MATERIALS | BIOPLASTICS
Right: The Accept project is using seaweed as a basis for new bioplastics
Sludge to plastics A 12-partner European project will look to convert carbon dioxide from wastewater sludge into bio-based polymers for packaging materials. The four-year project, called Hiccups (which stands for ‘highly innovative technology demon- stration for bio-based CO2 capture and utilisation for production of bulk plastics applications’), will produce a polymer called PLGA – which has water- and gas-barrier properties. PLGA – or poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) – is
biodegradable and made from renewable feedstock, making it a potential candidate to replace fossil polyethylene. It could be used to make food packaging from PLGA or PLGA-coated paper.
Initially, partners including Sintef from Norway
and Funditec from Spain will be responsible for CO2 capture and purification. They will build a demonstration plant at a wastewater treatment facility that anaerobically digests wastewater sludge. Project coordinator Avantium will then combine two separate technologies: one-step electrochemical conversion of CO2 to oxalic acid, and reduction to glycolic acid; and polymerisation of glycolic acid into PLGA. Here, it will work with Finland’s VTT, which will remove downstream water from the glycolic acid, so it can be polymerised. Two more partners – Walki (Finland) and
Below: Aimplas is authorised by DIN Certco to perform biodegradabil- ity and
compostability testing
Tecnopackaging (Spain) – will look at different applications of PLGA, especially for the consumer market. They will use their industrial pilot plants to produce real PLGA packaging materials and test it for various criteria, such as extrusion performance and liquid/gas barrier properties. The project was launched in September 2023 and will run until August 2027, with €5 million (US$5.4m) from the Horizon Europe research programme.
Seaweed barrier An international research project is looking to create packaging from seaweed extract. The Accept project – whose partners include
Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging (IVV) and organisations in Italy and Brazil – is investigating the use of marine algae as a feedstock for biobased packaging, an edible coating for fresh fruit, and an environmentally friendly pesticide. The seaweed was collected in north-east Brazil, then purified and dried. Some was then processed on site to test it as a natural pesticide. In Germany, Fraunhofer IVV used a fractionated extraction process on part of the algae biomass. Here, the challenge was to obtain the purest possible extracts with a consistent chemical composition and controllable properties. Both cast films and paper coatings were produced from the extracts. In addition, commercially available phycocol-
loids were evaluated for their potential and used both natively and modified. Different cross-linking methods were used to improve the oxygen barrier, while decreasing moisture sensitivity. In addition, the effects of the viscosity of the formulation – and the type and quantity of plasticiser – were tested. All materials were analysed for oxygen barrier
and grease resistance, with the best combinations achieving scores comparable to a conventional oxygen barrier at ambient conditions.
Bio-authorisation Spain-based Aimplas is now authorised by DIN Certco – an independent European certification company in – to perform biodegradability and compostability tests in its laboratories. It has also been included in the accredited
laboratories list of the American organisation BPI, to help companies obtain the BPI compostability
20 FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION | January/February 2024
www.filmandsheet.com
IMAGE: AIMPLAS
IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK
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