News Automotive
News Automotive Bioplastics Design Challenge A kick-off event in Stuttgart/Germany in July marked the start of the ‘Automotive Bioplastics Design Challenge (abdc)‘. Bioplastics producers and automobile manufacturers, their suppliers as well as development and design offices working in the automobile sector are all invited to participate. Over the coming year, ‘abdc‘ is aiming to evaluate and further develop commercially available bioplastics and such under development for their suitability in automotive engineering in terms of design aspects. The results will be presented to the public at ‘Automobile Summer 2011‘, organised to celebrate the invention of the car 125 years ago. From the organizer‘s point of view, many bioplastics that are currently under development are either too expensive or will not be available in the near future in sufficient quantities to enable wide commercial use. This means that many biobased polymers will only be launched on the market once the general conditions have permanently changed and they have become more advantageous than petrochemical plastics. Biopro Baden-Württemberg GmbH (Germany) and the Biopolymers/ Biomaterials Cluster are planning to give end users insights into biobased materials that will be available in the future, aiming that this dissemination of knowledge will have a positive influence on innovation processes and their introduction on the market. The interaction of all the stakeholders along the value creation chain will ensure that biomaterials are thoroughly tested and made available for technical application as soon as possible. Major focus will be put on the assessment of material properties, as well as aspects relating to processability, surface properties and ageing stability. These are issues that are not generally of primary importance in research, even though they have a considerable influence on the marketability and market potential of materials. During the ‘abdc‘ developers and designers from the automobile sector will be able to test various biomaterials-based prototypes and give valuable feedback to polymer developers on the expected market acceptance and unexplored optimisation potentials of the biomaterials. A key feature of the project is a biomaterials database aimed at providing users with an overview of marketable materials and materials under development. The database will include technical and design-related decision criteria rather than economic issues, and users will be invited to select materials for the production of certain components or component groups, produce prototypes and test the materials for their suitability in serial production of the components. The empirical values (with regard to processability, technical suitability and design aspects, etc.) will then be included in the database and made available to other participants. It is planned to continue the cooperation beyond the one-year project runtime. BSL http://www.bio-pro.de Reinforced Bio-PA BASF’s polyamide 610 is being joined by additional grades. Four new glass fiberreinforced materials now complement the unreinforced grade Ultramid S3K Balance. They are designated Ultramid S3EG6 Balance, Ultramid S3WG6 and S3WG7 Balance and Ultramid A3HG6 Balance. Their glass fiber contents are 30 % (G6) and 35 % (G7) and they will be available in sample quantities in Europe as of September. According to BASF two properties in particular make this material a competitor to other long-chain high-performance polyamides such as PA 612 or PA 12: its hydrolysis resistance, i.e. its great resistance to hot water and steam as well as its resistance to environmental stress cracking when exposed to aggressive chemicals. The three new grades in the Ultramid S Balance line are thus especially well-suited for overmolding of metal and electronic components that come into contact with aggressive fluids. They are also of interest for housings and transmission components where dimensional stability is major factor. Connectors, tubing and reservoirs in coolant circuits that must satisfy demanding requirements for hydrolysis resistance represent an additional field of application. The material has already demonstrated its performance capability in wheel speed sensors that are exposed to water spray and can be attacked by road salt. Blended with PA 66, PA 610 yields the new grade Ultramid A3HG6 Balance. This product is characterized by a property profile that lies between that of PA 66 and Ultramid S Balance, while retaining its high resistance to environmental stress cracking and exhibiting in addition very good resistance to hot oil. This proposes oil pans and oil filter housings as well as radiator end caps as target products. One of the raw materials for production of Ultramid S Balance and Ultramid A Balance is sebacic acid, which is derived from castor oil. Thus, over 60 % of the base polymer for the product family comes from renewable resources. BSL www.basf.com bioplastics MAGAZINE [04/10] Vol. 5 New: Follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/bioplasticsmag Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/bioplastics-MAGAZINE/103745406344904
