News daily upated news at www.bioplasticsmagazine.com First Mile and Vegware team up to boost compostable packaging recycling Plant-based packaging specialist, Vegware (Edinburgh, Scotland), is joining forces with leading recycling company, First Mile (London, UK), to provide a UK-wide end-of-life solution for its compostable foodservice disposables using RecycleBox, First Mile’s low cost, courier-led recycling service. First Mile currently collects over 25 material streams in London and Birmingham, including Vegware’s compostable packaging, but has now introduced RecycleBox to provide a national solution for those items not collected by local councils and other waste companies. This service is especially important for those items that require separate collections to be recycled effectively. Compostable packaging is a great example of this as it must be sent to a specialist facility to be organically recycled, and should not be put in mixed recycling. “First Mile’s RecycleBox service now creates full UK post-back coverage for used Vegware to access suitable waste infrastructure,” said Vegware’s environmental and communications director, Lucy Frankel. “Over two dozen UK facilities accept our compostable products, and trade collections for used Vegware now cover 38% of UK postcodes, up from 2% in 2012 when we started working with the waste sector. We introduced First Mile to a facility who had tested and approved Vegware products in their process, and see RecycleBox as an innovative solution for individuals and foodservice businesses throughout the UK.” RecycleBox is First Mile’s simple solution to overcoming the logistical barriers associated with recycling. Businesses or consumers can simply put the used Vegware disposables back in the cardboard box it came in (or order one from First Mile), and then book a collection online to return the box back to First Mile, who will then facilitate delivery to Vegware’s approved facility. The RecycleBox service is also available for other items – from used electrical items to coffee pods or old shoes. These items are sorted into the correct recycling stream or, for those items where an end-of-life solution doesn’t currently exist, sent to First Mile’s innovative RecycleLab where new recycling solutions are explored. Brands responsible for creating hard-to-recycle items can sponsor the RecycleBox service as a credible end-oflife solution to their products. Any brand needing help in finding a recycling solution can contact First Mile, who will assist them in finding a route via its network of processing partners. MT www.recyclebox.co.uk/taxons/vegware www.thefirstmile.co.uk www.vegware.com Membership milestone GO!PHA, the Global Organization for PHA is a memberdriven, non-profit initiative with as aim to accelerate the development of the PHA-platform industry. The platform looks to be filling a need: one month after its official incorporation on July 13, 2019, its membership has already grown to 25. As part of the GO!PHA policy it will publish a series of white papers to inform policy makers and other stakeholders about the benefits and potential of PHAs. The first white paper, authored by PHA expert Jan Ravenstijn, focuses on the bio-benign nature of PHA, which is a crucial element of the future success of PHAs in different end-markets. The full paper, and future GO!PHA white papers can be accessed at: www.gopha.org/pha Russian TAIF Group bioplastic project going forward Russian petrochemical giant TAIF JSC Group and Bioon have released a joint statement announcing TAIF’s plans to produce PHA bioplastic at a site in Tatarstan are indeed going forward. The company will build a new plant for the production of PHA based on technology licensed by Italy’s Bio-on, at Alabuga, an industrial zone that has attracted a number of the technology companies. The contract for the turn-key construction of the production plant will be awarded by the end of the year; production is aimed to commence in the second half of 2021. The plant will have an initial production capacity of 10,000 tonnes per year, but set up with the possibility for expanding to double that at a later stage. "We really believe in this project," says Ruslan Shigabutinov, General Manager of TAIF, who visited Bio-on and its production and R&D facilities in Castel San Pietro Terme (BO) on July 25, together with a Taif Group delegation, including strategic advisor Mr. Albert Shigabutdinov, who is also the Chairman of 2BIO JSC. “It represents an important opportunity for a group like ours that, among others, is active in the field of plastics. Taif Group is strategically sensitive to innovations, to environmental protection elements and wants to be actors in sustainable initiatives like this,” he continued. "The choice of the industrial site area was driven by the presence of many foreign investors that ensure, in addition to some tax benefits, an excellent visibility on the international market." added Albert Shigabutinov. MT www.taif.ru | www.bio-on.it 6 bioplastics MAGAZINE [05/19] Vol. 14
daily upated news at www.bioplasticsmagazine.com News Global bioplastics market unil 2024 Eco-friendliness, favourable government policies, renewable raw material sources, and high acceptance from consumers are driving growth in the global bioplastics market. While Europe accounts for more than two-fifths of the total market share and is expected to maintain its lead status, AsiaPacific is expected to register the largest growth rate with a CAGR of 20.4% through 2024. According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, Bioplastics Market by Type and Application: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2018-2024 the global bioplastics market was valued at ,126.31 million in 2017, and is projected to reach ,577.25 million by 2024, registering a CAGR of 18.8% from 2018 to 2024. Bioplastics are extensively used in the production of rigid packaging. In 2017, the rigid packaging segment accounted for approximately one-third share in the global market in terms of value. The level of technical complexity of bioplastics packaging is increasing and their use in rigid is expected to grow at the same pace throughout 2024. For instance, the commercialization of co-extruded double or multiple layer film products has gained momentum in the recent years. It also finds applications in various end-use industries such as flexible packaging, textile, agriculture, and horticulture, consumer goods, automotive, electronics, building and construction, and others. The production and use of bioplastics are viewed as a sustainable solution due to low emission of greenhouse gasses. Factors such as eco-friendly properties, increase in consumer awareness, growth in environmental concerns, and favourable government policies drive the growth of the bioplastic market. However, high production cost and comparatively lower performance standards than synthetic plastics restrain the market growth to a certain extent. Key Findings of the Bioplastics Market: • In 2017, Asia-Pacific accounted for more than one-fifth share growing at a CAGR of 20.4% from 2018 to 2024. • In 2017, non-biodegradable plastic accounted for the highest market share and is expected to growth at the highest CAGR of 20.2%. • The rigid packaging application segment accounted for the highest market share in 2017 and is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 28.3%. • In 2017, Europe accounted for the highest market share and is anticipated to grow at a significant CAGR of 18.7%. • India is anticipated to grow at the highest CAGR of 23.8% from 2018 to 2024. • In terms of value, Asia-Pacific and LAMEA collectively accounted for more than one-fourth share in the global bioplastics market in 2017. www.alliedmarketresearch.com/bioplastics-market Injection moulding simulation for bioplastics It is well known that bioplastics often behave very differently in injection moulding than their classical relatives. Simcon (Würselen, Germany), the expert for injection moulding simulation, has expanded its software products Cadmould and Varimos to include the calculation of bioplastics and biocomposites, i.e. classical polymers reinforced with natural fibres. Thanks to simulation, users of these materials can also benefit from the advantages of simulations and save an average of around 30 % in both development time and cycle times. In the research project NFC-Simulation funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) Comparison measured and simulated deformation in which among others the car manufacturer Ford was a partner, Simcon has shown by means of a glove compartment assembly that influences of the injection moulding process such as filling, holding pressure, shrinkage and warpage are realistically mapped up to the transfer of the fibre orientations to the crash simulation. "Even the crash simulation at Ford delivered excellent results with the fiber orientations provided by Cadmould", Simcon owner Dr. Paul Filz looks back on the project. Cadmould has also been successfully used for bioplastics in other areas, such as consumer electronics and musical instruments. MT www.simcon-worldwide.com bioplastics MAGAZINE [05/19] Vol. 14 7
