Biopac, an upcoming event on bio-based packaging in May 2015 in Netherlands

Innovative approach in eco-friendly solutions is important in the field of bio-based packaging for meeting the consumers’

demand of sustainability and cost effectiveness. With the day by day increasing demand of sustainability, a wide variety of products from shampoo to food products are being packed in bio-based packaging. Appearance, utilization and packaging are some important features are required in a packaging material for a successful launch. These three qualities strengthen clients’ decision to buy the product. As packaging is a significant thing that not only pulls customers’ attention towards the product but also convey some information about the product and displays its benefit, developers are putting special emphasis on introduction of innovative eco-friendly packaging.

Read more about this new approach in bio-based packaging here - http://www.bioplasticsmagazine.com/en/news/meldungen/20150220-new-event-bio-pac.php

In order to fulfill increasing demands of development of innovative packaging options, a new conference on bio-packaging, biopac is being planned. This conference provides a unique opportunity of knowing more about bio-based packaging from experts. The conference on bio-packaging will be held on 12th and 13th May, 2015 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Various topics and issues regarding bio-based materials, packaging options, applications and food/feed vs plastics/fuels debate will take place during this bio-based packaging program.

EU works on the project of producing phthalate-free plasticizer

Phthalate plasticizers comprise over three fourth of the plasticizers used in development of soft PVC all over the world. Some negative impacts of phthalates are there on environment; human exposure to this compound can cause serious diseases like asthma and cancer.  Keeping this fact on mind, safety concerns have been prompted by leading researchers who put all their efforts for healthier alternative. In the series of these efforts under the Placard project, production and application of new bio-based plasticizers from cardanol is carried out in through industrial process. Founded by Eco innovation of EU, Placard was launched in January 2014 with expectation of continuity till mid 2016. One of the noticeable features in the new Placard plasticizer is that it will have miscibility similar or better than DEHP.

Read more about the new plasticizer here - http://www.bioplasticsmagazine.com/en/news/meldungen/20150211-a-nutty-project-.php


The objective of this project is to produce about a ton of Placard plasticizer by the end of this project. Also the company plans to attain the stage on which the production level of this plasticizer will reach 1K ton per year just within two years after completion of the project. Impressive milestones and latest developments have been seen in the direction of Placard production. This plasticizer is good for reduction of CO2 emission and lessens the environment pollution.

BASF plan partnership with Novozymes and Cargill for production of 3-HP

BASF has planned for existence of R&D collaboration with Novozymes and Cargill in which it entered in August 2012 for development of a bio-based process. Production of 3-hydroxypropionic and acrylic acid from raw materials which are renewable and degradable is the main objective of the company’s collaboration. BASF possesses sustainable efficient for production and downstream processing.  By joining collaboration actually for development of products, the company has set an objective of meeting the market demands and requirement of the society. Both the companies collaborated together on 2008 and will continue the project for commercialization of 3HP and derivatives.

Read more about the deal here – http://www.bioplasticsmagazine.com/en/news/meldungen/20150202Cargill--Novazymes.php

The company is looking for a new commercialization partner too nowadays. Jack Staloch, the Vice President of R & D in Cargill says that the company is working with Novozymes continuously and it focuses upon the production of sustainable options of chemicals based upon fossils. This extensive R&D partnership has attained its technical and business targets as per the goal planned. Accomplishment of the project regarding the production of 3-HP in pilot scale has took place in 2013. The company made an announcement of successful conversion of 3-HP to glacial acrylic acid and superabsorbent polymers in 2014. Vice President of Novozyme’s Business Creation and acquisition states that development of technology and achievements are extraordinary. Acrylic acid produced in this way is derived from crude oil through refining.

Wood Fiber Research to work for development of cost effective and durable carbon fibers

During the last years, lightweighting has become a dominant theme in automotive and aerospace engineering. The lightweighting strategy is being developed with OEMs which will offer them developed fuel economy. The most important thing to notice in this series is that the fuel economy will not expect any kind of compromise with comfort and safety as well as going towards the utilization of advance material such as fiber-reinforced polymer composite materials and aluminum materials. Processing of carbon fiber is not simple as well as really expensive. Moreover, glass fibers are comparatively reasonable but not light weighted. According to researchers, it will be better to research about the fibers which are derived from cotton, word, hemp and flax. Being affordable same like glass fibers, these fibers are better for their lower density.

