Book Review It is always
Book Review It is always a good recommendation for a new technical book if it can successfully meet the extensive needs of a specialist readership. This description applies very well to the work by authors Hans-Josef Endres and Andrea Siebert-Raths entitled ‘Technische Biopolymere’, and published in 2009 in German language by the Carl Hanser publishing group. The fact that the publication of an English edition (‘Engineering Biopolymers’) was a correct and logical step is made clear by the long list of producers of such plastics from all parts of the world. It is good to know that the book has also been brought up to the latest ‘state of the art’ via a thorough review. With more than 600 pages this publication provides an excellent overview on the subject of bioplastics. Within those pages the reader will find details of all the relevant standards that apply to bioplastics and which refer to important matters such as biodegradability and percentage of biobased content – some of the properties that differentiate bioplastics from conventional plastics. Manufacturing processes and the structure of the different polymers is extensively described in exact detail. A large number of tables and diagrams provide the technical specialist with information on the properties of the materials so that he may quickly evaluate their possible suitability for the various plastics processing methods used, or for a particular application. Standard work on the subject of bioplastics Engineering Biopolymers Markets, Manufacturing, Properties and Applications by Hans-Josef Endres and Andrea Siebert-Raths Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich Germany 2011 676 pages ISBN 978-3-446-42403-6 Certainly an outstanding feature of the book is the extensive presentation, mainly in tabular form, of the specification of the different plastics, making it possible to compare the performance and properties of several different bioplastics. These comparisons are based on a biopolymer data base developed by the Hanover technical university together with M-Base Engineering + Software that is kept permanently up to date. The book also contains some very useful background information on the numerous producers of biopolymers and compounders. The whole picture is rounded off by some basic considerations on the possible recovery of the plastics after use in certain products, and to their environmental profile. The authors understand the importance of this aspect and explain it in a straightforward way to readers who certainly have a more technically-oriented background. If there was ever a book with the credentials to be seen as the ‘standard work on bioplastics’ for specialists in the plastics industry then this is it. Possibly the only drop of bitterness for the reviewer of the book is its title – which should perhaps refer more clearly to ‘bioplastics’ (or ‘Biokunststoffe’). Genuine biopolymers such as starch, cellulose or proteins – and even DNA – cannot, without a certain degree of appropriate technical preparation, be processed on the machinery used today by the plastics industry, but we should not be ashamed to use the term ‘plastic’, and so avoid any confusion. Bioplastics are, after all, the youngest, but successfully growing, kids of the plastics family. Dr. Harald Käb (narocon) www.hanser.de www.ifbb-hannover.de http://biopolymer.materialdatacenter.com www.narocon.de This review was previously published in German language in KUNSTSTOFFE, 5/2012, p. 104, Carl Hanser Publishers Both books (German and English version) are available in the bioplastics MAGAZINE bookstore (see. P. 53) and www.bioplasticsmagazine.com/en/books 10 bioplastics MAGAZINE [04/12] Vol. 7
Event The Re-Invention of Plastics ‘Bioplastics – The Re-Invention of Plastics‘, a conference that was organized by Yash Khanna (InnoPlast Solutions, Inc) for the second time now attracted about 140 delegates and speakers from twelve countries (North America, Europe and Asia) to San Francisco on June 13 to 15. In the Hilton Hotel (Financial District of San Francisco), the conference started with A workshop about ‘BioPlastics – State of the art & Future Trends by 3 speakers of IHS consulting company. Chaired by Roger Avakian (PolyOne) in the first of three sessions of the first conference day industry experts shared their experiences and information about their activities in terms of Bioplastics in different applications from packaging to durable … . The second session addressed traditional plastics from food/non-food biomass, such as bio-PE and bio-PET followed by an interesting mix of presentations from brand owners such as Coca-Cola, IBM or Toyota. The second day started with a two sessions on biobased building blocks such as Furan dicarboxylic acid (FDCA) (see p. 12 for more details). After a session about bioplastics modifiers the conference ended with session number seven about the end-of-life perspectives of bioplastics. MT www.bioplastix.com bioplastics MAGAZINE [04/12] Vol. 7 11
