Events News 5 Years bioplastics MAGAZINE By now every reader should have discovered the secret of this issue’s unusual cover. bioplastics MAGAZINE is celebrating its 5th birthday. Five years and 25 issues (plus this one) show that we obviously hit the nerve of this emerging industry. And we think that interpack is the right place to celebrate this birthday. After all, it was at interpack 2005, at the first ‘Innovationparc Bioplastics in Packaging’ when founder, publisher and editor Michael Thielen was ‘infected by the bioplastics virus’. And less than one year later the first issue of bioplastics MAGAZINE was born. Now it’s time for a party, and so the team from bioplastics MAGAZINE would love to thank you and invite all our advertisers, contributors, readers, partners and critics that are coming to interpack to join us for a drink. On Friday, May 13th (we are not superstitious !) in the later afternoon hours, bioplastics MAGAZINE is going to sponsor a socalled ’Bar Bell’ with free cocktails, beer and other beverages at the booth of European Bioplastics, Hall 9, Booth 9E02. Come and have a drink with us. Chinaplas Features Event on Green Plastics Nowadays, many countries request the manufacturers not only to consider the products‘ function and cost, but also to bear the responsibility of the environmental impact brought about by the products. China‘s 12th five-year plan‘s policies on energy saving and emission reduction, together with the introduction of various regulations on environmental protection, have led to the new challenges to the development of plastics and rubber industries. As Asia‘s no. 1 and the world‘s top 3 plastics and rubber trade fair, CHINAPLAS has fully demonstrated this major direction and paved the way for green plastics and rubber industries. CHINAPLAS 2011 will be held in the China Import & Export Fair Pazhou Complex, Guangzhou, PR China from May 17 to 20, 2011. Mr. Stanley Chu, Chairman of Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd, the show‘s organizer, stated that the show would continue last year‘s theme of ’Green Plastics - Our Goal - Our Future’ to cater to the market needs, and would disseminate the messages of ‘energy-saving’ ; ‘emission reduction’ ; ‘recycling’ and ‘biodegradable plastics’ through different exhibits and concurrent events. ‘Eco-friendly Plastics Conference’, one of the concurrent events, will gather renowned international and Chinese corporations and associations‘ representatives from the plastics and rubber industries to share the current hot topics and their insights. Invited organizations include the British Plastics Federation, the Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc., NatureWorks LLC, etc. As China is now the world‘s largest plastic product manufacturer and consumer, the research, production and application of biobased plastics and biodegradable plastics are important for the sustainability of the plastics industry in China. One of the topics of the conference, ‘The Challenge of Sustainability and the Applications of Bio-plastics and Degradable Plastics’, will discuss the standard and sustainability of biobased plastics and biodegradable plastics in USA, Europe, and Japan, its applications and market trend. Other topics of the conference are ‘Reduce Carbon Emission with Recycling Plastics Technology’ and ‘Achieve Energy Efficiency with Energy Saving Plastics Technology’. Special Events and New Zone Raise the Environmental Awareness To promote the message of environmental protection, the organizer will hold a record-breaking event – ‘Beating Record by Recycling Bottles’ during the show. More than 3,000 recycled bottles will be collected to create a plastics statue and create a new record in the Guinness World Record, with an objective to arouse the environmental awareness of the exhibitors and over 80,000 visitors at the on-site fairground. In addition, the organizer has newly established the ‘Bioplastics and Degradable Plastics Zone’, aiming to create an efficient and convenient platform for buyers who are looking for green manufacturing solutions. Exhibitors of this zone now include NatureWorks LLC, Kingfa, Biograde, Shenzen Ecomann, Hangzhou Xinfu, etc. www.ChinaplasOnline.com 10 bioplastics MAGAZINE [02/11] Vol. 6
Events Delegates Voted for ‘Biomaterial of the Year 2011’ And the winner is Zelfo... For the fourth year running, an Innovation Prize from nova-Institute (Huerth, Germany) was awarded to the innovative biomaterials industry - bio-based plastics, natural fibre reinforced plastics and wood plastic composites. The aim was to recognize and reward innovative ideas in the biomaterials industry regarding material and product development and product launch. The competition seeks to encourage the development of new materials, along with suitable applications and markets for bio-based products. Sponsor of the ‘Biomaterial of the Year 2011’ was, as in the years before, the company Coperion (Stuttgart, Germany), one of the leading twin screw extruder producers. 14 companies followed the tender and five were nominated by a panel of judges composed of biomaterial experts. The final winners were elected by the 150 or more participants of the 4th International Congress on Bio-based Plastics and Composites in Cologne (15/16 March 2011), organized by nova-Institute. The three winners are: 1st prize: OMODO ® GmbH, Germany: Zelfo ® The ‘Cellulose Optimization Resource Efficient (CORE)’-technology up-cycles cellulosic and ligno-cellulosic waste without the addition of any chemicals, catalysts or binders to create Zelfo, a micro and nano-fibrillated cellulose fibre (MFC/NFC). Zelfo can be formed into finished objects (bio-composites), or used as a bio-additive to improve plastic or paper material characteristics. Biomass: Cellulose and ligno-cellulose biomass www.omodo.org No. 2: Ecovative Design LLC, USA: EcoCradle EcoCradle is a low embodied-energy, compostable, protective packaging material that is literally grown into any custom shape and competes with petrochemical foams in terms of both performance and cost. The self-assembling bonds formed by mycelium (mushroom ‘roots’) produce this material as it grows around a substrate of regionally sourced agricultural by-products. Zelfo layered CNC demo part (photo: Omodo) Biomass: Agricultural by-products, fungus mycelium www.ecovativedesign.com No. 3: ROQUETTE, France: GAÏALENE ® Gaïalene is a new ‘high-performance’ range of bio-based plastics for packaging, which can compete in performance terms (mechanical, thermal, soft touch, etc.) with fossil-based plastics. Gaïalene resin is for lasting applications that currently use polyolefins, ABS and more technical polymers - with an excellent cost/efficiency profile. Biomass: Starch www.gaialene.com www.biowerkstoff-kongress.de bioplastics MAGAZINE [02/11] Vol. 6 11