Read more about the deal here - http://www.bioplasticsmagazine.com/en/news/meldungen/20150129Fraunhofer-natural-fibers.php

A surprising thing is that on incineration, these products generate extra energy without any residues remained. But these are not constant and durable as carbon fibers. According to Head of the application center for Wood Fiber Research, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans-Josef Endres, on the basis of application, combination of carbon with a variety of bio-based textile fibers is being carried out. The development team focuses upon cost effective and durable deals along with acoustic properties. 

Bayer MaterialScience represented innovative milestones for development of polyurethanes

Bayer MaterialScience introduced new milestones in the development of polyurethanes during the European Coatings Show 2015 in Numerberg. The company is underscoring worldwide leadership in raw materials polyurethane for eco friendly coatings and adhesives as well as for good performance. Also, the company highlighted requirement of this product for customers.

According to the statement of a member of the executive committee of the company, Daniel Meyer, the milestones introduced during the event also involve the global premier of a bio-based derivative of PDI for hardening the adhesives and coatings.

Read more about the deal here- http://www.bioplasticsmagazine.com/en/news/meldungen/20150128Bayer-PDI.php

Bayer MaterialScience has an intention of bringing the first product based upon PDI in April, 2015. The commercial production of this product will be followed in 2016 with the expectation of about 20K metric tons per annum. The manufacturing of these products will be carried out with the help of the gas phase technology as it is highly energy efficient. The demand of renewable raw materials based products is going higher day by day. According to Bayer MaterialScience, PDI is nothing but a new isocyanate in which 70 percent carbon content belongs to biomass without any generation of direct competition for food manufacturing. For evaluation of some more uses for PDI based raw materials, a comprehensive technology foundation is being worked upon. 

Valio works with Tetra Pak to launch the biobased carton packaging

Valio, the Finnish dairy producer has become the first company on international level to sell products in carton packaging made completely of bio-based materials. Customers can enjoy shopping new cartons from retails stores in Finland from this week. Tetra Rex, the new bio-based carton has been prepared completely from the combination of plant derivatives and paperboard. This is a significant step on the growth of Tetra Pak regarding bio-friendly performance throughout it’s operations and portfolio.

According to Elli Siltala, the marketing director at Valio, the company is fully dedicated for increasing shares of renewable resources in packaging products. Further, he states that the company works in collaboration with Tetra Pak to meet the common goal with same vision. Valio is proud to be the first group in the world for availing products totally in renewable carton packages.

Read more about the Valio’s new invention here - http://www.bioplasticsmagazine.com/en/news/meldungen/20150114-Tetra-Pak.php

Bio-based cartons in Tetra Rex are low density polyethylene which are utilized for creation of laminated film for packaging materials while the cap is produced with high density polyethylene; both kind of polyethylene materials have been derived from sugarcane. This completely degradable Tetra Rex packaging is recognized from the word ‘Bio-based’ printed on the pack.

EcopaXX Has Been Proved as a Successful Bioplastic for High Performance Feature

DSM will participate in the next Bioplastics Conference which will be held during the last week of January in Miami, Florida. In this conference, a presentation by Dr. Kees Tintel, business manager of EcopaXX will represent an outline about bio-based alternatives to oil based products. A high performance 70 percent bio-based polyamide PA410 is one of the best examples of EcopaXX. From the family of long chain polyamides, this compound has been characterized by good features present in it such as low moisture absorption and good chemical resistance. Also, this product has high crystallization rate and high melting point. 

Apart from the presentation by Kees, DSM will introduce more about the performance of bio-based materials like Arnitel Eco and EcopaXX in the conference. Both of these products are good for their performance in critical technical components. As the material is certified for being totally carbon neutral; means the amount of carbon-di-oxide emitted during the manufacturing of EcopaXX is equal to the amount absorbed by plants.

