Event review New Record:
Event review New Record: Bioplastics Continue On the Road to Success www.conference.european-bioplastics.org The European Bioplastics Conference took place for the fourth time in Berlin on the 10th and 11th of November and despite the difficult financial situation the event broke all records. 380 visitors and 27 exhibitors attended the conference hosted by the industry association European Bioplastics. Experts still expect continued growth in the field of compostable and biobased materials. “Where will the industry be in five years‘ time?“, “What are the trends?“, “Which materials will dominate the market?“, “How can we communicate the advantages for the environment and what are the optimum utilisation fields for bioplastics?“ 28 speakers and 380 participants dealt with these and other questions during the two-day bioplastics conference in Berlin. Altogether 237 companies from 27 countries attended the event. Approximately 78 % came from Europe, 16 % from Asia and over 5 % from North and South America. The European Bioplastics Conference is now in its fourth year and has become an established industry event. “To have broken attendance records, in spite of the difficult economic background is extremely heartening. Market interest and uptake is very real and bioplastics producers continue to increase both capacity and the technical capability of their materials“, cheers Andy Sweetman (left picture above), Chairman of the board of European Bioplastics. Professor Patel (Utrecht University) www.hanser-tagungen.de/biokunststoffe Conference on Technical Applications Biobased materials are today finding a wider usage, especially for technical (non-packaging) applications. With this shift from compostable packaging to durable applications increased demands regarding the material’s performance and processing properties can be observed. On the subjects on injection moulding performance, rheological processing parameters as well as long-term behaviour our knowledge today is still limited. Thus these questions and technical applications were the focus of a conference, ‘bioplastics - technical applications of biobased materials’, held in Duisburg, Germany in early October. The conference was chaired by Prof. Hans-Josef Endres (University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Hanover) and Prof. Johannes Wortberg (University of Duisburg). In addition to a general overview of the current situation experts from raw material suppliers such as DuPont, Kuraray, Sukano or FKuR informed the conference about the processing, application and challenges of biopolymers. Speakers from companies such as KraussMaffei Berstorff, Huhtamaki, Bosch and Volkswagen discussed the processing and properties of biopolymers in technical applications. 10 bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/09] Vol. 4
Polylactic Acid Uhde Inventa-Fischer extended its portfolio to technology and production plants for PLA, based on its long-term experience with PA and PET. The feedstock for our PLA process is lactic acid which can be produced from local agricultural products containing starch or sugar. The application range is similar to that of polymers based on fossil resources. Physical properties of PLA can be tailored to meet the requirements of packaging, textile and other applications. Think. Invest. Earn. Uhde Inventa-Fischer GmbH Holzhauser Strasse 157–159 13509 Berlin Germany Tel. +49 30 43 567 5 Fax +49 30 43 567 699 Uhde Inventa-Fischer AG Reichenauerstrasse 7013 Domat/Ems Switzerland Tel. +41 81 632 63 11 Fax +41 81 632 74 03 www.uhde-inventa-fischer.com Uhde Inventa-Fischer A company of ThyssenKrupp Technologies
