NPE Review PolyOne And
NPE Review PolyOne And yet another plasticizer: PolyOne’s Geon BIO Flexible Solutions, formulated with a bioderived plasticizer offers a high-performance material offering both excellent properties and sustainability in one costeffective, vinyl-based material package. It complies with phthalate-restrictive regulations such as California’s Prop 65 and the Consumer Product Safety Initiative Act of 2008 (CPSIA). Consistent with the PolyOne No Surprises Pledge SM , reFlex 300 materials have been tested and certified by the USDA’s BioPreferred Program to be 99 % biobased. Compared to other flexible vinyls, Geon BIO materials feature a wider processing window and enhanced thermal stability, which may reduce production costs by improving manufacturing efficiency. In addition, specific healthcare formulations are pre-certified to meet biocompatibility requirements for United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Class VI protocols. www.polyone.com Teknor Apex Teknor Apex Company (Pawtucket, Rhode Island) presented three bioplastics related topics: Teknor Apex’s bioplastic Terraloy ® in combination with Arkema’s Pebax ® thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) to make breathable films will enable manufacturers of housewrap to increase their product offerings and expand their commitment to sustainability. By varying the Terraloy biopolymer content, Teknor Apex has developed multiple grades of the blend, which can be used to produce films with various levels of moisture permeability. Such films can be bonded with nonwoven fabrics to form housewraps that allow moisture vapor to escape from homes, preventing mold and mildew, yet remain waterproof. In alliance with Takemoto, Teknor Apex develops a new series of masterbatches for polylactic acid (PLA) bioplastic increases the heat distortion temperature (HDT) and impact strength of the resin and substantially reduces its cooling time in injection molding, making possible semi-durable and durable applications which until now have been closed to standard PLA. The Terraloy 90017A and 90017B masterbatches are based on, and are for use with, Ingeo High Performance (HP) resin. And last but not least new compounds in the Terraloy 3D- 40040 series of high-impact, high-heat PLA products provide enhanced properties and tight tolerance control in 3D printing, while permitting oven drying of filament to prevent defects caused by residual moisture. www.teknorapex.com Asobiocom ASOBIOCOM is the Spanish Association of biodegradable and compostable plastics. It covers biodegradable and compostable plastics, including but not limited to biobased plastics. Asobiocom is focused on the biodegradability and compostability. The association was founded in 2012 by the main companies involved in biodegradable and compostable plastics, i. e. producers and converters in Spain. But it is also open for authorities and scientific entities. “As Association our objective here is to represent our members and get in contact with other American national associations,” said Ángela Osma from Asobiocom to bioplastics MAGAZINE. “We want to know about their activities, the situation of this industry and the market, both in North America as well as Latin America.” One important line of action in the association is communication and the proper information about the different concepts of biodegradability, biobased and so on. www.asobiocom.es Great Eastern Resins Great Eastern Resins Industrial Co., Ltd. (Taichung, Taiwan) presented Isothane G, a series of biobased thermoplastic polyurethanes with a biobased content of 25 % or above. The material exhibits excellent transparency (yet can be colored with TPU based masterbatches), high toughness and solvent resistance. “We developed a grade for Nike shoes”, a spokesperson explained to bioplastics MAGAZINE at the NPE booth. The Isothane G Series is manufactured via a proprietary sugar fermentation process and can be injection-, extrusionand blow molded. The Shore A hardness can vary from 55 to 95. www.greco.com.tw 36 bioplastics MAGAZINE [02/15] Vol. 10
NPE Review Polyalloy Polyalloy from Taoyuan (Taiwan) is offering VeryGreen PLA compounds, made from high purity sterecomplex PLA (sourced form Corbion), based on non GMO cassava or sugar cane. Especially the VG72 blends are designed to increase heat resistance and anti-hydrolysis of PLA due to its outstanding crystallinity. VeryGreen PLA compounds are fully biodegradable, yet not compostable as to the commons standards due to the timeframe for complete degradation. www.polyalloy.com.tw HDT VG726 ABS IZOD impact MiTAC Precision Technology Corporation (MPT) MPT, a compounder from China and Taiwan showcased Greemas ® : tougher, stronger and high gloss PLA materials. Greemas outperforms most of the PLA materials on the market, as stated in a brochure. Through the material modification process, Greemas is not only proven to be machine-processable, but also demonstrates superior product characteristics that are more or less equivalent to those of conventional plastics, such as thermal stability, durability, flexural and tensile strength etc. The biomass content can be up to 80 %, the material offers a good transparency with light transmittance rates of above 85 %. Greemas is applicable for example for bags, films, tubes, bottles, gibers and rigid components for various sectors ranging from home & garden, kids & babies, stationery, cutlery, cosmetics, packaging, consumables to personal health care items. One interesting example (the Breere food containers) are introduced in a separate article on page 42. Greemas@mpt-solutions.com.cn Tensile strength Elongation Flexure modulus Startup Garage Based on the idea that quite a few successful companies (such as Microsoft, Amazon or Apple) have started in a garage, the NPE2015 Startup Garage is a program developed by SPI in partnership with the new-venture tracking firm Startup.Directory to provide startups with a prominently located exhibit area at the show. bioplastics MAGAZINE already reported about two bioplastics companies presenting in this startup garage in the show preview in the last issue: Biobent Polymers, introducing Bio-composite polymers with up to 40 % renewable content from soy or other renewable agricultural products (www.biobent.com). And cycleWood Solutions showcasing compostable and sustainable resins produced from lignin. LDPE-like film grades are 100 % compostable. Injection molding grades are available in either compostable or durable, non-degradable (blended with polyolefins) versions. (www. cycleWood.com). The third bioplastics company in the NPE startup garage is BiologiQ, from Idaho Falls (Idaho). Their EcoPlastiQ GS family of resins are the most blendable of any TPS resins ever developed (as stated in a brochure of the company). While the starch materials are most commonly blended with petroleum based plastics, they are also easily combined with PLA and other bioplastics. EcoPlastiQ TPS is made from a waste stream, as Allan Webb of BiologiQ explained to bioplastics MAGAZINE. A significant amount of the starch used for the production comes from the french-fries industry in the potato growing state of Idaho, Allan said. www.BiologiQ.com B&H Tool Company B&H Tool Company LLC, located in San Marcos, California, announced new extrusion tooling capabilities for successfully extruding bioabsorbable material tubing (mainly for medical applications). B&H’s team of experts use flow simulation analysis to design and manufacture extrusion head assemblies to optimize the processing of bioabsorbable materials in tubing applications. Their new approach reduces project times from conception to integration, eliminates trial & error, optimizes die design before any metal is cut. www.bhtool.com bioplastics MAGAZINE [02/15] Vol. 10 37