Read more about the conference here - http://www.bioplasticsmagazine.com/en/news/meldungen/20150115-DSM-at-Bioplastics-Conference.php

The upcoming bioplastics conference in Miami invites leaders of many leading manufacturers and dealers of the industry. All of these leaders have planned to discuss the latest strategy, innovations in productions, efficiencies of manufacturing and successful practices and trends in the industry.

DibbioPack, a project is being done by researchers for modification of ORMOCER

Bioplastics production is the fastest growing industry in the modern time. Many leading companies are working for development of eco-friendly plastic for packaging industry. Bioplastic films which are made for packaging of products are facing challenges as they are not odor resistant and lead to contamination due to weak humidity resistant property.

In order to achieve biodegradability of the hybrid ORMOCER as the concept of integration of biopolymers developed and for bonding the ORMOCER precursor.  Researchers work extensively for chemical modification of biopolymers like Chitosan and celluloses. These products are subjected for bonding to an inorganic scaffold of silicon dioxide in order to impart better barrier properties to the product.

Read more about the deal here - http://www.bioplasticsmagazine.com/en/news/meldungen/20150113-bioOrmocer.php

But the scaffold used is not completely biodegradable and some of the small remnants remain same even after degradation. Work upon an EU project called as Dibbiopack is being done by a team of researchers. This project has been planned for developing the bio-based type of ORMORCER® in order to overcome the current shortcomings.  The product will be useful for manufacturing of domestic containers and packaging films.

7 new patents of Cardia will be proved a milestone for growth of the company

Melbourne based Cardia Bioplastics has recently added a seven protection patents to its development procedure and intellectual property. As the company has planned to patent its technology, it is on the way to become a leading manufacturer of biodegradable and compostable resins in the international packaging industry. According to the Managing Director of Cardia Bioplastics, Frank Glatz patents are important for Europe, US and Asia and in lack of patents several big firms will not be able to do business with Cardia. He further states that it is nothing but a strategic shift for the manufacturing industry to be indulged on bio-based materials rather than the oil-based plastics. These products are supposed to be environmentally sustainable and degradable.

Read more about the deal here - http://www.europeanplasticsnews.com/subscriber/newscat2.html?cat=1&channel=620&id=5384

Here the company is just looking for a technology background; the patents will let the companies that Cardia bears the technology for the materials which are desirable by the companies. In this way, patents have become trump cards without what the company will not have freedom to practice. The 7 new patents for Cardia will definitely be proved to be a milestone for the company. Began in 2002, Cardia has its production plants in Brazil, China, Sao Paulo, Nanjing while it’s headquarter is in Melbourne.

Myriant Corporation to plan new strategies for development of phthalate free plasticizers

A three-way Joint Development agreement for promotion of plasticizers based upon bio-succinic acid has been formed among UPC, Taiwan, Myriant Corporation, USA and Sojitz Corporation Japan on 1st Dec, 2014. Under this agreement, UPC Group will use bio-succinic acid of Myriant’s for manufacturing phthalate-free plasticizers with bio-based features. At the same time, Sojitz will work with UPC for sales of it’s branded bio-based plasticizers.

In this entire scenario, the main objective of UPC is to become a full service provider for the chemical industry including investment in latest production and innovative applications. The developed plasticizers will fulfill requirement of customers who are looking for high quality, renewable chemicals with good performance. The range of products developed in this way also includes plastics and plastic wraps.

Read more about the deal here - Myriant, UPC and Sojitz to co-develop bio-based plasticizers http://bit.ly/1yzGtEL

According to the statement of David LeBlanc, Head of Myriant’s Global Sales and Marketing, several chemical manufacturers are active to turn Myriant’s bio-succinic acid as it is the key feedstock for production of bio-based chemicals and bio-products. In this way, the company is attaining efficiency of meeting demands of high quality products; also it has secured an image of a reliable biochemical provider to the petrochemicals industry.

