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News daily upated news at www.bioplasticsmagazine.com European Green Deal brings bioplastics into the picture Recently announced by the EU Commission, the European Green Deal represents a roadmap towards a European ‘resource-efficient and competitive economy with zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050’, said François de Bie, chairman of European Bioplastics (EUBP), the association representing the interests of the bioplastics industry. The association sees the bioplastics industry as able to play a crucial role in achieving this deal. The Green Deal concept includes a set of specific measures and initiatives that are designed to guide the implementation process. Amongst other sectors, the Commission has put a special emphasis on the plastics industry. Bioplastics as a key driver for innovation of this industry will therefore play a leading role. “In order to reach circularity and fossil-decarbonisation formulated in the concept, it is highly important to create a strong link between bioeconomy and circular economy”, says François de Bie. “Biobased plastics can make a strong contribution as they use sustainably sourced biomass as feedstock for their production. They help to diminishing the dependency on fossil resources and reducing the emission of greenhouse gases. Mechanical or chemical recycling of those biobased plastics further adds to the reduced environmental footprint of these products. The same applies for biodegradable and compostable plastics as they increase recyclability-options by adding composting and helping to create clean organic waste streams”, de Bie added. European Bioplastics also welcomes the European Commission’s initiative included in the Green Deal Action Plan that focuses on sustainable products as well as on packaging. In this regard, EUBP looks forward to closely working together with the new Commission in order to create a sound regulatory framework for the use of biobased as well as for biodegradable and compostable plastics. EUBP will engage in constructive discussions to explain in further detail the innovative potential of bioplastics and their crucial contribution to achieving the Green Deal.MT www.european-bioplastics.org Bio-on officially declared bankrupt A few days before Christmas, on 20 Dec, the court of Bologna declared the bankruptcy of Bio-On S.p.A, the company has announced in a statement on the website. Dr. Fabio Florini has been named as the delegated judge, and, with Dr. Antonio Gaiani and Prof. Dr. Luca Mandrioli, formerly judicial administrator form the committee of administrative receivers. At the same time, the court has ordered the temporary continuation of Bio-on’s business, authorizing the "provisional exercise of the bankrupt entity" provided in art. 104 of the Italian Bankruptcy Code, aimed at preserving the continuity of the business as far as possible and preventing its dissolution into separate parts. A looming problem, given the unwillingness of the banking system to cooperate on granting any further financial support, relates to the salaries of the employees: these will not be able to be paid as of the date these fall due. It will be the task of the bankruptcy trustees to take action as soon as possible in order to submit the application for Extraordinary Wage Integration Intervention due to a business crisis. MT www.bio-on.it Kompuestos goes potato starch Kompuestos (Palau Solità i Plegamans, Spain) a leading producer of sustainable compounds in Europe, has developed a new bioplastic based on potato starch that will degrade on the ground within four weeks. It joins the company’s Biokomp range of biodegradable resins made from different starches derived from corn, potato and various types of cereals. The new bioplastic has been developed to replace the fossil-based plastic used to make traditional supermarket plastic bags for fruit or vegetables. Kompuestos has been granted an OK Compost (EN 13432) label from TÜV Austria, for both the new bioplastic and three of its other Biokomp resins. The certificates are divided into two Ok Compost HOME labels and two Ok Compost INDUSTRIAL labels for the two industrially compostable bioplastic products. These labels are essential to market the products as biodegradable/compostable. Certificates accrediting the properties that are advertised are mandatory, and may require between four and fourteen months depending on the level of compostability. MT www.kompuestos.com 6 bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/20] Vol. 15
