Issue 05/2022

Discover the world of

Discover the world of sustainable plastics! And the best way to do that is with a delicious coffee that you enjoy from a reusable cup made of Bio-Flex ® . Visit us at K 2022 and discover how to make circular plastic products work with FKuR’s bioplastics, high-quality recyclates, mass-balance resins or bio-recyclate hybrids. We support you on your journey to a circular economy and help you achieve your sustainability goals.

If you enjoy the, currently questionable, pleasure of living in central Europe you’ll have noticed, summer is over and the time of warm blankets, hot tea (or another hot beverage of choice), and staying inside has begun. The change of season also heralds the approach of the most important event in the plastics industry the K show in Düsseldorf (19.–26.10.). And, as always, the last issue of bioplastics MAGAZINE before the K show features a preview (pp.30–41) of many companies working in the areas of bioplastics and renewable carbon that are worthwhile to check out. The centrefold of this issue also features a map of the fairgrounds with (hopefully) all relevant companies on one view. This year’s K show is bound to be interesting with two of the three central themes being Climate Protection and the Circular Economy. Companies are bound to show their newest claims of sustainability and circularity – but I hope that this year we will get more to see than the simple statement of (just) “it’s recyclable” and more along the lines of “look what great cooperations and infrastructure we’re building to actually recycle our products at end-of-life”. Time will tell if the industry as a whole is moving towards real solutions (be that biobased, recycling, or CCU) to tackle the two plastics crises we have at our hands or if half-baked ideas and mere lip service to the new ideals of circularity and sustainability will be all it amounts to – smoke and mirrors to keep doing business as usual. Next to our extensive K-preview this issue also features the articles about Building & Construction, with a very interesting three pager about The Exploded View, an art installation showing all kinds of biomaterials in the field of construction, and Fibres / Textiles / Nonwovens where, among others, we look at enzymatic recycling. In this issue’s Basics article we go traditionally bio again, looking at different kinds of feedstocks for bioplastics. Meanwhile, the segment 10 years ago has a slightly different flavour this time around as instead of asking a previous article contributor to comment on developments we as bioplastics MAGAZINE are looking back at how our position towards CO 2 -based plastics has changed over the years. I hope to see many of you at the K show next month, and preferably at our Bioplastics Business Breakfast mini-conference during the trade show (20.–22.10.) which will focus on Bioplastics in Packaging, PHA – opportunities and challenges, and Bioplastics in Durable Applications. But for now, I will get myself a hot tea, a warm blanket, and sit on my balcony with a good book – listening to the rain. Sincerely yours dear readers bioplastics MAGAZINE Vol. 17 Bioplastics - CO 2-based Plastics - Advanced Recycling Editorial Highlights Fibre / Textile / Nonwoven | 10 Building & Construction | 20 Basics Feedstocks, different generations | 56 ... is read in 92 countries Follow us on twitter! www.twitter.com/bioplasticsmag Like us on Facebook! www.facebook.com/bioplasticsmagazine ISSN 1862-5258 Sep/Oct 05 / 2022 Alex Thielen bioplastics MAGAZINE [05/22] Vol. 17 3