News Succinic Acid Joint Venture First Bioplastics Manufacturing in India Royal DSM N.V., a dutch Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company, and Roquette Frères, a french starch and starch-derivatives company, announced that they have signed a joint venture agreement for the production, commercialization and market development of bio-based succinic acid, subject to regulatory approvals and notifications. Since early 2008 the two companies have been working together to develop sustainable fermentative technology to produce bio-based succinic acid. The first testing volumes of this renewable and versatile chemical building block - used in the manufacture of polymers, resins and other products - have already been produced in a demonstration plant in Lestrem (France). The positive results from this cooperation have led to the establishment of the joint venture. DSM and Roquette will each have a 50% stake in the new entity, Reverdia V.o.f., which will be headquartered in the Netherlands. This new production route delivers a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, as it sequesters carbon dioxide, and the proprietary process does not produce any salts as waste. The joint venture plans to focus on applications such as 1,4 butanediol (BDO), polyurethane resins, and biopolymers such as polybutylene succinate (PBS) into applications among others in paints and coatings, automotive and textiles. DSM and Roquette will be marketing bio-based succinic acid via the joint venture Reverdia and are also working together to further expand their joint capacity. BSL www.dsm.com www.roquette.com Greendiamz Biotech Pvt. Ltd. in association with its partner Limagrain, France brings the first fully biodegradable and compostable bioplastic material to India. Branded as ‘Truegreen’ the bioplastic film is made from Biolice ® raw material by Limagrain Céréales Ingrédients (LCI). The first dedicated factory to make biodegradable/compostable films in India is now up and running in Ahmedabad. David Pearson, Marketing Director, LCI said: “India is a major world economy with the second largest population. It therefore produces large quantities of plastic-based waste, which is the root cause of many health and environment hazards.“ ... “such as blocking water systems during monsoon periods and creating visual pollution in tourist areas,” as Truegreen Director Dipack Sangghvi added. These and other problems led to a ban on bags with a certain thickness and a restriction on the use of plastic bags. Ronnie Khajotia, CEO of TrueGreen commented: “Hence our first step should be to drastically reduce the number of single use plastic bags“. He said to bioplastics MAGAZINE that the use of compostable bags is encouraged with the adoption of the ISO 17088 as the Indian standard by the Bureau of Indian standards. Bags under this standard and those that are certified are not restricted. “However, I do agree that littering, which causes the blocked drains will not be addressed by any form of degradable plastic bags. However, if people were to pay for compostable bags, since they are more expensive and hence, if adopted; will not be given away free; then they will re-use these bags many times and that itself will reduce the litter.“ In addition to shopping bag applications TrueGreen also focuses on endof-life applications together with composting of food waste, etc. Their main customers however, are now the forestry departments in Indian states. They produce and plant over 500 million saplings a year through this vast country. Normal sapling bags are taken off and may themselves cause litter. They have successfully adopted the use of the compostable bags for this innovative application. David Pearson: “The Indian Plastic Development Council states that India is expected to be the third largest consumer of plastics after US and China by 2011. Keeping in view the increasing future demand we have provided a Green Solution to today‘s world. Thus; I believe Biolice from Limagrain Céréales is the new age solution to manufacture environmental friendly solutions including biodegradable products that are technologically advanced and internationally certified.“ And Ronnie Khajotia added: “We are confident to fill our plant capacity by year 2, as more municipal corporations adopt a policy of getting the waste segregated and encourage the use of our bags for disposing garden and food waste. The list of our potential client is very long and include critical areas such as environment parks, forest reserves, beach resorts as well as waste disposal and asset management companies Biolice was introduced to the market in 2005 by LCI as a 100% biodegradable/ compostable bioplastic according to to EN 13432, manufactured from naturally grown cereals, and is used for all the Truegreen bioplastic range. MT (partly taken from IndiaPRwire) www.truegreen.in www.biolice.com bioplastics MAGAZINE [04/10] Vol. 5
