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News daily upated news at www.bioplasticsmagazine.com Novamont named winner of the U.S. 2019 Innovation in Bioplastics Award In mid-September The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS, formerly SPI) Bioplastics Division announced Novamont, Novara, Italy, as the winner of the 2019 Innovation in Bioplastics Award. The company developed the Mater-Bi family of bioplastic polymers which is an innovative range of bioplastics created from plant-based feedstocks. Products made of Mater-Bi are used in many different sectors, providing unique and innovative solutions to specific environmental problems. Mater-Bi is suitable for processing by the most common conversion technologies: blowing, casting, extrusion/ thermoforming and injection molding machines for traditional plastics. "We are honored to present the Innovation in Bioplastics Award to Novamont, recognizing their years of work in the development of sustainable polymers,” said Patrick Krieger, director, regulatory & technical affairs at Plastics. "Mater-Bi embodies the three categories by which entrants are evaluated: sustainability, innovation, and commercial impact. Products made from Mater- Bi have reduced carbon footprints and supported alternative, sustainable end of life options for products and packaging. Congratulations Novamont." The certified compostable (EN 13432, ASTM D6400) applications made of Mater-Bi include grocery and produce carrier bags, cutlery, food packaging and more. Mater-Bi has characteristics very similar to those of traditional plastics. “The intrinsic biodegradability of Mater-Bi products is a factor that can mitigate ecological risk,” said Catia Bastioli, Chief Executive for Novamont. “Our approach seeks to prevent the pollution of waterways and the marine environment.” The North American Innovation in Bioplastics Award is announced annually during Plastics’ Bioplastics Division’s Bioplastics Week. Bioplastics Week is a social media driven initiative created to increase the visibility of bioplastics and educate people about the many benefits of bioplastics. “On behalf of Novamont North America, we are honored to receive the prestigious Innovation Award from Plastics,” said Dan Martens, Vice President, Novamont North America. “Research and development, teamed with environmental science, can positively impact commercial activities and everyday life. We at Novamont will continue to work in that direction for the betterment of our integrated global community.” MT www.plasticsindustry.org | www. materbi.com/en/about DSM to introduce alternatives Royal DSM, headquartered in Heerlen, The Netherlands, announced at the recent K-Show that its engineering plastics business will offer a full alternative range of its existing portfolio based on bio- and/or recycled-based materials by 2030. In this way, DSM Engineering Plastics is taking the next step in its sustainability journey in alignment with DSM’s purpose-led performance-driven strategy, enabling a circular and biobased economy. By offering a full portfolio of alternatives that contain at least 25 % recycled and/or bi-obased content by weight in the final product by 2030, DSM Engineering Plastics supports its customers to meet these demands and make more sustainable choices. As an immediate step, DSM Engineering Plastics launched biobased grades of its Arnitel ® and Stanyl ® product portfolio manufactured via a mass-balancing approach of biobased feedstock. The Stanyl biobased grades are already available with the globally recognized sustainability certification ISCC Plus. MT www.dsm.com Novamont increases production capacity Novamont (Novara, Italy) has now started producing its compostable biopolymers in the Mater-Biopolymer plant, in Patrica, in the province of Frosinone (Italy). This will enable production capacity to be increased by 40,000 tonnes, adding to the 110,000 tonnes of the site in Terni. This is a response to the strong growth in demand for biodegradable and compostable products. As well as improving production efficiency and providing a rapid response to market demands, expansion of the Patrica site will also enable the group to diversify its production sites and ensure an ever greater range of products for different applications with an increasingly high content of renewable materials. The Mater-Biopolymer plant in Patrica, which directly employs 90 people, was built following redevelopment of the former Mossi & Ghisolfi PET plant and cost over €100 million in investment. Producing 100,000 tonnes of ORIGO–BI ® annually, the new process has allowed the site to cut volumes by half compared to the previous traditional type of production, and to obtain products that have higher value and greater specificity. Mater–Biopolymer is a highly efficient plant, at the same time satisfying quality, environmental and safety requirements. Its complex system of utilities minimise costs and waste through the recovery and reuse of waste, in terms of the circular economy and sustainability. AT www.novamont.com 6 bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/19] Vol. 14
