BIOPLASTICS | FORMULATION AND COMPOUNDING


new way,” says Tiina Nakari-Setälä, Vice President, Strategy and Business Intelligence at VTT. The collaborating companies say the new concept could be extended to other markets where soybean is processed for food and feed produc- tion. “Bioplastic produced from the residues of soy processing has huge potential as a scalable export product in circular economy,” the partners say. Globally, it is estimated that residues from soy production could produce around 22m tonnes of bioplastic per year. Finnfoam is one of the leading Baltic region


Above: Soy molasses, currently a waste stream, are being explored as a potential bioplastic raw material


streams. The research project, which is partly funded by Business Finland, lasts four years. The partners are exploring the possibility of using soy molasses, a soy processing side stream, as the raw material. Not suitable for food, this has previously been disposed of by incineration. “The process developed as an outcome of this


cooperation project is the first in the world to produce an ecological lactic acid polymer from the side streams of soy production. This way we can offer a sustainable alternative to sugar and corn based polylactic acid (PLA),” says Finnfoam CEO Henri Nieminen. Producing biomaterials from food industry side


streams also improves the food production value chain. Nordic Soya uses soy grown in Europe in its Uusikaupunki plant. Soy molasses left over from its processing was used as the raw material in the research. “This innovation combines synthetic biology, chemistry and material technology in a completely


producers of thermal insulation boards for building and construction insulation purposes. It intends to use the new bioplastic in the production of thermal insulation for buildings. “Its ecological quality is enhanced by the fact that thermal insulation also serves as a carbon sink, thus helping to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings,” says Nieminen. The collaborating companies have initiated a pilot plant project at Uusikaupunki in connection with Nordic Soya, which is the largest soy protein concentrate processing plant in the EU. It should be operational by the end of 2023. “It is a major technological step forward that side


streams that are unusable in food production can now be used to produce responsible high value bio-based products,” says Jarkko Leivo, Technology Director of Brightplus, which is a bio-sourced materials company. “Depending on the application, we can modify the properties of the biomaterial, such as its transparency and thermoformability, or improve its chemical resistance and reusability.” Brightplus is now looking for partners to help develop applications for the biopolymer.


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IMAGE: VTT/NORDIC SOYA


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