BIOPLASTICS | MATERIALS
Green revolution: advances in bioplastics
Recent innovations in bioplastics include projects looking at wood, carbon dioxide and cellulose as raw materials – and investments to boost BOPLA and bio-based PP and PETG
The development of bioplastics continues to accelerate – whether it is new commercial grades or basic research projects that are looking for new sources of raw materials for monomer. Avantium has been awarded a €1.5 million (US1.67m) grant by the EU’s Horizon Europe programme for leading the Hiccups R&D pro- gramme.
Hiccups aims to demonstrate the use of CO2 as
a feedstock for the production of polyesters. The grant will be paid out to the company in tranches over four years. One of the company’s technology platforms,
called Volta Technology, uses electrochemistry to convert CO2
into chemical building blocks and polyesters. CO2
Under the programme, Avantium will convert from biogas – produced at wastewater
treatment plants – into polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA). PLGA with 80% glycolic acid or more has an excellent oxygen and moisture barrier and good mechanical properties, says the company. It is also recyclable, home compostable and marine degradable.
Other Hiccups partners include Nova Institute (Germany), VTT (Finland), Sintef (Norway) and Walki (Finland). “We look forward to working with like-minded
organisations on carbon capture and utilisation (CCU),” said Annelie Jongerius, technology manager at Avantium and scientific coordinator of Hiccups. “This grant reflects our expertise in the conver- into high-value polyesters.”
sion of CO2
www.filmandsheet.com
Cellulose scale-up Finnish research centre VTT has invested €1.5 million (US1.67m) to scale up a pilot plant for making cellulose film. The material can be used to replace conven- tional plastic film in food packaging. The invest- ment will allow the plant to begin testing and developing processes to enable mass production of these films. “There is a great need to replace polypropylene film with a more sustainable alternative,” said Ali Harlin, research professor at VTT. “The new facility is a step forward in making sustainable materials more mainstream.” The pilot plant’s focus is to improve barrier
properties and to make packages from the new materials. VTT estimates that the material could have wide industrial use within five years. It says it is already working with more than 30 partners. “We’ve received feedback from our customers
that they can’t tell the difference between our cellulose-based films and traditional plastic wraps,” said Harlin.
� July/August 2023 | FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION 13
Main image: VTT is scaling up its pilot plant for making
cellulose film
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