Event Review A
Event Review A “Bavarian Night” in Munich‘s famous Hofbräuhaus beer hall offered another chance for intensive networking and establishing personal contacts. The second day started with a comprehensive session about PLA films. Brückner Maschinenbau opened this session with information about biaxial stretching machinery for BO-PLA. Presentations about different film applications (Sidaplax and Polyfilms) were followed by a talk about Ceramis SiOx coating for barrier improvement by Alcan. Foamed PLA trays for (e.g.) meat packaging were presented by Coopbox Europe. Presentations about reinforcing PLA with different (including natural) fibres and automotive applications as well as barrier improved bottles rounded off the afternoon. His own opinion about LCAs and how to argue the real value propositions of bioplastics towards customers and stakeholders was given by Professor Ramani Narayan in the final presentation of this conference. The day ended with a panel discussion about end-oflife options, and - similarly to the same discussion during the 1st PLA Bottle conference last year - it can be said that composting is not necessarily the best option for all applications. Composting, yes where real added benefit can be exploited, for example by packaging vegetables in PLA which can then be disposed of together with the vegetables for composting if they become spoilt on a supermarket shelf. Otherwise recycling (physical as well as chemical) – and here the critical mass has clearly not yet been reached – or waste-to-energy (incineration with energy recovery or biogas production) seem viable alternatives. As the conference was considered by many – delegates, speakers, and the organisers – as a great success, the next PLA World Congress will be a definite diary date. bioplastics MAGAZINE [05/08] Vol. 3
Materials Nano-Alloy Technology for High-Performance PLA Applications Article contributed by Pierre Oliver Muench, Assistant Manager, Plastics Department, Resin, Toray International Europe GmbH Introduction Against the backdrop of global warming, curbing CO 2 increase in the atmosphere has become a pressing issue. As conventional plastics are manufactured using fossil fuels such as petroleum, incineration or other forms of disposal of these plastics generate CO 2 . Bioplastics, such as polylactide (PLA) on the other hand, are manufactured from plant-based materials, and any CO 2 emitted during their incineration or biodegradation will not increase the amount of CO 2 in the atmosphere, as the carbon emitted is what the plant, its raw material, originally absorbed through photosynthesis. This makes it carbon neutral, which is the most important feature of bioplastics. In addition, being plant-based gives such plastics a gentle image and awareness about them has been steadily growing among general consumers in recent years. Endeavors in the plastics business Among bio-based plastic products, Japanese Toray Industries Inc. has also been focusing its efforts on PLA injection molding materials and films. In injection molding, PLA on its own had drawbacks such as slow crystallization, insufficient durability and heat resistance. However, by employing Toray’s proprietary nano-alloy technology and techniques to improve shockproofing and hydrolysis resistance, the company was able to dramatically improve the material’s heat resistance properties such as deflection temperature under load as well as moldability, impact resistance and durability (dry and wet heat). The injection moldable plastics thus developed have already been introduced into the market. Nano-alloy technology enables the forming of microscopic network structure inside the polymer by finely dispersing minute amount of high-performance polymer in PLA at a nanometric level. Compared to conventional 10 bioplastics MAGAZINE [05/08] Vol. 3
