MATERIALS | BIOPLASTICS
Sustainable TPE Kraiburg has developed thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) with a variable proportion of renewable raw materials.
With these new compounds, the company is
expanding its Thermolast R range by adding a line of products from renewable raw material sources. Bio-based TPEs have a lower product carbon footprint than traditional materials, it says. When evaluating raw materials for bio-based
Above: Neste and Mitsui
Chemicals have teamed up to make bio- based food packaging for Co-op in Japan
ties up to sevenfold. The bioplastic can be processed on convention- al equipment, which avoids an increase in invest- ment costs, and boasts good sealing capacity and transparency, says the company. In addition, it has developed grades for a variety of applications including sheet extrusion for thermoforming, cast extrusion and blown film extrusion.
LCA for PLA TotalEnergies Corbion has published a life cycle assessment (LCA) for its recycled Luminy PLA – say- ing it has a lower environmental impact than the virgin resin. It said that the global warming potential (GWP)
of 0.19 kgCO2/kg of PLA as around one-third that of virgin Luminy PLA (which emits 0.51 kgCO2/kg of PLA). The report considered seven impact categories, including GWP, water consumption and land use. Recycled Luminy PLA, integrating 20% and 30% recycled content, mitigates impacts across these categories compared to virgin PLA, said the company.
“Depolymerising PLA via hydrolysis is an
Right: KraussMaffei has helped create a grade of PLA, with 30% lignin, for improved properties
energy-efficient process allowing us to close the loop and increase circularity for a biobased material,” said Maelenn Ravard, regulatory and sustainability manager at TotalEnergies Corbion. The company says this highlights the impor-
tance of considering ‘temporary carbon storage’ in products. By analysing the carbon cycle for biobased and fossil-based products, the report stresses the role of biogenic carbon content in PLA. Recycling PLA allows a longer storage of this biogenic carbon – which is originally from the atmosphere. When factoring in biogenic carbon content, the GWP of 30% recycled PLA is reduced by 300 kgCO2/tPLA compared to virgin PLA, it said. The LCA report is available here.
14 FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION | January/February 2024
www.filmandsheet.com
TPEs, Kraiburg focuses on materials that are not used for food production. These include agricul- tural by-products or waste materials from food production. Bio-based TPEs can cut a product’s carbon footprint (PCF) by up to 50%, it says. Bio-based TPEs provide neutral odour, touch, grip and adhesion properties that are highly comparable to those of fossil-based TPEs. They have been tested for extrusion and have process- ing properties comparable to those of fossil-based TPEs, said the company.
Lignin filler KraussMaffei Extrusion has helped develop a process to make a grade of PLA with a sustainable lignin reinforcement. Its project partner, Synergy Horizon Poland,
recently developing a process to make free-flowing lignin powder. Lignin can be extracted from lignocellulosic biomass by various methods – such as the hydrolysis of biomass for bioethanol production, in which lignin is a byproduct. It is typically a waste product. “Processing hydrolysis lignin is not an easy task,”
said Alexander Gonchar, head of R&D at Synergy Horizon.
Using its compounding expertise, KM has
incorporated a 30% lignin loading into the PLA matrix. “We have adapted the screw configuration to
IMAGE: JCCU
IMAGE: KRAUSSMAFFEI
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64