Sustainable and bio-polymer EcoPaXX crankshaft cover launched for powertrain category by DSM

Automobile industry is soon to witness the inclusion of lightweight and stronger crankshaft cover from DSM Engineering Plastics which has been awarded in Detroit competition for innovative plastic engineering in the automobile sector. This very crankshaft has been molded from high performance EcoPaXX polyamide 410 by KACO, DSM’s partner in Germany which has an added advantage of multi-functionality.

The post published on http://www.plasticstoday.com/articles/bio-based-polyamide-crankshaft-cover-wins-spe-award-dsm-20141114a further details that this bio-based polymer crankshaft cover is best suited to the MDB-4 TDI diesel engines, primarily manufactured by Volkswagen group apart from the latest models from Seat, Skoda and Audi.

Since the crankshaft made from EcoPaxx is nearly 40% lighter in weight in contrast to similar geometrical model made of aluminum, it will definitely add to fuel efficiency of the included automobiles. In addition to this, less uses of fuel will also reduce the carbon emission footprints.

KACO has developed this crankshaft cover through a complete automated process which included combination molding of reinforced EcoPaxx polyamide and plasma-activated dynamic PTFE seal, which was patented by the company itself.

Such a holistic approach will surely give boost to the automobile sustainability which will offer minimum friction in use and maximum application of the sustainable materials through a waste-free procedure. As mentioned in http://www.plasticstoday.com/articles/bio-based-polyamide-crankshaft-cover-wins-spe-award-dsm-20141114a, you will find such cost-effective and sustainable crankshaft cover in powertrain for the first time.

PLANTIC films by Kuraray, a new step in the development of bio-based food packaging products

Kuraray Co. Ltd. Worked for conclusion of a contract with Australia based PLANTIC Technologies Limited for becoming the exclusive distributor in the South Korean Markets and Japanese Markets. The company works for development of PLANTIC Film which is nothing but a bio-based barrier film made up of unique cornstarch manufactured through the Plantic technologies. The film is applied for packaging of food products and is laminated with PET or LDPE films during sales. This idea is good for reduction of food waste as it keeps food fresh and beneficial for manufacturers and environment both.

Read full story about PLANTIC here at – http://www.omnexus.com/plastics-channels/green-bio-plastics/news.aspx?id=35638

The head office of the PLANTIC Technologies is situated in Australia with good R&D facilities. In Germany, a thermoforming plant of the company works frequently for production of the films while the sales and marketing offices for the same are situated in US and UK. Offering a wide range of barrier products for food packaging, the company becomes an important name in the field of protecting raw meat, fresh sea food and pasta and processed meat. The polymer based technology on which the company works is based upon high amylase corn starch.

The PLANTIC film manufactured by the company is good for its high O2 permeability, good transparency and excellent formability.

DuPont to introduce Sorona, a bio-based product for preparation of ethnic wears

DuPont is in discussion again for its ultimate sustainability discoveries. This time, the company is going to introduce Sorona, a biopolymer product for commercialization in clothes. Containing about 37 percent of renewable bio-based components, the product is suitable for production of denims, hosiery, shirting, suiting, jackets and swimwear. This product is good for taking about 30 percent lesser power and releasing 63 percent lesser emission from domestic fuel in comparison to nylon. According to Balvinder Singh Kalsi, the President of ASEAN and South Asia, the new Biosciences Laboratory in Hyderabad is specially focused on aspirations of Indian shoppers. Sorona is beig introduced in India soon with lots of hopes and expectations of positive results.

Read full story on Sorona here at – http://igiri.org/health/sorona-biopolymer-sarees-and-ethnic-wear/

This extensive bio-based product suggests inclusion of supplies that are renewable and efficient enough not to impart any harmful impacts on environment. Mr. Balvinder further states that the company is looking for collaboration with Gujarat based textile developers in Surat and other cities for introducing Sorona. Production of beautiful ethnic put on with this component is the best and really logical step in this direction. This deal is beneficial for introducing new opportunities for keeping the environment clean and free from synthetic materials.