daily upated news at www.bioplasticsmagazine.com News FDCA on the rise Avantium (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) recently announced that its subsidiary, Avantium Renewable Polymers plans to locate its new flagship plant at Chemie Park Delfzijl, the Netherlands. The 5,000 tonnes facility will produce plantbased FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) – a building block for PEF (polyethylene furanoate). Avantium Renewable Polymers has also entered into a letter of intent with a Regional Consortium relating to the financing of the FDCA flagship plant and associated costs, for an amount of EUR30 million. The new plant will be located near Avantium’s demonstration plant for plant-based mono-ethylene glycol (MEG), and its pilot biorefinery, producing glucose and lignin from non-food biomass. The financing comes on the heels of the EUR25 million PEFerence Horizon 2020 grant awarded in November 2019 to a consortium led by Avantium to support the establishment of an innovative value chain for the use of plant-based FDCA. The total funding need of Avantium for the FDCA flagship plant is around EUR150 million. Avantium intends to have this funding in place before the end of 2020. Marcel Lubben, managing director of Avantium Renewable Polymers, commented “that the EUR25 million PEFerence grant (…) is instrumental in securing the overall financing for the flagship plant and the market introduction of FDCA and PEF. It represents a significant step to cover the funding requirement for the flagship plant for FDCA and we are fully on track towards a planned start-up of the flagship plant in 2023.” Stora Enso (Helsinki, Finland) is also investing EUR9 million to build a pilot facility for the production FDCA to produce PEF to serve as a barrier layer in transparent packaging. The pilot plant will be located at Stora Enso's Langerbrugge Mill in Belgium which will focus on developing a cost-competitive process for manufacturing FDCA. It aims to validate the chemical process and provide sample material to gain further insight into market need and product demand. The pilot facility will initially use industrially available fructose to produce high-value chemicals and materials for application testing. In the future, the intention is to run the process on sugars extracted from wood and other non-food biomasses. And finally Novamont (Novara, Italy) has announced a EUR10 million investment programme, as part of the expansion and diversification of its production plant in Terni, for the construction of a demonstration plant dedicated to a FDCA derived from sugar. Novamont will use it as a raw material for the synthesis of polyesters and biodegradable and compostable biomaterials. This will enable the production of fifth-generation MATERBI as well as a series of products with oxygen and carbon dioxide barrier properties for the food packaging sector. The investment was made possible with the support of Invitalia, the Italian agency for inward investment and economic development under the Ministry of the Economy, which is financing the project with subsidies of EUR5.8 million (5 million in a subsidised loan and an unsecured loan for the remainder). Upon completion of the industrialisation phase, scheduled for the end of 2021, the Terni plant for the production of furandicarboxylic acid will be another bioeconomy infrastructure integrated in the local area and interconnected with the group's other sites. FDCA is an essential building block for PEF, a 100% plantbased, 100% recyclable plastic with superior performance properties compared to today’s widely used petroleum-based packaging materials. PEF’s excellent barrier properties and its calculated cost price indicate that it can compete with traditional fossil-based products on price and performance when produced at scale. Due to its plant-based origin and recyclability it significantly helps reducing greenhouse gas emissions. MT www.avantium.com | www.storaenso.com | www.novamont.com Bitrez biobased resins at JEC World 2020 Bitrez (Wigan, UK), Europe’s leading manufacture of specialist polymers and chemicals, is launching a new family of regulatory compliant biobased resins for the composites industry at JEC World 2020 (3-5 March 2020 in Paris, France). The new family of biobased resins, including bio-epoxy systems and PFA (Polyfurfuryl Alcohol), are designed especially for composite applications and are REACH (registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals) compliant. PFA is a thermosetting bio-resin derived from biomass crop waste with similar qualities to a Phenolic resin but with lower VOC emissions. In addition to its environmental credentials, PFA has fire retardant properties equivalent to Phenolic, plus excellent temperature and chemical resistance. Epoxy resins require epichlorohydrin and bisphenol A. By employing creative chemistry, Bitrez offers epoxy products based on renewable substitute feedstock which when combined with our green epoxy curing agents provide formulated systems with high bio-content. Dominic Hopwood, Bitrez’s Resin Sales Manager, said: “Sustainability and climate change are climbing higher up people’s agendas leading to an increase in calls for materials that deliver reduced weight, greater efficiency and a smaller carbon footprint. That’s why we are leading the way in developing composite reins that are derived from renewable, sustainable plant products. We intend our bio-epoxy and PFA to be the first of many and we are excited to see how it will be received at JEC.” Established in 1982, Bitrez offers a range of services from R&D to toll conversion as well as technical support. Its team of highly qualified and experienced chemists can produce materials from laboratory scale through a transient pilot stage to enable scale up and allow for small scale qualification work before moving to commercial manufacture.MT www.bitrez.com bioplastics MAGAZINE [01/20] Vol. 15 7
