Issue 02/2019
Highlights: Thermoforming Building & Construction Basics: Biobased Packaging
Highlights:
Thermoforming
Building & Construction
Basics: Biobased Packaging
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daily upated news at<br />
www.bioplasticsmagazine.com<br />
News<br />
Aimplas official test<br />
site for TÜV Austria<br />
Anellotech & partners:<br />
biobased paraxylene<br />
Companies seeking to gain OK Compost Industrial,<br />
OK Compost Home, OK Biodegradable Soil and Seedling<br />
certification and labels can now turn to the laboratories<br />
of research institute AIMPLAS (Paterna, Spain) for the<br />
required tests.<br />
Aimplas has now been officially recognised for that<br />
purpose by TÜV Austria, the independent certification<br />
body who, in December 2017 acquired the OK brand and<br />
certification scheme OK Compost developed by Belgian<br />
body Vinçotte NV.<br />
The laboratories of Aimplas had already significantly<br />
increased the scope of their accreditations in 2017<br />
when they obtained the ENAC - the Spanish National<br />
Accreditation Entity - accreditation for biodegradation<br />
under composting conditions and in soil tests, as well as<br />
disintegration tests. This placed the technology centre at<br />
the forefront of accredited tests for plastic materials in<br />
Europe.<br />
TÜV Austria's environment product verification<br />
marks offer a customized certification label for each<br />
biodegradation environment. The labels are widely<br />
recognised and trusted internationally by end customers.<br />
Hence, all components, inks and additives in certified<br />
packaging or products bearing the OK Compost Industrial<br />
label are biodegradable in an industrial composting<br />
plant. The OK Compost Home certification ensures these<br />
will biodegrade in home compost, at a lower temperature<br />
than industrial composting, while the OK Biodegradable<br />
Soi label ensures that a product is biodegradable in soil.<br />
The Seedling logo, authorised by European Bioplastics,<br />
identifies products in compliance with EN 13432 as<br />
compostable. Obtaining these labels includes ecotoxicity<br />
tests to assess compost quality and to ensure that there<br />
are no adverse effects on the environment. MT<br />
www.aimplas.es<br />
U.S. sustainable technology company Anellotech (Pearl<br />
River, New York and its joint development partners IFPEN<br />
and Axens have processed renewably-sourced aromatics<br />
made at Anellotech’s TCat- 8 ® pilot plant to successfully<br />
recover high-purity biobased paraxylene – a key component<br />
for making 100% biobased PET a reality.<br />
This is a key development milestone for Anellotech<br />
and global consumer beverage company Suntory, as the<br />
two partners will collaborate to produce bioPET bottles.<br />
Anellotech, IFPEN and Axens will now purify additional<br />
paraxylene to create pilot sample 100% bioPET beverage<br />
bottles – as well as sample quantities of biobased benzene<br />
whose derivatives (nylon, ABS, polycarbonate, linear alkyl<br />
benzene) are used in clothing, toys, mobile phones and<br />
laundry detergent.<br />
Anellotech has been producing renewably-sourced<br />
aromatics for purification by IFPEN and Axens in Europe.<br />
Since the announcement of a successful two-week<br />
continuous trial in March 2018 at Anellotech’s TCat-8 pilot<br />
plant at Silsbee, Texas, over 4,000 hours of cumulative onstream<br />
time have been achieved.<br />
An initial volume of high-purity bio-paraxylene test<br />
samples have completely met all of the ASTM International<br />
specifications for downstream derivatives in conversion<br />
to PET. As larger amounts of paraxylene are purified,<br />
Anellotech will begin to make renewable PET resin for<br />
prototype bottle manufacture and product trials. This<br />
will be the industry’s first major production of bio-PET<br />
from continuous, cost- effective processing of non-food<br />
biomass.<br />
As well as bio-paraxylene, Anellotech continues to<br />
work on the recovery of bio-benzene and toluene from<br />
TCat-8 output. Separation and purification of highpurity<br />
bio-benzene will enable sample volumes of a<br />
range of important biobased polymers such as nylons,<br />
polycarbonate, polystyrene and acrylonitrile-butadienestyrene<br />
(ABS) to be produced. MT<br />
www.anellotech.com<br />
Picks & clicks<br />
Most frequently clicked news<br />
Here’s a look at our most popular online content of the past two months.<br />
The story that got the most clicks from the visitors to bioplasticsmagazine.com was:<br />
tinyurl.com/news <strong>2019</strong><strong>02</strong>20<br />
Newest market and trend report: 2018 was a very good year<br />
for biobased polymers (20 February <strong>2019</strong>)<br />
Nova-Institute’s latest market and trend report (...) entitled “Biobased<br />
Building Blocks and Polymers – Global Capacities, Production and Trends<br />
2018-2<strong>02</strong>3”, it shows the production capacities and, for the first time, the<br />
production data for all biobased polymers.<br />
According to this report, the total production volume reached 7.5 million<br />
tonnes in 2018, which equates to about 2% of the production volume of<br />
petrochemical polymers. The potential of these materials is much higher,<br />
the authors note, but the low price of oil combined with the lack of political<br />
support are factors working against their reaching significant growth.<br />
bioplastics MAGAZINE [<strong>02</strong>/19] Vol. 14 5