Planning of developing vacuum cleaner from biomass is going on in Netherlands

Netherlands is in lime light nowadays because of the news of production of vacuum cleaner from sugarcane. Royal Cosun and Philips, the agricultural group has planned to work upon a special project, Beets to biopolymers. The main objective of this project is to develop chemical building blocks which are required for production of high level plastics. The company has been developed more than a century ago by Dutch sugar beet producers. These producers worked in collaboration as a union. Now the group manufactures potatoes, vegetables, chicory and all. Now the company plans to use raw materials after processing of food. So, the idea of taking extraction of the raw materials into consideration as non food applications occurred. In this series, biogas is being produced from residual products.

Read more about the project here at - http://www.bioplasticsmagazine.com/en/news/meldungen/Vacuum-cleaner-from-sugar-beet.php

Now, the agricultural group is looking for the idea of utilizing bioplastics for replacement of petro-based plastics with the help of biomass. According to the plans of the company, vacuum cleaner and coffee machines are the two products which are being planned to be developed from agricultural residues. Philips and Cosun together are looking for the way to confirm efficiency of bio-based building blocks. Good news is that the results in beginning are really positive.

Increasing demand of production of bio-based plastics

Traditional plastic products are facing great competition in the modern time. Bio-based plastics can be degraded easily so that pollution level in the environment can be controlled up to much extent. Most of the bio-plastics are employed for packaging purpose which is directly related to the quality of the product and shelf life. In the modern age of traditional foods, packaging deals are really significant. The idea of developing bio-based products is good from the environment safety point of view. Most of the leading manufacturers in this direction begin the process with energy saving ideas so that their products can ensure conquering position in the market. Read more about this matter here at - http://www.lt-magazin.ch/lTech/artikel/index.php?id=1031258

Despite of having some flaws, bio-plastics are in trend, especially for packaging purpose in the food industry. Moreover, some of the bio-plastics are easier to develop with agricultural waste and feedstock which adds a favor in the production of eco friendly plastics as they need not any valuable raw material to be invested. But the other side of the scenario is that production of bioplastics is facing criticism time to time for one or another reason. There is no lack of researchers who find production of biofuels over the production of bioplastics as both the products are developed from the same kind of raw material.

Ecovative Designs to use mushrooms as epoxy holdings

Biodegradable packing products by Ecovative Design will move towards Europe soon. According to the CEO and co founder of the company, Eben Bayer, the company is moving towards the country with the idea of employing about 60 people to gear up for making a push into UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Eastern Europe. Further he states that the company utilizes for bio-based products like leaves, corn stalks and biodegradable options for plastics and foams. Mushrooms play an important role in this kind of production by working as epoxy holding.

Bayer and Gavin McIntyre founded the company in 2007 at Rensselaer; it worked for packaging service of leading computer manufacturers, formal furniture suppliers and houseware suppliers. Nowadays, Ecovative Designs is planning for development of particle board-some product which is used for production of chair backs in Gunlocke Co. the New York based furniture maker. Bayer states that the company is hoping for good as the revenue is higher than past years.  Read full story here at – http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/news/2014/07/24/ecovative-design-looks-to-expand-internationally.html

Ecovative Designs is also financially supported by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority apart from venture capital, private equity funds and revenue from sales. Last year, the company got the amount of $14 million in private equity funds.

Recyclable feedstock to produce biopolymer for production of biobased plastic

Exponential growth and development of bioplastics in the international plastic industry gives rise to eco friendly production in a fast manner. As bioplastics are obtained from natural sources and developed with the feature of biodegradability and composite properties, they are preferred by most of the plastic manufacturing groups all over the world. There are two main factors to influence the growth of these products; high level technical expertise and regularly increasing demand of sustainable products. PLA i.e. the polylactic acid became the most demanded bio-based polymer during recent years. Read more about this matter here at - http://www.smartquimic.com/index.php/english/item/130-bioplastics-new-materials-for-a-more-sustainable-future

Fermentation of sugars leads towards production of lactic acid and polylactic acid. Some of the renewable energy sources such as sugar beet, corn, sugar cane etc. are employed for development of PLA. As the subjected resources can be recycled at least once annually, the supply of energy resources for production of PLA remains adequate throughout the year. Nowadays, leading researchers focus their researches for development of lactic acid through non food crops.

