MATERIALS | BIO-BASED COMPOUNDS


Above: Film made from sugar beet pulp is thermo- formed into 3D moulded parts such as single- use tableware in a pilot program at Fraunhofer WKI


products, and the assets is world-class,” said Don Wiseman, CEO of Teknor Apex. “Having existing, operating facilities already brings us past the hurdle of the capital cost to build a plant, and we see opportunities to further drive down production costs. We have an existing base and a strong funnel, and we’re ready to build that out and continue to reinvest in advancing the technology.” Applications for Danimer’s PHA include injection moulded articles for single-use. Addressing production costs is key, because the


cost of producing PLA and PHA-type bioplastics is still higher than that of the conventional, fossil- based materials (eg PP, PS) they could replace for single-use plastic applications. However, there is an existing base of customers that prioritise sustain- ability, and the potential for either regulation or consumer sentiment to further drive bioplastics use. Teknor Apex sees value in the better end-of- life profile for biopolyesters, with the ability to be composted or enzymatically recycled as a solution for plastic waste. “As an industry, we need to nurture the market at the right pace with continued investment. Small evolutions will lead to break- throughs in the long-term,” suggested Wiseman. “This partnership opens exciting doors to


accelerate our R&D, scale our operations, and reach new customers and markets, while staying true to our core mission: replacing traditional plastics with materials the planet can embrace,” said Phil Van Trump, Chief Science & Technology Officer at Danimer.


Compound design Toronto, Canada-based Erthos, which has been designing custom bioplastic compound formula- tions for more than nine years, recently launched its machine learning tool, the Zya AI platform, with the goal of growing the use of bioplastics. The platform


30 COMPOUNDING WORLD | November 2025


uses the company’s expertise as well as models based on fundamental material properties to predict optimised compounds that can meet cost and performance requirements specified by brands. Erthos recently announced a collaboration with Colgate-Palmolive to explore sustainable packaging innovation using the Zya materials discovery platform. The goal is to screen materials faster and accelerate market launch. Colgate-Palmolive is one of the founding members of a new consortium launched last year that is looking to nature for new polymer technol- ogy. The Natural Polymers Consortium (NPC) was launched as a partnership between the American Chemical Society (ACS) Green Chemistry Institute and industry leaders, with the aim of supporting innovation in bio-based, natural polymers as an alternative to fossil-based, conventional plastics. The consortium hopes to add more members and to facilitate collaboration between scientists across industries, government, NGOs, and academia. Starch is an example of a natural polymer, found in corn and other plants, that is used commercially in multiple ways.Kuraray’s Plantic thermoplastic starch (TPS), based on modified high-amylose starch, can be used as an alternative to polystyrene in food trays, and has found value as a barrier material in multi- layer constructions, said Tom Black, Director of International Business for Plantic at Kuraray, in a presentation at AMI’s Bioplastics conference. As a layer in a multilayer PET construction, Plantic is compatible with the PET recycle stream, because it is water soluble and washes away in recycling, Black explained. Kuraray is working with the Association of Plastics Recyclers (APR) to test its material for third-party confirmation of recycling compatibility. TPS can also be used as a layer with other composta- ble materials to create compostable packaging.


Residue alternative Researchers are also experimenting with some agricultural residues with polymeric structures to see whether they can be formed or moulded like traditional thermoplastics. For example, at the Fraunhofer Institute for


Wood Research (WKI) in Germany, research scientist Arne Schirp has been making compounds from sugar beet pulp (SBP), combined with natural polymers such as corn starch and pectin from beets. The aim was to make compostable, single-use tableware using “unmodified polymers that occur naturally in the environment,” which are allowed under the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive. SBP, a large-volume residue from sugar produc- tion, is currently mainly used as animal feed and for


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