Application News Hoses
Application News Hoses Made from Biobased Raw Materials NORRES Schlauchtechnik from Gelsenkirchen, Germany is a leading manufacturer of industrial hoses, hose systems and other innovative, high-performance plastic products. The company has formulated a corporate sustainability strategy which specifies that all Norres products should be developed according to certain basic principles. One of these principles is that defined hose types should be made from bio-based raw material sources. Norres has a number of hose types that are either manufactured from a ‘bioplastic’ raw material as standard or can be supplied as variants made from raw materials based on derivatives. Castor oil is a typical example of the derivatives used for this purpose. The share of the bioplastic in each product is in the region of 20 to 50%, depending on the hardness and the nature of the synthetic material. The mechanical properties and chemical resistances of bioplastic raw materials are not significantly different from those of the standard Norres types, and they represent an altogether competitive option. Moreover, several Norres hoses are made using raw materials with a low environmental impact based on the life cycle assessment (LCA), in other words with a good ecobalance. The focus is on bioplastic monomers derived from renewable raw materials for polyesters, polyamides, polyurethanes and vinyl polymers. Hoses produced using these materials are offered as an alternative to the standard products. The Protapw ® PUR 335 MHF FLAT, Airduc ® PUR 350 MHF and Airduc ® PUR 355 are among the hose types. MT www.norres.com Biodegradable Bags for Home Compost Concern about the environment ranks high on Flexico’s R&D agenda. Always keen to contribute to a better world and curb waste, Flexico is adding new biodegradable bags for home compost to its Biopryl range, which already includes biodegradable bags for industrial compost. The Flexico group is a French company created in 1950 with five production sites and six subsidiaries in France Germany, UK, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Romania. Benefits for the community are twofold: with this biodegradation system, packaging can be collected together with the green waste by the community and turned into compost. At home, the end user, can place the packaging in their home compost together with other organic waste. The biodegradable Biopryl bags for home compost are made of compostable films, using renewable material (such as starch and vegetable oils) and biodegradable co-polyesters, all complying with standard EN 13432 and authenticated ‘OK Home Compost’ by Laboratory Vinçotte. No genetically modified plants (GMO) are being used for the production. Home Compost biodegradable Biopryl bags are produced with or without a drawstring closure. They are particularly useful as packaging for bioproducts such as cotton, but also for textile, fresh produce, and cosmetics. Biopryl bags offer a high water vapour transmission rate but a good barrier against oxygen. This means moisture can escape faster, fresh produce is less susceptible to mold and to oxidation and stay fresh for a longer period of time. MT www.flexico.fr 36 bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/11] Vol. 6
Joint Approach Innovia Films, Cumbria, UK and Sappi Fine Paper Europe, Brussels, Belgium have joined forces to demonstrate potential laminate structures, using their respective products, suitable for end users in the food, confectionery and pharmaceutical industries. These laminates provide technical functionality in addition to being made from renewable resources and offering compostability – a focus which many packaging end users are keen to pursue. Both companies recognise that the best end-of-life options for flexible paper/film laminates are either industrial, home composting or ultimately anaerobic digestion which turns waste into a useful energy source, compared to current landfill or incineration solutions. Innovia Films with its NatureFlex product range, brings its unique expertise in manufacturing renewable and compostable cellulose-based films with tailored moisture and barrier properties. Sappi brings its expertise in manufacturing flexible packaging papers and now offers coated and uncoated compostable paper options; Algro ® Nature is a unique compostable one side coated paper; Leine ® Nature is an uncoated equivalent, which is also compostable. The Sappi and Innovia products have been independently tested and have received the ‘OK Compost Home’ certification by Vinçotte, and also the compostability DIN E13432 certification by DIN CERTCO. Innovia Films and Sappi have now started trials with converters to demonstrate the capabilities of such laminates in terms of sustainability and technical packaging solutions. Trials have been made on both extrusion and adhesive laminate systems, targeting end users who are seeking alternatives to existing noncompostable structures. John Fell, Global Marketing Director for Innovia Films commented “Both companies are committed to evolving this joint partnership and will announce future developments of sustainable packaging solution, based on renewable and recyclable forest products, as and when they become available.” Shaping the future of biobased plastics www.purac.com/bioplastics www.innoviafilms.com www.sappi.com Laminate pack structure (used here for packaging dried soup) bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/11] Vol. 6 37