The most important thing to know about the polymer is that after polymerization of lactic acid to polylactic acid, the biopolymer gains some good properties such as durability, thermo-stable feature and reinforced status.  

Sewage mining-in-a-box gives way to mother lode of bioplastic

Sewage mining is being seen as a treasure nowadays; as the era is revolving around fossil fuels and petrochemicals wastewater to biogas kind of projects are being taken under consideration by bio-based product manufacturing companies. The position of these companies is already going stronger and stable with this kind of new business deals. Also, the sewage recycling system is experiencing new transportable system which is more compact than earlier. This exclusive sewage transportation system (SRS) is responsible for development of a product called as Recyllose.

The SRS system is good for having some advantageous features such as its property of not being involved in ripping up of virgin land; in this way it can resolve bottom line problems. As the advance sewage management system is very expensive and energy consuming, it drags down the budget of municipalities. In such condition, sewage mining system seems to be good idea for help communities recover value of their waste water. Read more about this matter here - http://cleantechnica.com/2014/05/30/sewage-mining-box-yields-mother-lode-bioplastic/

One more important step in this direction is harvesting of biogas out of waste water. This helps people to enjoy offset energy costs. New York City has developed a pilot plant project for addition of food scraps to the biogas stream so that the reduction of solid waste promotes decrease in production costs too.  

Gevo to ship isobutanol PX to Toray for its funding in the Texas based PX plant

Gevo announced recently to sell para-xylene (PX) which is derived to Toray from its renewable isobutanol. The company is reputed all over the world now for the world class production of fibers, films, plastics and chemicals. PX is nothing but raw material to be applied for manufacturing of PET (polyethylene terephthalate). MEG, a bio-based derivative is another component of PET which is being used in coca cola’s plant nowadays. Coca Cola is known for distributing over 15 billion plant bottles since 2009; about 8 percent of the company’s PET plastic bottles have been produced in 2012 on the basis of Plant Bottle technology.

Bio PX of Gevo has been sold under earlier declared agreement with Toray. Toray offered funding to Gevo for construction of PX demo plant at Texas. Gevo also formed many hydrocarbon products including a range of jet fuels and renewable iso-octane. Fibers, films and yarns are expected from Toray to be produce by Gevo’s PX. This will promote evaluation of market with developmental deals. Read more about the deal here at - http://greenchemicalsblog.com/2014/05/30/gevo-ships-bio-px-to-toray/

Gevo states that recognition of revenue out of the sales of PX and funding of Toray for project will be carried out for supply of minimum amount of isobutanol based PX to Toray by April, 2014.

INVISTA will sell soon bio-based LYCRA® fiber

The LYCRA brand owner, INVISTA launched bio derived spandex which is utilized in various kinds of garments. Same product is called as Elastene in Europe and other countries of the world. About two third of the total LYCRA spandex is arranged from a renewable source developed from dextrose out of corn. Renewable feedstock is employed for the preparation of LYCRA; during the process lower CO2 emissions are managed.

According to INVISTA, requirement of sustainability products is going higher day by day in the textile industry. With continuously growing appeal of renewable and building education from customers’ point of view, spandex is becoming popular among people. That’s how spandex has secured good place in the biggest BDO’s market now as the production of PTMEG is increasing which works as the main feedstock of spandex. INVISTA is not alone to manufacture bio based elastene because RadiciSpandex has launched its own bio based elastene with consumption of fully corn based biopolymer. This product was known to bear about 80 percent sustainable material. Read more on this issue here http://greenchemicalsblog.com/2014/05/08/invista-to-soon-sell-bio-based-lycra-fiber/

Spandex is good for its increased elasticity, bio-based feature and better stretch that offer a boost to the garment industry. Moreover, this bio based product is good for its finished product performance features including lowere3d deterioration under stress and reduced hysteresis effect.