NATURAL FILLERS | ADDITIVES
Expanding horizons for natural fillers
Compounds that incorporate fillers from natural sources are appearing in a wide variety of places, from moulding to 3D printing and possibly even in space. By Jennifer Markarian
Natural fibres and fillers offer a way to reduce carbon footprint using bio-based content and, in many cases, use materials that would otherwise be waste. Compound and masterbatch producers have put their expertise into solving challenges related to moisture, dispersion and handling to maintain or improve properties of the filled compounds. Another benefit is that natural colour and grain are increasingly desirable. “Designers call it visible sustainability, or honest
materiality – the principle that bio-content should be evident rather than hidden,” said LD Sheftel, Director of Industrial Products at US-based Lignetics Group. “Flawless plastic invites suspicion [from consumers] of greenwashing, while visible fibre reads as proof. Customers are asking for the fleck rather than asking us to minimize it.” NaturFil bio-based and biodegradable fillers are
produced from sustainably sourced wood residuals using Lignetics Group’s patent-pending densification technology to make a processable form for thermoplastics that meters like a masterbatch and eliminates the dustiness and feeding challenges of conventional wood flour, said Sheftel. In addition, he suggested wood residual supply is more reliable than agricultural residuals.
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“Wood residuals come off an existing industrial base year-round, already collected and processed,” he explained. The filler is being used or tested in PP, PE, PVC, ABS and various biopolymers. The company recently introduced NaturFil
WP1050, a bio-based filler with FDA food contact approval at up to 50% loading in finished polymer systems. Target applications include rigid and semi-rigid single-use food-contact applications, such as cutlery and containers, for brands and converters who want to reduce material footprint, the company said. Lignetics also recently experimented with a
combination of approximately 10% NaturFil with 1.5% of Moxietec’s Proprietary Foaming Additive (PFA), with the goal of achieving weight reduction without reducing properties such as stiffness, structural integrity, and impact resistance. The combination created a uniform cellular structure while improving filler dispersion. NaturFil contributes additional nucleation sites for foam formation, reinforces foam cell walls, enhances load transfer, and increases overall stiffness and mechanical performance, the company reported. UPM Biochemicals produces wood-based UPM BioMotion Renewable Functional Fillers (RFF) from
September 2026 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 27
Main image: Large-format additive
manufacturing is used by Printerior Designs for architectural products, such as wall panels, partitions, and screens
IMAGE: CIRCDAL
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