Issue 02/2017

Buss Laboratory Kneader MX 30-22
By:
Nopadol Suanprasert
President
Global Biopolymers Co., Ltd.
Bangkok, Thailand
trees are replanted each year -Thailand has been exploring
the use of new materials for root trainers that could be
buried in the soil with the young trees, thus eliminating
potential root damage. This material would have to be able
to degrade in soil to allow roots to penetrate out to the soil.
Corbion Purac, headquartered in the Netherlands,
and Global Biopolymers of Thailand have now jointly
developed a new root trainer made from PLA compounds.
The cone-shaped product is injection molded. As a test,
young rubber trees were planted in the new root trainers
(Fig 1) and kept in a nursery for 6 months. While in the
nursery they were stored in racks for good ventilation.
No degradation of the root trainers occurred during the
period in the nursery. After 6 months, the young rubber
trees were outplanted in the plantation without removing
them from the root trainers (Fig. 2). After 4 months in the
soil, the PLA root trainers had degraded, allowing the
roots to penetrate and grow in vertical direction controlled
by the root trainer (Fig. 3).
This test was conducted in Thailand’s government
rubber plantation in Rayong province. Rayong is where
Corbion’s lactic acid plant is located and the site of the
new Total Corbion PLA plant, currently under construction,
for the production and marketing of PLA polymers and
lactide monomers. The use of root trainers made from
PLA to cultivate rubber seedlings is therefore a classic
case of circular economy in the local host country. The
lactic acid is produced in Thailand from local agricultural
raw materials. PLA made from this lactic acid is used
to produce root trainers for growing rubber, another
agricultural economic crop. The technical benefits are a
longer service life and higher productivity, and these are
accompanied by lower costs and a higher financial return.
From a socio-economic point of view, both the farmers
producing the lactic acid raw materials and the rubber
farmers gain from better economic returns for their crops.
Additionally, eliminating the use of PP root trainers helps
farmers to operate more sustainably.
Although the research and development of root trainers
is still ongoing, other tests are planned in larger areas
with different climatic conditions. The initial test results in
Rayong have indicated the practicality of growing rubber
in PLA root trainers. Due to a longer life of the rubber
trees the projected economic benefits of PLA root trainers
translate to approximately EUR 850 per tree additional
income from more harvested latex for the farmer.
The application of PLA root trainers is just one example
of bioplastics in agriculture. The same concept could
be applied to other economic crops, fruit trees, and
reforestations.
www.globalbiopolymers.com
Buss Kneader Technology
Leading Compounding Technology
for heat and shear sensitive plastics
For more than 60 years Buss Kneader technology
has been the benchmark for continuous preparation
of heat and shear sensitive compounds –
a respectable track record that predestines this
technology for processing biopolymers such
as PLA and PHA.
> Uniform and controlled shear mixing
> Extremely low temperature profile
> Precise temperature control
> High filler loadings
Buss AG
Switzerland
www.busscorp.com
bioplastics MAGAZINE [02/17] Vol. 12 25