Letter to the Editor
Letter to the Editor Counterstatement Event Review In issue 02/2009 bioplastics MAGAZINE published a short review of the GPEC conference in Orlando Florida, USA (see bM 02/2009, p.8). Michael Stephen, Commercial Director and Deputy Chairman of Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc, sent a letter to the editor commenting on this short article. Mr. Stephen stated that Dr. Greene was wrong to call the material ‘oxofragmentable’plastic. The mentioned formulation breaks the molecular chains within the polymer and then the material biodegrades. Furthermore Mr. Stephen took exception to the statement that he ‘was not able to present any scientifically backed data to prove his claims.’ He said that there is ample scientific data, and that he had referred to several of the scientific reports in his presentation. bioplastics MAGAZINE offered Mr. Stephen to publish a comprehensive scientifically based article in the next issue of bioplastics MAGAZINE where he can explain his case about compliance with ASTM D94 (a standard that he refers to in his letter). He was asked to provide test data conducted using resins with Symphony based additives. These test data shall be available for download from the bioplastics MAGAZINE website - MT . photo courtesy of Environmental Division of SPE GPEC Global Plastics Environment Conference 2009 Under the headline ’Plastics: The Wonderful World of Sustainability and Recyling’ about 300 delegates and speakers met from February 25 to 27 in Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida, USA. The conference was accompanied by a table top exhibition. One of three parallel sessions was on Bio-based and Biodegradable Materials. Among the most interesting presentations, which were attended by an average of 70 to 90 delegates was Ross Young’s (Univenture) talk about the Production of Algae primarily for bioplastics and fuel. Corey Linden (Battelle) introduced methods to improve PLA performance for injection moulding. Todd Rogers of Arkema spoke about a new type on transparent, (50%) biobased polyamide, named Rilsan clear. Jim Lunt (Tianan Biologic) and Kristin Taylor (Telles) presented their latest developments and application examples from the field of the PHA’s. The massively discussed presentation by Michael Stephen of Symphony about – what Professor Greene (California State Univ. Chico) called oxo-fragmentable plastics – was commented by Joe Greene: “Disney is an appropriate location for such kind of presentations”. However, Mr. Stephens again was not able to present any scientifically backed data to prove his claims. During lunch on the first day, Eric Connell of Toyota shared with the delegates his experience and thoughts about ‘Automotive Applications & Expectations of Biobased Materials’. From the viewpoint of greenhouse gas reductions and resource security, bioplastics are attractive as carbon neutral materials, but Eric also pointed out the limitations that currently still exist for industrial usage for automotive applications. Dr. John Kristy, Professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville explained in an elaborated plenary session on the second day his findings about CO 2 and global warming. However, his ‘all-clear’ statement ‘all carbon dioxide emissions – if reduced or not - do not affect the climate’ was not exactly agreed to by all of the delegates. bioplastics MAGAZINE will cover some of the most interesting talks, as well as some of the really good student posters in the coming issues. 8 bioplastics MAGAZINE [02/09] Vol. 4 Sustaina in Pack Intertech-pira conference, acco exhibition, on ‘ Packaging’ on 3- Orlando, Florida about 30-40 from delegates came session to attend industry experts on ‘How plastic the sustainab Europe’ Profes for example add of automatic mixed PLA / Other present develompents NatureWorks Telles), Starc (Tom Black, P PSM) and b Polyethylene Leslie Harty Enterprises discussed covered the PE and PE claimed to biodegrada the 100% materials such as E EN 14855 could not naro.tech 7 th International Symposium Materials made from renewable resources 9 th and 10 th September 2009 Main topics · Fibre composites · Biopolymer materials · Bio-based adhesives · Wood fibre materials Accompanying exhibition European Cooperation Forum www.narotech.de 40 bioplastics MAGAZINE [03/09] Vol. 4
Events Event Calender June 16-19, 2009 BioEnvironmental Polymer Society 16th Annual Meeting McCormick Place Convention Center, Chicago, IL, USA www.regonline.com/beps2009 June 22-26, 2009 NPE2009: The International Plastics Showcase McCormick Place Chicago, Illinois USA www.npe.org September 8-10, 2009 Biopackaging 2009 Copthorne Tara Hotel Kensington, London, UK www.biopackconference.com/ September 9-10, 2009 7th Int. Symposium ‘Materials made of Renewable Resources‘ Messe Erfurt Erfurt / Germany www.narotech.de September 14-16, 2009 2 nd PLA Bottle Conference hosted by bioplastics MAGAZINE within the framework of drinktec Munich / Germany www.pla-bottle-conference.com September 28 - October 01, 2009 4th Biopolymers Symposium 2009 Embassy Suites, Lakefront - Chicago Downtown Chicago, Illinois USA www.biopolymersummit.com October 06-07, 2009 3. BioKunststoffe Technische Anwendungen biobasierter Werkstoffe Duisburg, Germany www.hanser-tagungen.de/biokunststoffe October 26-27, 2009 Biowerkstoff Kongress 2009 within framework of AVK and COMPOSITES EUROPE Neue Messe Stuttgart, Germany www.biowerkstoff-kongress.de November 10-11, 2009 4th European Bioplastics Conference Ritz Carlton Hotel Berlin, Germany www.european-bioplastics.org December 2-3, 2009 Dritter Deutscher WPC-Kongress Maritim Hotel Cologne, Germany www.wpc-kongress.de June 22-23, 2010 8th Global WPC and Natural Fibre Composites Congress an Exhibition Fellbach (near Stuttgart), Germany www.wpc-nfk.de You can meet us! Please contact us in advance by e-mail. bioplastics MAGAZINE [03/09] Vol. 4 41
