Content Editorial 03
Content Editorial 03 News 05 Application News 22 Event Calendar 49 Suppliers Guide 46 September/October 05|2009 Fiber Applications Meltblown PLA Nonwovens 10 End of Life A new Cradle-to-Cradle Approach for PLA 0 PLA Floor Mat 11 New carpet made from PLA fibres 11 Innovative Tea-Bags From PLA Fibres 12 Plant-Based Materials for Automobile Interiors 13 Fibers of PTT Receive New U.S. Generic, ‘Triexta’ 14 Processing Twin-Screw Extruders for Biopolymer Compounding 17 Report Fraunhofer IAP 2 Basics Raw Materials and Arable Land for Biopolymers 34 Position Paper ‘Oxo-Biodegradable‘ Plastics 38 Basics of Starch-Based Materials 42 Paper Coating Improved Paper Coatings 18 Sustainable Cups from Georgia-Pacific 20 Materials Biobased Engineering Plastic 26 Injection Moldable High Temperature Bioplastic 27 Versatile Precursor Made From Cashew Nuts 28 Impressum Publisher / Editorial Dr. Michael Thielen Samuel Brangenberg Layout/Production Mark Speckenbach Head Office Polymedia Publisher GmbH Dammer Str. 112 41066 Mönchengladbach, Germany phone: +49 (0)2161 664864 fax: +49 (0)2161 631045 info@bioplasticsmagazine.com www.bioplasticsmagazine.com Media Adviser Elke Schulte phone: +49(0)2359-2996-0 fax: +49(0)2359-2996-10 es@bioplasticsmagazine.com Print Tölkes Druck + Medien GmbH 47807 Krefeld, Germany Total Print run: 3,500 copies bioplastics magazine ISSN 1862-5258 bioplastics magazine is published 6 times a year. This publication is sent to qualified subscribers (149 Euro for 6 issues). bioplastics MAGAZINE is printed on chlorine-free FSC certified paper. bioplastics MAGAZINE is read in 85 countries. Not to be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. The fact that product names may not be identified in our editorial as trade marks is not an indication that such names are not registered trade marks. bioplastics MAGAZINE tries to use British spelling. However, in articles based on information from the USA, American spelling may also be used. Editorial contributions are always welcome. Please contact the editorial office via mt@bioplasticsmagazine.com. Envelope A large number of copies of this issue of bioplastics MAGAZINE is wrapped in a compostable film manufactured and sponsored by alesco (www.alesco.net) Coverphoto courtesy DuPont bioplastics MAGAZINE [05/09] Vol. 4
News Comprehensive biopolymer database with new features Certification of Bio-Based Content The content of renewable resources of products, which can be measured by 14 C determination as the fraction of ‘bio-based carbon content’, enjoys much attention in the environmental and resource discussion. It is also the focus of several political initiatives like for example in the U.S.A. (USDA’s ‘biopreferred’ program) Japan (Biomass Nippon Plan) and the EU Lead Markets Initiative (LMI). One of the core activities within the LMI focuses on the development of suitable standards for defining ‘bio-based products’ and for the determination of the bio-based content – similar to ASTM D-6866. Industry is involved in a dialogue with the European Commission about the LMI and participates actively in the respective working groups, also at the CEN level. Based on the future standards, it is intended to develop independent certification and market surveillance of claims concerning the bio-based content. So far however, the LMI working groups have not arrived yet at the certification part, so independent certification is not available yet. European Bioplastics (EuBP) has now started to coordinate with partners along the bioplastic value chain for a joint approach towards the development of a ‘bio-based content’ certification system. Says Joeran Reske of EuBP, coordinator of the project within the association: “We are aiming at a system as simple as possible, on the other hand we think that independent certification is a must, so that users have a both transparent and reliable basis for their product-related communication. We consider the bio-based content only one out of several parameters influencing the environmental performance of a product.” Consequently, labelling is seen as a very sensitive topic which needs a careful and well balanced approach to be trustworthy. “Therefore we thought we ought to deliver our contribution to the discussion about the criteria of bio-based content certification”, adds EuBP- Chairman Andy Sweetman. European Bioplastics is seeking cooperation along the whole product value chain, with the European Commission and with other (national) authorities. It is intended to develop a system that could be used finally also in policy making. The association is in a dialogue with test laboratories, certification institutes and other partners in and beyond Europe to include the best available knowledge. - MT The Biopolymer Database includes more than 100 biopolymer manufactures and more than 370 material types. Until now the data from the material suppliers have been reported against many different test standards and it has not been possible to make a fair comparison between different grades. Therefore the materials are now tested under uniform and comparable conditions in the University of Applied Science and Arts (Hannover, Germany). The results of these tests are to be made available in October 2009. Through the biopolymer database customers, converters and end users will be connected with the bioplastic manufacturers. With the biopolymer database it will also be much easier to find information. At the first stage the users can indicate whether their interest is pellets or film. The biopolymer database allows extensive search options for both variants, e.g. manufacturers, including contact addresses, polymer types, trade names, mechanical and thermal properties, barrier properties, information about certifications, biobased material content etc. Furthermore the opportunity of comparing functions is also given, i.e. a comparison of the properties of different biopolymers. It is also possible to search in the published literature. All data are printable as datasheets. Datasheets from the manufacturers are also available. The database is available via the Internet in German and English. Access is free of charge. www.materialdatacenter.com biobased@european-bioplastics.org bioplastics MAGAZINE [05/09] Vol. 4
