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Biopolymer Materials and Technologies Flourish

As the biopolymers market for packaging gets ready to take off, the range of bio-based renewable materials and the technologies being developed or used commercially continue to expand.

A wide range of renewable, bio-based materials are currently being used to create biopolymers, including pine needles.
A wide range of renewable, bio-based materials are currently being used to create biopolymers, including pine needles.

In Part I of Packaging World’s Biopolymers Special Report in the November 2017 issue, we discussed the “bounty of options for biopolymers.” While the article covered a number of advancements, the market is still a nascent one, albeit one expected to grow exponentially in the coming years.

According to a new report from Smithers Pira, bioplastics for packaging currently represent a very small share of the global plastic packaging market value. But, it estimates, the bioplastic market will more than double in value from 2017 to 2022, growing at an average rate of 17% per year, to a market value of $7.2 billion.

Part I of this report explored some of the more established materials in the market, including polylactic acid (PLA), bio-PET, and bio-PE. Here, we will continue the march through the alphabet soup of bio-based plastics, looking at one category that has been in the market for a while—TPS, or thermoplastic starch—and two emerging technologies: PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate) and PEF (polyethylene furanoate). As with Part I, this article does not purport to cover every material and supplier of these materials, but offers a glimpse at some of the technologies that are currently being used or are in development.

Starch-based biopolymers

Thermoplastic starch is a category of biopolymers derived from carbohydrates such as potatoes, tapioca, corn, maize, or rice, among others. Starch is a naturally-occurring biopolymer that, once plasticized, can be thermally processed and handled on traditional extrusion, injection-molding, blow-molding, or thermoforming equipment. TPS is then blended with polymers such as polyethylene or PLA to create a biodegradable alternative made partially or entirely from renewable resources that offers the same—or better—characteristics than 100% polymer blends.

One relative newcomer to the manufacture of TPS is BiologiQ. According to company COO Dale Brockman, what differentiates its potato starch-based material is that BiologiQ converts high-crystalline starch powder into a low-crystalline, mostly amorphous, thermoplastic resin. BiologiQ’s NuPlastiQ TPS is made in pellet form and contains less than 1% moisture, so it’s easy to blend with petroleum-based plastic resins.

Explains Brockman, when NuPlastiQ is mixed with conventional resins, the resulting Bioblend™, or “eco-alloy,” becomes a completely new molecule. “A good analogy is a real metal alloy,” he continues. “If you take copper and zinc and make brass, the strength of the brass is stronger than the copper and the zinc alone. In the same way, if you blend NuPlastiQ with petroleum-based resins, the properties change. Because NuPlastiQ has a higher modulus, or strength, than most polyolefins, Bioblends can be used to make plastic products that are stronger than those made with pure polyolefins.”

NuPlastiQ also offers significant sustainability advantages. Among them, up to a 50% reduction in the use of fossil fuel feedstocks as well as a reduction of 1.62 kg of CO2 per every 1 kg of PE replaced. Adding up to 30% of the material can also allow for the downgauging of sealant webs and standalone webs. In its purest form, the material is compostable, where industrial compost facilities exist. In addition, products made by blending NuPlastiQ with other resins can be designed to biodegrade, or can be designed not to, even in the presence of microorganisms.

Brockman says BiologiQ has successfully blended its TPS resin with linear low-density PE, LDPE, high-density PE, polypropylene, polystyrene, polybutyrate, PHA, PLA, ethyl vinyl alcohol, and other materials, including post-consumer recycled resins. Recently the company had success blending NuPlastiQ with frac-melt resins for a beverage overwrap application where “the film manufacturer stated that the bubble stability of the blown film was enhanced with NuPlastiQ, and the process ran better with it than without,” shares Brockman.

Other commercial applications as yet to be identified by customer include NuPlastiQ’s use by a big-box retailer for a potato bag that resulted in a 35% reduction in film gauge, and tests by a health and beauty company using NuPlastiQ along with recycled HDPE for blow-molded bottles for oil and lotion. Through top-load tests of the bottles, the end user determined they were stronger than its pure rHDPE control sample.

Probably more well known in the TPS market is Plantic Technologies, purchased by Kuraray Group in 2015. Plantic eco Plastic™ material is predominately made from cornstarch and is produced as extruded sheet or resin granules and is sold to a range of materials and packaging companies throughout the world. It can be thermoformed, injection molded, extruded, and blow molded and can be used for both rigid and flexible packaging. Eighty-percent of the total structure is made from cornstarch, while the skin layers are primarily PE and PP.

According to Plantic, because of the material’s exceptional oxygen and carbon dioxide barrier, it is especially suitable for packaging of fresh food products such as meat, chicken, fish, fresh salads, and fresh pasta. “In many cases there is an ability to extend the shelf life of products and significantly reduce or eliminate wastage,” says the company. In fact, given the extremely low OTR of eco Plastic, it can extend the shelf life of fresh foods by 15 percent to 40 percent, depending on the application.

The core layer of Plantic eco Plastic—Plantic® R1 or Plantic® HP1—is certified as biodegradable and compostable. However, the total construction of Plantic eco Plastic is not due to the presence of the non-biodegradable skin layers. But the material still has a very strong sustainable story, comprising 80% renewable materials and requiring 40% less energy to produce than conventional ethylene-based polymers.

PHA enters the market

Katrin Schwede, Head of Communications for European Bioplastics, the association representing the interests of the bioplastics industry in Europe, has her finger firmly on the pulse of the biopolymers market. In her opinion, one of the most exciting developments in biopolymers of late is PHA. “PHA is a very interesting, exciting, and innovative material that has been in development for a while and has now finally entered the market at commercial scale,” she says. “PHA polyesters are 100-percent bio-based and feature a wide variety of physical and mechanical properties, including improved barrier properties suitable for food packaging.” PHA is biodegradable and compostable not only in industrial composting plants, but also in other environments, such as marine waters, she elaborates.

PHAs are polyesters produced in nature by numerous microorganisms, including through bacterial fermentation of sugar or lipids. When produced by bacteria, they serve as both a source of energy and as a carbon store. More than 150 different monomers can be combined within this family to produce biodegradable materials with extremely different properties that can be used in the production of bioplastics. They can be either thermoplastic or elastomeric materials, with melting points ranging from 40°C to 180°C.

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