Recently, Vattenfall, the largest thermal energy suppliers in Europe, celebrated the opening of a commercial algae-breeding facility at their premises in Senftenberg (Brandenburg), Germany. The facility, supplied by the Austrian company ecoduna, will use CO2 from the nearby power station, thereby reducing CO2 emissions. Vattenfall has been running tests on the reduction of CO2 through [...]
Green Additives for Polymers
Using bioplastics for packaging, cases of electronic or medical devices and similar purposes is an increasing opportunity to turn the plastic processing industry towards sustainability. Furthermore, this will lead to independence from crude oil and makes costs predictable for the long term. Moreover the use of biopolymers is currently very trendy. But generally, manufacturing of [...]
Bioplastic Made From Whey Protein
In the research for sustainable materials derived by new and green resources, waste and industrial byproducts earn increasing attention. Global industry now turns to large scale implementation of alternative technologies. Whey, a side product of cheese production, is currently in focus of a group of companies. They intent to produce a whey protein derived bioplastic [...]
The Lactic Acid Big Business
As mentioned several times in previous articles, polylactic acid (PLA) is the most promising bioplastic. So I felt it was time to contribute an article to the current market situation of PLA and its monomer lactic acid. Lactic acid has a variety of applications in the food and beverage sector as a preservative. It is [...]
PLA Recycling Infrastructure
Polylactic acid (PLA) is only biodegradable in industrial settings. Recovery of bioplastics like PLA in recycling facilities is not easy due to low volumes and often optical similarity with traditional polymers. California based BioCor LLC created an optical sorting machine able to detect and sort PLA from PET (polyethylene terephthalate) or HDPE (high density polyethylene) [...]
Cars Made From Renewable Materials
The 2011 Ford Explorer will be produced with a big amount of recycled and renewable materials. This SUV increases Ford’s use of bio foam and recycled fabric in interior car parts, as well as recycled steel in select exterior parts. Ford Motor Company says that these and other eco-improvements help to make 2011 Ford Explorer [...]
BioSuccinic Acid: Rising Bioplastic and Feedstock for Green Chemicals
Since the global demand for green chemicals increases, succinic acid revealed its large potential for a variety of applications. This dicarboxylic acid can be converted to a huge amount of different green chemicals of industrial value. The market for succinic acid is estimated at €2.5 billion (and rising), with uses in products such as antifreeze [...]
Using Bioplastics: If We Don’t Change The World, Who Else Will?
Facing the challenges of modern days sometimes seems impossible to manage and often request to change our beloved habits radically. But do we want to change modern lifestyle? I guess: no! Amending a convenient lifestyle is probably one of the last things we want to do. Clean technologies, able to overcome known global threats, like [...]
Bioplastics Gather Momentum
While gaining much attraction from media, the bioplastic – market is still in its infancy. Biomass derived plastics currently make up about 0.2% of the roughly estimated 350 million tons of plastics consumed annually. But that volume will grow 30% a year due to the rising demand of environmentally friendly substitutions for packaging and products [...]
Bioplastics Go Commercial: Green Polypropylene From Sugarcane
Back in 2008, the Brazil based company Braskem announced the production of the first polypropylene made 100% from renewable resources, which was verified in accordance with ASTM D6866. Now the company is going to build a commercial propylene plant using sugar cane as feedstock. Operational start up is planed for 2013. The green propylene production [...]
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