News New strategic partnership Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, based in Ghent and nova-Institute from Hürth, Germany announced in mid-January their strategic partnership in the biobased economy. The unique offer for development and scale-up of biobased products and processes by the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant is now complemented with the economic and environmental analysis of novel processes by nova-Institute. The development of products from sustainable resources and processes too often fails to step out of the research laboratories. Now companies and research institutes can rely on the expertise of the nova- Institute and the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant for the choice of feedstock, the life cycle analysis of the novel product, a marketing strategy, the development of a scalable process, the production of the first sample material for application testing and the custom manufacturing of the first tonnes of product to enter the market. nova-Institute’s managing director Michael Carus: “Together we can support biobased innovation from the lab scale to commercial scale and markets. Techno-economic and environmental evaluations are an invaluable tool to steer pilot plant processing and optimizations.“ MT www.nova-institute.eu www.bbeu.org Altuglas and NatureWorks launch marketing collaboration Altuglas International, a subsidiary of Arkema group, with its Plexiglas ® and Altuglas ® acrylic resins (Americas and Rest of World, respectively) and NatureWorks, a leader in the bioplastics market with its Ingeo PLA biopolymers, have signed a global co-marketing agreement. The agreement is designed to deliver a range of newly formulated bio-based, high performance alloys based on polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and polylactic acid (PLA). The new materials will be marketed by Altuglas International as Plexiglas/Altuglas Rnew biopolymer alloys. Primary co-marketing efforts for these materials will be for durable goods applications. The agreement grew out of the response the two companies experienced during the NPE trade fair in Orlando, Florida, USA last April, during which they jointly displayed examples of molded and thermoformed products made with their collaborative technologies for the durable goods market. This unique range of resins affords customizable formulating latitude providing exceptional impact- and chemical-resistance properties. In addition, the resins offer a significantly reduced carbon footprint due to the Ingeo PLA biopolymer content. These biopolymer alloys also feature lower processing temperatures and greater melt flow properties without compromising the optics, scratch resistance, color acceptance or surface aesthetics for which the Plexiglas and Altuglas brands are known. The collaboration offers a combination of properties especially for durable applications such as signage, lighting, consumer products, transportation, cosmetic packaging and large and small appliances. “What makes this agreement so exciting is that two renowned, pioneering organizations are joining forces to combine some of the best in technology and market knowledge to foster new, high performing, yet sustainable, bio-based products,” said Christophe Villain, Altuglas International president. “The agreement between these two leading companies will provide transparent, sustainable materials that meet durable application performance requirements. Altuglas International will compound and sell the Rnew portfolio, incorporating Ingeo, directly into the market.” Marc Verbruggen, NatureWorks president and CEO said, “By combining our respective reputations and strengths in biopolymers and acrylics, NatureWorks and Altuglas International will co-market clear materials that offer a complete package of innovative product performance. This is exactly what Ingeo was designed to offer.” Through the collaboration, Altuglas International and Nature- Works will pool resources to accelerate the introduction of these new high performance biopolymer alloys into the market. MT www.altuglasint.com www.natureworksllc.com 6 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/13] Vol. 8
Events InnoBioPlast 2013 The National Innovation Agency (NIA), Thai Ministry of Science and Technology in collaboration with Thai Bioplastics Industry Association (TBIA) and the PTT Group held their fourth international conference and exhibition InnoBioPlast 2013 on January 24-26 at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, Bangkok, Thailand. More than 300 delegates from different Asian countries as well as a number of guests from other countries all over the world participated in this unique forum of sharing technological knowledge-base and progress under a statement: “Think Bioplastics Think Thailand”. In his opening statement, Woravat Auapinyakul, Minister of Science and Technology of Thailand said that “The Ministry of Science and Technology (…) hopes that this meeting would partly encourage the development and investment of the bioplastic industry in Thailand in order to further enhance cooperation, transfer of technologies, and investment in the bioplastic business. The Government places explicit policies of developing the friendly-environmental industries.” The Minister emphasized that “Thailand is a good source of bioplastic production as we have a large amount of biomass for the production of bioplastic. The policies placed by the state sector of Thailand also help encourage the development of bioplastic industry.” Supachai Lohlohakarn, Director-General of NIA stated that “Thailand ranks the bioplastic industry as a new wave industry and aims at being the bioplastic center of ASIA. By this regard, the National Map for the Development of Bioplastic Industry under a budget amounting to Baht 1,800 million (EUR 45 million) allocated in 2008 was approved. The expansion of Stage-2 project implementation (2010-2015) (… includes) the establishment of model plant for the production of resin plastic using local agricultural raw materials, e.g. cassava and sugarcane, receive tax privileges for investment and research and development, establish the bioplastic standards like the marketing and other environmental policies”. Dr. Pipat Weerathaworn, President of Thai Bioplastics Industry Association or TBIA, stated that “The Association is derived from the formation of many entrepreneurs in the plastic industry, both top-stream and down-stream, who realize the importance of environmental preservation. They set up a vision to be the bioplastic leader in this region. At present, the Association’s members comprise 47 companies. Over the three days, the delegates heard presentations from speakers of companies like (among others) PTT, NatureWorks, nova-Institute, Samsung Fine Chemicals, Sulzer Chemtech, BioBag International, Showa Denko, Mitsubishi Chemical, Purac, Teijin, Toray, Unitika, Novamont, BASF, Sapporo Breweries, DIN Certco and JBPA, The conference was concluded by a panel discussion of representatives of international associations. Among these were (right to left in the photo below) TBIA, European Bioplastics, KBPA Korean Bioplastics Association, ABA Australasian Bioplastics Association, JBPA Japan Bioplastics Association, EBPA Environmentally Biodegradable Polymer Association (Taiwan) as well as a Professor from University Tunken Abdul Rahman (Malaysia). MT www.nia.or.th/innobioplast2013 www.tbia.or.th www.pttplc.com Derek Atkinson, Purac Asia Pacific Photos: M. Thielen bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/13] Vol. 8 7
