Brand Automotive Owner
Brand Automotive Owner Brand-Owner’s perspective on bioplastics and how to unleash its full potential „Hochland is making great efforts to reduce the ecological footprint of our packaging and to reduce waste by constantly optimizing our packaging. To this end we work closely with our suppliers and experts in the field of packaging development. Part of our packaging materials for your semihard cheese products, for example, already consists of 30% recycled plastic. In addition to the primary task of using as little plastic as possible for packaging, we see two major challenges: Firstly, the recyclability of the materials in order to enable material cycles in general. Our ambitious goal is to completely abandon the use of new plastic in the long term and to use defossilized plastics from recycling and renewable or bio-based raw materials in order to compensate for unavoidable losses of raw materials in the cycle. Dr. Michael Schmidt, Division Manager Corporate R&D, Hochland Deutschland GmbH, Heimenkirch Hochland SE : LOGO – 4C EUROSCALE Secondly, the efforts of packaging manufacturers and food producers will only be successful if the consumer can classify the different materials. So we must find solutions together not only in development but also in education. Hochland goes even further in its Vision 2025: we are striving for a climate-neutral circular economy in our company. As the saying goes: even the longest journey begins with the first step.” www.hochland-group.com Organiser nova-institute.eu Contact Dominik Vogt dominik.vogt@nova-institut.de Tel.: +49 2233 / 48 14 49 renewable-materials.eu New Market Solutions – Cross-sectoral Networking Opportunities – Sustainable Future of Chemicals and Materials A unique concept to present all sustainable and renewable material solutions at one event: bio-based, CO 2 -based and recycled • Renewable Chemicals and Building-Blocks • Fine Chemicals • Biorefineries • Chemical Recycling • Renewable Polymers and Plastics • Renewable Plastics and Composites • Biodegradation APPLY FOR Renewable Material of the Year 2021! 52 bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/20] Vol. 15
Automotive 10 Published in bioplastics MAGAZINE ago Years B Films | Flexibles | Bags How to Produce BOPLA Films iaxially oriented PLA films have certain properties • Units for film surface treatment adapted to the material which are advantageous for specific packaging requirements. Their excellent optics combined with • Winding and tension control optimized for BOPLA’s high modulus high stiffness make BOPLA an attractive cover for food. Resistance against oil, fat and alcohol and a low water vapor • Complementary state-of-the-art process control system barrier are beneficial for a variety of ‘challenging’ foodstuff. Successfully modified BOPLA line at Taghleef Industries Low sealing temperatures, high sealing strength, good printability and excellent twistability provide a wide range of ap- Taghleef Industries, a worldwide leading BOPP producer, and Brückner teamed up in order to modify one of Taghleef’s plications too. existing lines in Italy to produce BOPLA. The raw material Stretching lines for biodegradable film need a special supplier NatureWorks LLC was included in the process of design finding the right layout and parameters. Extensive tests on Brückner’s laboratory line have confirmed the layout data in At Brückner, research and development with PLA was a parallel process. The start-up of the new line took place in first performed over 10 years ago - at a time, when the raw August 2010, since then the new ‘NATIVIA’ films have been material was still new and unexplored. The concepts for new produced successfully for multiple applications such as film stretching lines or the modification of existing lines bakery, confectionery, fresh produce, snacks, dairy, lidding offered today are based on comprehensive PLA tests at the or labeling and stationery in the non-food sector. company’s technology center. Experiences from these trials lead to Main reasons for BOPLA film’s bright future • Special raw material handling systems for the hygroscopic • Consumption decisions based on sustainability and material PLA renewability have become a characteristic behavior for an increasing number of consumers • A specially adapted extruder screw design for PLA ensuring gentle plastification. An option could be to change the whole • There will be more and more BOPLA applications extrusion system to a twin screw design which processes • The growing demand for BOPLA packaging material is the melt more gently and already includes the moisture triggered by the food industry, which is looking for the extraction system. suitable packaging of their healthy nutrition • Adaption of all melt leading components ensuring gentle • Today, the supply of BOPLA resin is safe handling of the acidic PLA • A strong interaction between resin manufacturers, film or • Electrostatic pinning system other plastic goods producers, machine suppliers, the big • Machine and transverse direction orientation adapted to food companies and the retail chains specific stretch ratio and stretch temperatures of PLA • Special trimming and edge trim recycling www.brueckner.com In November 2020 Dr. Stefan Seibel, Head of New Technologies, Brückner Maschinenbau says: Biopolymers have long been a part of our portfolio, we’ve even developed the first elements of a ‘biofilm-kit’. However, packaging made from these raw materials is still largely a niche solution. This also applies to BOPLA: this technology is very rarely requested by our customers. A lack of recycling streams, difficult sorting, lacking home compostability, high raw material prices and reduced finishing properties all set limits here. It remains to be seen, if current legislative efforts will change the BOPLA approach. tinyurl.com/2010-bopla bioplastics magazine [06/10] Vol. 5 25 bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/20] Vol. 15 53
