Award The 14 th
Award The 14 th Bioplastics Award Presenting the five finalists bioplastics MAGAZINE is honoured to present the five finalists for the 14 th Global Bioplastics Award. Five judges from the academic world, the press and industry associations from America, Europe and Asia have again reviewed the incoming proposals. On these two pages we present details of the five finalists. The Global Bioplastics Award recognises innovation, success and achievements by manufacturers, processors, brand owners, or users of bioplastic materials. To be eligible for consideration in the awards scheme the proposed company, product, or service should have been developed or have been on the market during 2018 or 2019. The following companies/ products are shortlisted (without any ranking) and from these five finalists the winner will be announced during the 14 th European Bioplastics Conference on December 3 rd , 2019 in Berlin, Germany. Carbiolice, (France) Enzymatic masterbatch to make PLA home compostable In December 2018 Carbiolice (Riom, France) launched its innovative and unique enzymated Evanesto ® masterbatch – an additive that enables PLA to biodegrade under typical home composting conditions. Even if PLA offers very good properties for rigid applications, its biodegradability is currently limited to industrial composting. Carbiolice has now developd Evanesto, a new enzymatic additive to be used as a masterbatch, that will make PLA polymer compostable under domestic conditions. “The masterbatch, in a concentration of less than 5%, is added to a compound with a high content of PLA during conventional converting processes like film extrusion, thermoforming, injection molding. It accelerates the natural PLA biodegradation process, making it suitable for home composting.” explained Clémentine Arnault R&D Manager at Carbiolice. Initial tests carried out by independent laboratory OWS on thin films containing 30% of PLA and 5% of Evanesto, and the rest being other biodegradable and biobased polyesters, such as biobased PBAT, TPS…) have shown that complete disintegration is achieved within a time frame of 182 days (6 months) under home composting conditions. Tests on thicker films obtained by calandering and thermoforming are still ongoing, but the initial results are very positive. Earlier this year Carbiolice and Carbios have signed a joint development agreement with Denmark-based Novozymes, a global producer of enzymes, for the production and supply of enzymes for the manufacture of selfbiodegradable PLA plastics. www.carbiolice.com Bio4self (15 partners form EU) Self-reinforced PLA composites Self-reinforced PLA composite materials, which are being developed as part of the Bio4self project funded by European Research Fund H2020, open up completely new areas of application for the biobased plastic PLA. In the project, two different PLA types with different melting temperatures are combined to a self-reinforced PLA composite (PLA SRPC) in such a way that the higher melting PLA is embedded as a reinforcing fiber in the lower melting matrix. The resulting material stiffness can compete with commercially available self-reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites. This makes it possible to produce mechanically demanding components for the automotive and electrical household appliance sectors, among others. Although the composite materials developed have been functionalised for high mechanical strength and stiffness as well as for high temperature and hydrolysis stability, like pure PLA they are completely biobased, easily recyclable, formable and even industrially biodegradable. These industrial-scale composites represent a milestone in the development of functionalized, mechanically highstrength, biobased material systems. Furthermore, the development makes a significant contribution to the recycling economy. As an example, the application in a car seat structure was demonstrated at the JEC Composite trade show in March 2019. During the show, this project was awarded a JEC Innovation Award for sustainability, announced at the JEC Innovation Award ceremony on March 12, 2019. www.bio4self.eu 14 bioplastics MAGAZINE [05/19] Vol. 14
Award Bio-On and Kartell (both Italy) First modular storage system from Bio-on’s bioplastic Kartell (Noviglio, Milan, Italy) is offering a new eco-friendly and sustainable edition of one of its best sellers - a modular storage unit in the 100 % natural bioplastic material by Bio-on (Bologna, Italy). The Componibili storage unit, which is cylindrical in form with sliding panels, was first created by Italian designer and Kartell co-founder Anna Castelli Ferrieri in 1967. The 50- year old design is available in four colours: green, pink, cream and yellow in the three-module version. Originally made from ABS plastic in the 1960s, the updated bioplastic unit is made from Bio-on’s PHB Material, made from agricultural waste. For Kartell, research is a mission, said company president Claudio Luti. “We will continue to experiment to combine innovation and design.” “We have worked with Bio-on to be able to offer our public a very highquality bioplastic product and we have chosen to do it on one of our historic products, one of the most recognized in the world. Research on bioplastics fits with our quest for innovation and is part of the ‘Kartell loves the planet’ project aimed at enhancing good sustainability practices.” For Bio-on, it is “an honour”, said founder and CEO Marco Astorri. The company is proud to see its bioplastic showcased with one of the most famous Italian design brands in the world. To reciprocate and in gratitude for the trust placed in the material, Bio-on has given the biopolymer used for this specific application the name CL, the initials of Claudio Luti. www.bio-on.it | www.kartell.com Dantoy (Denmark) Biobased toys In February 2018, Dantoy, manufacturer of quality toys in Denmark for more than 50 years, launched its new line of BIO products, which has gained much more attention than initially anticipated. Today, more than 15% of all dantoy’s products are bio made from Braskem’s Green PE, supplied by FKuR, a development clearly contributing to this toy company’s healthy sales figures. Located in the middle of Jutland in Denmark and employing some 50 employees, most of whom have been with the company for more than 10 years, dantoy’s production facilities span an area of 15,000 m 2 . In addition, dantoy employs a number of affiliated colleagues who assemble the products at home or at sheltered workshops. All this says something about dantoy’s DNA, and the company culture dantoy is known for. All of Dantoy’s Plastic toys are licensed for the Nordic Swan Ecolabel, thus they must comply with the world’s strictest requirements for plastic contents, going far beyond the Danish law. In addition to using biobased plastic raw materials for the bio and the brand new Tiny lines, dantoy tries to minimise the impact of its operations on the environment. The company has therefore implemented eco-friendly processes to manage the consumption of energy, water and raw materials and to prevent the possibility of accidental releases or emissions via the manufacturing process. The success is not only based on the superior quality of the products, but also on the communication strategy. On every box it is clearly marked and explained what it’s all about with this bioplastic. A series of excellent Youtube videos also explain it. www.dantoy.dk Nölle Kunststofftechnik and Fraunhofer IAP (Germany) New splint for bone fractures A novel splint made of PLA for immobilizing bone fractures has been developed that can be repeatedly reshaped during treatment, such as, for example, when the swelling subsides. The new immobilisation concept, called RECAST was developed by Nölle Kunststofftechnik It makes use of variously sized preshaped splints made from biobased and biodegradable PLA. The splints are heated to between 55 and 65 °C. The temperature of the splints is then reduced to a minimum. The now formable plastic is molded to fit the corresponding part of the body. This process takes about five minutes. If corrections are necessary, the hardened splint can simply be reheated. The plastics processor worked closely with the polymer developers at the Fraunhofer IAP in Potsdam-Golm on the development of the optimum material. It was decided to use PLA as a base polymer, a bioplastic that has a major disadvantage for most applications: It becomes soft at around 58 °C. The low thermal softening point of PLA is a great advantage when used as an orthopaedic splint. This means that the product can be shaped repeatedly and quickly by heating. The Fraunhofer researchers combined PLA with suitable fillers and developed a formulation that met all the requirements. In addition, they ensured that the material could also be produced in industry-relevant quantities. In order to make the splint even more comfortable for patients, RECAST products also feature a fleece padding made of PLA and viscose, which was developed jointly with the Saxon Textile Research Institute in Chemnitz. www.noelle-kunststofftechnik.de www.iap.fraunhofer.de bioplastics MAGAZINE [05/19] Vol. 14 15
