sustainability | Update in brief
❙ Addivant, the former antioxidant and UV stabilizer business of Chemtura, has commercialised its first polymer modifiers derived from renewable resources. Polybond 6009 and 6029 act as coupling agents or compatibilisers in formula- tions where high renewable content raw materials are desired. The company says it is aiming the products at producers of biopolymers reinforced with natural fibres.
www.addivant.com
❙ API has developed a special grade of its Apinat Bio biodegradable TPU for production of a protective cap for use on quick connectors manufactured by Italian engineering company DLM. The caps protect the couplings on tractors and earth moving machinery from damage or malfunction caused by soil or grit and are typically manufactured in PVC or SEBS TPEs. DLM, however, wanted a biodegradable alternative as the caps are often dislodged during service and fall to the ground.
www.apinatbio.com
❙ Italian bioplastics maker Novamont has introduced its first “fourth generation” Mater-Bi compostable polymers produced from two new renewably-sourced monomers. The first monomer is vegetable oil-based. The second is 1,4 butanediol (BDO) produced using sugar fermentation technology licensed from Genomatica.
www.novamont.it
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Swiss Coffee system uses compostable capsules
Swiss Coffee Company has selected BASF’s Ecovio compostable resins – including its new Ecovio IS1335 injection moulding grade – for produc- tion and packaging of the capsules used in the new Beanarella coffee machine. The fully compostable packaging system comprises the injection moulded capsule, which is produced in the IS1335 grade of Ecovio, and a barrier laminate of paper and Ecovio resin used for the capsule outer packaging sleeve. The Beanarella system is designed to allow used capsules, complete with spent coffee grinds and outer wrap, to be returned through the Swiss Coffee Company supply chain for composting. This is the first application
for the new IS1335 injection moulding grade of Ecovio, says Dr Lars Börger, who heads
Swiss Coffee is injection moulding its new coffee capsules in BASF’s Ecovio compostable resin
global new business develop- ment for bioplastics at BASF. The grade is a blend of PLA and BASF’s Ecoflex petro- chemically-derived biodegrad- able polyester and offers a renewable content of more than 50%. Swiss Coffee will initially
market the Beanarella system in Switzerland through two channels. Composting is considered an optimal solution for
recovery of this type of product as separating the used coffee from the small amount of plastic for mechanical recycling would be a challeng- ing task while the calorific value if directed to an energy recovery incinerator would be minimal. Swiss Coffee plans to launch its “closed loop” system in Germany, Austria and the US in the near future. ❙
www.ecovio.com
Lanxess trials BDO in PBT unit
Germany’s Lanxess last month produced the first commercial polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) polymer made using renewably sourced 1,4-butan- ediol (BDO). The company used 20 tonnes
of BDO produced using Genomatica’s technology for direct fermentation of sugars from sugar cane, sugar beet, corn or cassava. According to Lanxess, this bio-based BDO met the specification limits for petrochemical-based product, allowing it to be fed directly into
INJECTION WORLD | July/August 2013
the world scale PBT production plant at Hamm-Uentrop in Germany that it operates as a 50/50 joint venture with DuPont. Lanxess said tests show the bio-based PBT to be fully equivalent to its conventional Pocan product. “We were excited to validate the bio-based BDO made with Genomatica’s process as a one-to-one replacement for petro-based BDO for the production of our PBT,” says Hartwig Meier, head of global product and application
development of the high performance materials business unit of Lanxess. “This is a strong signal to
the market and a tremendous step forward in our future plans to offer our high-tech plastic Pocan in a bio-based version, too. Due to its unchanged properties, Pocan compounds based on bio- based PBT can directly be used in established application fields such as automotive or electro & electronics area,” he says. ❙
www.lanxess.com
www.injectionworld.com
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