastics, like high moisture barrier, they seem to overlook the fact that these properties aren't always actually desirable.
It's not a big company: 120 workers, 10 researchers. Think of them as a small "specialty shop" dedicated to doing one thing, and doing it right: bioplastic cutlery.
You can order items in corn-starch (PLA), plant-starch (PLM) or sugarcane. You can order utensils, plates, bowls, trays, and clamshells in various shapes and sizes. The products are heat-resistant up to 100 centigrade, and they even take custom branding requests if you want a logo added for your company or event.
And they are all certified ISO14851, OK Compost, EN13432, and Non-GMO certificate. These are real bioplastics: biodegradable, compostable, and made from renewable resources.
"Although acetate is commonly used for the plastic parts of eyeglasses, contact with cosmetics or hair-styling products can result in bleaching. Acetate also tends to warp under high heat and can cause skin rashes. The bioplastic polylactide has been used for eyeglass nose pads because its antibacterial properties help to avoid rashes, but conventional polylactide has not been used for other parts such as frames and temples because of insufficient heat resistance."
The material produced by Teijin LTD, Biofront , isn't just any PLA. It is a stereocomplex PLA, meaning that it mixes the standard Poly-L-lacticacid polymer with their enantiomer poly-D-lacticacid polymer. This combination gives the resulting "stereocomplex" material different properties; specifically, and importantly, it has a melting point of 210 degrees, some 40 degrees higher than that of conventional PLA and putting it on par with PBT, a leading engineering plastic. BIOFRONT also is highly resistant to bleaching and bacteria, making it ideal for the plastic parts of eyeglasses.
Meet Variety Global Business Group, or VGB Group for short. VGB Group is a collaboration project between John Pitre (CEO) and John Lin (President), entrepeneurs from the United States and China (respectively) who are working together to create and distribute corn-based vacuum-formed dinnerware and other bioplastic products.
According to a recent press release, John Pitre has been visiting various communities in the U.S. looking for sites to build 9 new plants for producing their bioplastic products.
Although VGB is based in Houston, it is working together with Dongguan Honghao High-New Technical Development Co. to expand its technology to North America. Dongguan Honghao opened in 2000 to manufacture food containers from biodegradable corn starch, and to sell its turnkey production lines to other companies that also want to make products from bioplastics.
So keep an eye out for this new company, another place you can buy bioplastic products.
Now rainy days can be less gloomy and more fun! Cheer up with the Spud Raincoat. The waterproof coat is made from potato starch and other natural source bioplastics, and it's 100% compostable and biodegradable. But don’t worry, it won’t start to break down with the first heavy rain. It's only biodegradable under specific circumstances, like planting it in the ground!
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