daily upated news at www.bioplasticsmagazine.com News Borealis to start Bio-PP production before end 2019 Borealis and Neste have announced they are establishing a strategic co-operation to accelerate circularity and bioeconomy in plastics. This will enable Borealis to produce renewable polypropylene using Neste’s renewable propane by end of 2019. Borealis, a leading provider of innovative polyolefin solutions (headquartered in Vienna, Austria), and Neste, the world’s leading provider of renewable diesel, renewable jet fuel, and an expert in delivering drop-in renewable chemical solutions (headquartered in Espoo, Finland), are entering into strategic co-operation for the production of renewable polypropylene (PP). The co-operation will enable Borealis to start using Neste’s 100% renewable propane produced with Neste’s proprietary NEXBT technology as renewable feedstock at its facilities in Kallo and Beringen, Belgium, starting end of 2019. As an industry frontrunner in sustainability, Neste offers biobased alternatives to conventional fossil-based feedstock to be used in the production of polymers and chemicals. Neste has an annual production capacity of 3 million tonnes of renewable products. Thanks to its proprietary NEXBTL technology, it can utilize nearly any biobased oil or fat as raw material, including lower-quality waste and residue oils to produce various premium-quality renewable products. Borealis will use Neste’s renewable propane, produced in Rotterdam, at its facilities in Belgium to create an entire portfolio of applications based on renewable PP. This marks the first time that Borealis uses biobased feedstock to partially replace fossil feedstock in commercial production of PP. It will also be the first time ever that renewable propane dehydrogenation is carried out at an industrial scale. The high-quality product will offer the same excellent product properties as conventional PP and is fully recyclable. Borealis’ unique propane dehydrogenation (PDH) and PP plant set-up in Kallo (Belgium) will enable the company to start offering biobased propylene and consequently biobased PP in which biobased content can be physically verified and measured. In addition, Borealis will continue to apply mass balance approach in its production at Kallo and Beringen (Germany) to take a major step forward to provide both renewable propylene and renewable polypropylene to its customers. The process will be certified by the ISCC Plus (International Sustainability & Carbon Certification), whose full value chain scope ensures that the renewable feedstock used is certified renewable, sustainably produced and traceable to point of origin. “Following its earlier commitment to scale its offer of recycled plastics, it is great to see Borealis continue to gradually shift its core business away from the consumption of fossil resources by producing renewable-based plastics,” comments Sander Defruyt, Lead of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's New Plastics Economy initiative. “This ambition is very much in line with the vision of a circular economy for plastics that Borealis endorsed when joining The New Plastics Economy Global Commitment. In a circular economy, plastics never become waste, and plastics production shifts from a model depending on the extraction of finite fossil resources towards one based on the circulation of materials. By scaling up the production of renewable-based plastics, Borealis and Neste actively support the shift towards a circular economy for plastics.” MT www.borealisgroup.com | www.neste.com ADM, LG Chem to develop superabsorbent polymers Archer Daniels Midland (headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, USA) and LG Chem (headquartered in Seoul, South Korea) are exploring routes to create biobased acrylic acid, a building block in the manufacture of superabsorbent polymers (SAP) used in a range of hygiene products, including diapers. "The acrylic acid project is another effort from ADM to create new sustainable materials from renewable resources and demonstrates our strong commitment to support customer demand through innovation,” said ADM senior vice president and Chief Technology Officer Dr. Todd Werpy. “By tackling this challenge with LG Chem, we can leverage the strengths and expertise of both companies to bring a cost-effective, sustainable solution to our customers.” “As customers focus more and more on sustainable alternatives, ADM is looking to continually push the envelope and find new ways to diversify our product mix,” said Chris Cuddy, president, Carbohydrate Solutions for ADM. “We currently produce about 30 different products from a kernel of corn, and we’re eager to explore the possibilities provided through biobased acrylic acid.” “This joint development agreement with ADM has enabled LG Chem to further expand our business portfolio with ecofriendly products that can achieve sustainable growth.” said Okdong Son, the President of LG Chem. "We are excited to drive research and development of sustainable materials based on bio resources, along with our advanced strengths in conventional petrochemicals business.” Under the terms of this agreement, ADM and LG Chem, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of acrylic acid, will work jointly towards economically viable commercial production of a 100% biobased acrylic acid using ingredients from ADM corn processing. Although there is growing industry demand for products developed from renewable materials, acrylic acid is currently produced almost exclusively from petrochemicals. To support production, LG Chem plans to review the construction of a bio-SAP production plant in North America, and to explore additional bio plastic business opportunities. MT www.adm.com bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/19] Vol. 14 7
