K‘2016 Review (photo: C. Tillmann / Messe Duesseldorf) Show Review In Düsseldorf, end of October, the international plastics and rubber industry presented itself in top shape. Many of the 3,285 exhibitors of K 2016 reported a host of new leads, many of which already led to closed deals over the eight days of the trade fair. 230,000 trade visitors from over 160 countries were welcomed to the exhibition halls over the eight days of K 2016. Both these numbers as well as statements from many exhibitors and visitors confirmed that this year’s K-show was the best ever. Also for the bioplastics industry this K was bigger than before. More than 100 companies were listed in the official catalogue of Messe Düsseldorf under bioplastics. In our K-show preview we already presented some of the bioplastics related products and services presented at K’2016. This review will round off our report with a couple of news items and highlights that we found in Düsseldorf. Shinkong Synthetic Fibers Shinkong Synthetic Fibers Corporation (SSFC) was founded in 1967. Toray Industries Inc. and Mitsubishi Corporation provided the initial capital investment. Today SSFC owns three main manufacturing sites in Taiwan that occupy 426,666 square meters with generate a total production output of up to 2,535 tonnes per day. Production plants have also been established in Mainland China and Thailand. SSFC products can be largely divided into two main categories – polyester fibers and polymers. At K’216 SSFC presented biobased BPT (35 % biobased Polybutylene terephthalate). On display was a suitcase made of bio-PBT-fibres. The bio-PBT production is currently still in a pilot/labscale phase. “The biggest problem currently is that bio-BDO is not available in sufficient quantities,” a spokesperson told bioplastics MAGAZINE. Toyobo Toyobo, headquartered in Osaka, Japan, presented Vyloamide MJ-390JNZ65 a 30 % biobased polyphtalamid. The biomass-based, high modulus, strength, and melting temperature polyamide with excellent impact resistance can be a great replacement of metal applications to achieve weight reduction. Its exhibits extremely low water absorption and excellent heat stability and sustains its material strength even in very humid and hot environments In addition - just recently - Toyobo and Dutch bioventure company Avantium have agreed a deal under which Toyobo will manufacture polyethylene furanoate (PEF), a 100 % biobased resin that has qualities similar to polyethylene terephthalate (PET), but which exhibits higher barrier performance than that of PET. www.toyobo-global.com The main product categories of SSFC include partially oriented yarn (POY), polyester filament yarn, fully drawn yarn (FDY), polyester staple fiber (PSF), polyester draw textured yarn (P-DTY), industrial yarn, polyester pellets, PET bottle grade resin, PET bottles, PET bottle preforms, engineering polymers, optical films, polyester films, and A-PET sheets. http://tinyurl.com/shinkong 32 bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/16] Vol. 11
K‘2016 Review Wacker WACKER, the Munich-based chemical group, introduced novel polyvinyl-acetate-based Vinnex polymer grades for bioplastic compounds. The new additives can considerably enhance the processing and property profile of biopolyesters or blends with starch. For example, Vinnex 2526 greatly simplifies the manufacture of highly transparent, rigid polylactic acid (PLA) films. The Vinnex 2522, 2523 and 2525 products significantly improve processing and heat-sealing properties in paper coating with PLA or PBS (polybutylene succinate). Vinnex 8880 optimizes the flow properties in the melt for injection-molding applications and 3D printing, so that temperature-sensitive and complex items can also readily be produced and energy can even be saved during processing. Vinnex additives now make the production of highly transparent, biodegradable PLA and/or PBS films better and easier. The addition of Vinnex 2526, for example, optimizes both melt and bubble stability during the respective extrusion processes. Blister packs can be produced at lower temperatures and with a more uniform thickness distribution. Moreover, Vinnex further enhances the already good printability of biopolyester films. In paper cups with PLA or PBS, the additive optimizes the water-repellent coating, so that the cups are in no way inferior to their polyethylenefilm counterparts. During processing, the low-molecular Vinnex 2523 and Vinnex 2522 grades increase the initial adhesion of the PLA film to paper. In addition, Wacker’s additives improve the heat-sealing properties, so that a particularly strong bond forms between the paper and PLA. With the aid of certain Vinnex grades, film-coated paper cups can thus also be composted and recycled more readily – making them a more sustainable end product despite their single use. The Wacker additives can optimize items produced by injection molding or 3D printing, too. New Vinnex 8880 enhances the flow properties of the polymer melt, for example. Since this lowers the viscosity, heat-sensitive or highly complex items can also be manufactured. At the same time, more fillers – such as cellulose fibers, starch or inorganic fillers – can be incorporated into the melt. www.wacker.com A.J. Plast A.J. Plast; from Bangkok, Thailand is a biaxially-oriented film manufacturer which achieves world-class quality and standard by utilizing experience, innovation, and advanced technology to maximize customer satisfaction. One of their product lines comprises different grades of biaxially oriented PLA (BOPLA) films with a productions capacity of 5;000 tonnes per year. A.J. Plast’s BOPLA films are available as plain films, heat sealable films, paper lamination films and metallized versions of the above. The 100 % biobased BOPLA films show good moisture barrier properties, excellent transparency and printability as well as excellent twist retention. www.ajplast.co.th Shenzhen Hongcai New Materials Technology Shenzhen Hongcai New Materials Technology from Shenzhen, China presented a range of resins as well as finished products. The resins include partly biobased materials such as Di101 for injection moulding applications. The 55 % biobased (ASTM 6866) material is ideal for razors, toothbrushes, trays, cutlery etc.. The 50 % biobased material Df101 (film blowing grade) can be used for shopping bags, trash bags, tablecloth etc. Even if Shenzhen Hongcai promote this material also for mulch films, it should be clear, that both grades are not biodegradable or compostable. Biodegradable and compostable (in accordance to international standards EN 13432 or ASTM D6400) are the grades Bi100 and Bf100. Both grades are based on PLA. The injection grade Bi100 shows excellent heat stability up to 110 °C. The finished products include cups, bowls, trays, food containers (clamshell-style) plates and cutlery, all from modified starch. www.biohongcai.com Kitamura Chemicals Kitamura chemicals is a trading company dedicated to chemical products for over 120 year. At K’2016 they presented Eco Ninja, a PLA compound based on NatureWorks Ingeo biopolymer. The compound contains more than 80 % of Ingeo biopolymer. Eco Ninja has been developed using Kitamura’s latest compounding technology, which not only maintain the resin’s transparency but also maintains its compostability. In addition, the company also gives the material a special character, which can be compared to LDPE for elongation and flexibility. For the application of blown film, Eco Ninja doesn't require special or additional machinery to make film. Usually normal PLA is not ideal for film applications because of its limited tensile and tear strength. The newly developed Eco Ninja however, has excellent elongation characteristics compared to plain PLA. The tensile and tear strength of Eco Ninja is equivalent to LDPE. Compostable film made of PBS, PBAT, or starch blends don't have a good transparency. Eco Ninja maintains the original transparency of PLA when blown to films. Eco Ninja is suitable for vegetable packaging, magazine wrappers and many more applications where transparency is required. Due to a poor melt strength it is not so easy to blow films from pure PLA. Eco Nonja however, shows improved melt strength, so it can provide a much better productivity without any special machinery. The compostability of Eco Ninja is as good as for pure PLA. Most of all additives are also compostable. Kitamura is going to apply to the compost certification in Europe (Vinçotte). www.biohongcai.com bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/16] Vol. 11 33
