Innovation | bioplastics
a non-modifi ed PLA.” Natureplast research subsidiary Biopolynov now
offers two new grades, PLHT 201 and PLHT 202, which it says offer comparable if not superior thermal and mechanical properties to equivalent existing materials with improved processing. “Trials made also allowed gain in cycle times from 30% up to more than 200%, depending on injected parts,” Bélard says.
says. “They have really closed the gap on processability for crystalline compounds. Customers want the whole durables package, which consists of performance, stable price, and bio content – in that order.” On supply and demand, Diodato says NatureWorks is
confi dent that its growing Ingeo capacity can fulfi ll global market demand. “In 2013, we completed an expansion of our fl agship Blair facility, increasing its nameplate capacity from 140,000 to 150,000 tonnes, while simultaneously introducing the new high perfor- mance products. We have also made a signifi cant investment to design our second facility to be located in Southeast Asia.” The company has indicated this new plant will most likely be located in Thailand. French company Natureplast has also developed
PLA grades with improved mechanical properties and thermal resistance and optimised processing charac- teristics, at what it says is a competitive price. “PLA drawbacks are its mechanical properties—low impact resistance and heat resistance up to only 55°C,” says R&D manager Laurent Bélard. “Heat-resistant PLA grades, with thermal stability up to 120°C, exist on the market but for injection moulding, however, these improvements are obtained at the cost of productivity – the cycle time being signifi cantly higher compared to
The coffee connection The tremendous surge in the use of domestic coffee machines that use single-portion capsules could well prove to be a real opportunity for producers of biode- gradable bioplastics. Used capsules often end up in the “non-recyclables” bin after use because they comprise a mix of metal (the aluminium lid), plastic (the polypro- pylene capsule), and coffee, but there is a growing interest in the development of capsule and lid systems made out of biodegradable plastics. The Swiss Coffee Company has been producing its
Beanarella fully-compostable capsules since 2102 in BASF’s Ecovio IS1335, which is a blend of PLA and its Ecofl ex PBAT. At last year’s Interpack packaging show in Dusseldorf, three Italian companies – packaging machinery makers ICA and Sacmi together with polymer compounder API – showed off their joint development of a compostable capsule for hot bever-
Left: Italian compounder API developed this composta- ble coffee capsule in combination with ICA and Sacmi
Left: Coffee capsules made in BASF’s Ecovio biodegradable plastic for Swiss Coffee Company
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