News FDA approval for PA 1010 Evonik Industries (Germany) has received a food contact substance notification (FCN) for its family of PA1010 polyamides. The VESTAMID ® Terra DS16 natural may be used as a basic polymer in the production of articles intended for food contact. Details to the approved applications can be found in the FCN#001439. Whereby, essentially, it may be come in contact with all types of food at chilled to elevated room temperatures for single use as well all types of food in repeated use application up to 100 °C. Approval is based on the simulation and actual tested migration behavior of the monomers, oligomers and other trace substances. “Receiving the FDA approval is a validation that our efforts to strive for the best quality bio-based polyamides on the market has paid off”, said Dr. Benjamin Brehmer, Business Manager for biopolymers. “This milestone also allows us to confidently enter new markets with clarity of the regulatory situation”. Vestamid Terra DS is based on polyamide 1010. Both monomers (the diamine and the diacid) are derived from castor oil, making Terra DS a 100 % bio-content polymer. Vestamid Terra HS is based on polyamide 610, which is a 63 % bio-content polymer. PA610 has already received both EU and USA food contact approvals with non-alcoholic foods. Having food contact approvals for both products enables Evonik to offer a broader portfolio of bio-based polyamide to the market. Vestamid Terra is derived partly or entirely from the castor bean plant, a raw material that is not animal feed, and which does not compete with that of food crops. Unlike other bio-sourced products, biopolyamide Vestamid Terra is a high performance polymer, so there are no restrictions on its service life and it retains impressive physical and chemical resistance properties similar to petroleumbased high performance polymers. MT www.corporate.evonik.com FTC warns oxo-users about deceptive claims Staff of the Federal Trade Commission has sent out letters warning 15 undisclosed marketers of oxodegradable plastic waste bags that their oxodegradable, oxo biodegradable, or biodegradable claims may be deceptive. The FTC, which “works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them”, has taken on this issue before. In a demonstration that it not only barks, but also bites, it last year - almost to the day - announced six enforcement actions, including one that imposed a US $ 450,000 civil penalty and five that for the first time address biodegradable plastic claims, as part of the ongoing crackdown on false and misleading environmental claims. This year, the Commission has targeted 15 sellers of plastic bags manufactured from oxo-degradable plastic. Oxodegradable plastic is made with an additive intended to cause it to somewhat degrade in the presence of oxygen. In many countries waste bags are intended to be deposited in landfills, however, where not enough oxygen likely exists for such bags to degrade in the time consumers expect. Contrary to the marketing, therefore, these bags may be no more biodegradable than ordinary plastic waste bags when used as intended. “If marketers don’t have reliable scientific evidence for their claims, they shouldn’t make them,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Claims that products are environmentally friendly influence buyers, so it’s important they be accurate.” The staff notified 15 marketers that they may be deceiving consumers based on the agency‘s 2012 revisions to its Guides For the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (the Green Guides). Based on studies about how consumers understand biodegradable claims, the Green Guides advise that unqualified degradable or biodegradable claims for items that are customarily disposed in landfills, incinerators, and recycling facilities are deceptive because these locations do not present conditions in which complete decomposition will occur within one year. The FTC advised marketers that consumers understand the terms doxodegradable or oxo-biodegradable claims to mean the same thing as biodegradable. Staff identified the 15 marketers as part of its ongoing review of green claims in the marketplace. It has given them a brief period to respond to the warning letters and tell the staff if they will remove their oxodegradable claims from their marketing or if they have competent and reliable scientific evidence proving that their bags will biodegrade as advertised. KL/MT www.ftc.gov 6 bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/14] Vol. 9
News Obama Administration to support biobased materials On October 27, US-President Barack Obama announced biobased materials as one of three emerging technologies for US competitiveness. One of the executive actions will include investing over $ 300 million in emerging manufacturing technologies, specifically composites and bio-based materials, which will be equally matched by the private sector. The White House said in a statement the actions would build on the final report of Obama‘s Advanced Manufacturing Partnership that recommends measures to spur innovation, secure a skilled workforce and improve the business climate. “The executive actions announced today align with the report’s recommendations by making investments in emerging, crosscutting manufacturing technologies, training our workforce with the skills for middle-class jobs in manufacturing, and equipping small manufacturers to adopt cutting-edge technologies,” the administration noted in a statement. MT www.whitehouse.gov SPE Automotive Innovation Award for PA4 A 70 % biobased PA 410 (EcoPaXX by DSM) lightweight multi-functional crankshaft cover came top in the Powertrain category at the Society of Plastics Engineers Automotive Division Innovation Awards Competition and Gala in Detroit on November 12. The crankshaft cover is produced by German company KACO for the latest generation of MDB-4 TDI diesel engines developed by the Volkswagen Group. The SPE recognized the numerous environmental and economic advantages of the new part and the technologies used to make it. The EcoPaXX crankshaft cover weighs around 40% less than a crankshaft cover with similar geometry made in aluminum, and so represents an important step in improving fuel efficiency in cars. Because the finished cover weighs so much less, vehicles run more efficiently, saving fuel and reducing carbon dioxide emissions throughout their lifetime. Kaco produces the crankshaft covers in an integrated fully automated process that involves insert molding a 50 % glass fiber reinforced grades of EcoPaXX polyamide 410 over a plasma-activated dynamic PTFE seal, and then co-molding this with a liquid silicone rubber static seal. Kaco itself developed and patented the plasma process, which replaces a wet activation process involving solvents. “The partners in this project have taken a holistic approach to sustainability,” says Andreas Genesius, head of project management at Kaco. “In the application itself, the dynamic PTFE seals reduce friction to a minimum; the manufacturing process is completely waste-free; and the part makes substantial use of sustainable materials.” EcoPaXX is derived 70 % from renewable resources, and is certified 100 % carbon neutral from cradle to gate. In addition to these environmental advantages, there is a significant cost advantage in using EcoPaXX instead of aluminum. The total system cost can be up to 25 % less than that for a similar die-cast aluminum crankshaft cover design. This was the first time that EcoPaXX has been used in a powertrain component. The material had to meet a series of very demanding specifications, including very low water absorption for dimensional stability; high resistance to stress over a wide range of temperatures (operating temperatures range from -40 °C to +150 °C, with excursions up to 170 °C); resistance to engine oils and diesel fuel; and the ability to bond, not only to the LSR and PTFE seals, but also, during engine assembly, to the cast iron engine block and to a second silicone seal on the oil sump. KL www.dsm.com bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/14] Vol. 9 7
