Thermoforming / Rigid
Thermoforming / Rigid Packaging Heat Resistant and home compostable PLA resins Kompuestos develops a new Biokomp grade for hot contents From soft-drink cups at fast food restaurants and festivals to fresh fruit and vegetable containers: the packaging industry is no stranger to biobased polylactic acid (PLA) plastic. And according to recent studies on the biodegradable plastics market, PLA will maintain its dominance in the biodegradable plastics market through 2023. Made from natural, renewable resources such as sugar cane or corn, PLA is readily available worldwide, processed using conventional converting processes and is recyclable or compostable at the end of life. However, so far, the use of conventional PLA has largely been limited to applications such as cold food packaging, disposable plates and cutlery and shopping bags. Efforts have been made to develop heat resistant PLA grades able to withstand use temperatures in the range of 80°C to 120°C. Yet these applications all require composting in industrial facilities, while the market is increasingly indicating a preference for home composting. Other home compostable resins, such as PHA or PBSA, have emerged as alternatives in the biodegradable market, and their market share is expected to grow at a rapid rate. However, although they offer a good fit for flexible packaging and film applications, they lack the mechanical properties required for rigid packaging, in addition to being more expensive. There is no one-fits-all solution, and the packaging industry is under pressure to offer more sustainable solutions and alternatives to traditional fossil fuel based plastics. As a supplier to some of the largest plastic converters in Europe, Kompuestos ® is in a key position to play an influential role in supplying an attractive and sustainable alternative for conventional plastics. Kompuestos is committed to embracing the challenges that the packaging industry is facing. Biokomp ® can take the heat The objectives are clear: to develop new biobased and biodegradable customized compostable resins to serve as sustainable and attractive alternatives to conventional plastic materials, for the manufacture of single-use plastic products and food packaging that comply with the current legislation, with added environmental benefits but the same functional requirements as products made from comparable traditional plastic materials - at competitive cost. 14 bioplastics MAGAZINE [02/19] Vol. 14
Thermoforming / Rigid Packaging By: Grégory Coué Technical Manager Kompuestos Palau Solità i Plegamans, Spain home compostable materials that are able to withstand high temperatures or with ultra-high barrier properties, as well as that can meet the demands of the growing group of consumers who are aware of the impact of their actions on the environment. Kompuestos is a Spanish company founded in 1986 in Palau Solità i Plegamans near Barcelona. Over the past three decades, Kompuestos has acquired an in-depth knowledge of the market and has positioned itself as one of the main international suppliers of a large variety of masterbatches, all of which are intended to meet the needs of very diverse markets in the plastics industry, among which the packaging sector. With a production capacity of over 170,000 tonnes per year and growing, Kompuestos has established itself as one of the leading companies in the sector, while still seeking to expand its business horizons. To meet the challenging requirements and the growing demand for eco-friendly and sustainable plastic rigid packaging solutions, Kompuestos plans to launch a range of novel Biokomp grades containing Nuvolve. Designed for thermoforming applications, these will provide high temperature utility (e.g., for hot food and beverages) with the enhanced biodegradability profile typically expected of PLA-based resin systems under composting conditions. This new combination of properties is being sustainable material future. DuPont’s Nuvolve, a plant-based, renewably sourced engineered polysaccharide, whose development was inspired by nature, has been shown to be synergistic in the biodegradability process as well as demonstrating promising performance enhancements in products across multiple markets and applications. Work is ongoing to improve and strengthen the functionalities of the developed products and to validate their application in real working environments within the food industry. This entails the development of disposable To answer the demand for greener products, Kompuestos has developed Biokomp, a family of biodegradable and compostable resins made from different starches and other biologically-sourced biodegradable polymers. Several grades of Biokomp for film applications have already been certified by TÜV Austria and have earned the labels OK Compost Industrial, OK Compost Home and Seedling Logo according to the requirements, specified by EN 13432, the reference standard in terms of compostability. The company is looking forward to expanding its range of compostable solutions through 2019. These products will introduce a new sustainable option to the current challenges of the plastic market and enable customers to develop products that can be recycled at the end of life. Biokomp represents a first essential step towards a circular economy and a responsible production process, as shown by a consistent striving to ensure quality and optimal solutions down the whole value chain. Kompuestos views the ‘circular economy’ as an economic system that will replace the ‘end-of-life’ concept with a system that calls for a reduction in material use, alternatively followed by the reused, recycling and recovery of materials in production/distribution and consumption processes, with as aim to accomplish sustainable development. This will simultaneously serve to create environmental quality, economic prosperity and social equity, to the benefit of current and future generations. www.kompuestos.com | www.biosciences.dupont.com/biomaterials bioplastics MAGAZINE [02/19] Vol. 14 15
