Issue 03/2016
bioplasticsMAGAZINE_1603
bioplasticsMAGAZINE_1603
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Report<br />
Potato starch in – high value starch out<br />
About 100,000 tonnes per year of side stream starch<br />
could be generated in Europe as co-products of the potato<br />
converting industries. More than 50 % of that amount is<br />
being collected by Novidon and converted into technical<br />
grades for the different applications.<br />
The starch is partly collected by an own fleet of ± 8 trucks<br />
and delivered to the different locations of Novidon. In order<br />
not to transport too much water, the company tries to get<br />
the starches as dry as possible. So starch can be delivered<br />
in a rather dry, powdery format (fig. 1) or in form of a slurry<br />
that is dumped into a bunker by a tanker truck (fig. 2).<br />
This slurry is then processed in several steps. In<br />
different cyclones heavier contaminations such as sand,<br />
protein and fibres, e. g. from potato peels are centrifuged<br />
off. This is followed by a drying process. Figure 3 shows<br />
the filling of the final dried and cleaned product into big<br />
bags. But the starches can also be filled in paper sacks.<br />
Only at this stage the starch is being evaluated in<br />
Novidon’s modern laboratory. Depending on certain<br />
properties a decision for the final field of applications is<br />
made.<br />
Native potato starch to bioplastics<br />
One of Novidon’s customers is BIOTEC in Emmerich,<br />
Germany, about 45 kilometers away. Biotec converts<br />
the native potato starch of Novidon to high quality<br />
bioplastics called BIOPLAST, which are biodegradable and<br />
compostable, and can be used for different applications<br />
such as film blowing (for the production of different<br />
kinds of bags – figure 4) or injection moulding. “This was<br />
something very interesting for us to learn”, says Roel van<br />
Haeren. “Together with Biotec, Novidon achieved to use<br />
their potato starch as a raw material for Bioplastics.” And<br />
Johannes Mathar, Project Manager R&D at Biotec amends<br />
that “potato starch showed to be the best starch for our<br />
bioplastics.” A few years ago Biotec made an evaluation<br />
and compared starches from corn, cassava, wheat, peas<br />
and other sources.<br />
While about 6,000 – 13,000 tonnes (depending on<br />
annually changing availability) of starch are converted into<br />
adhesives, 3,000 – 15,000 tonnes go to oil- and gas drilling<br />
approx. 20,000 – 35,000 tonnes are sold as high value native<br />
starch. 5 – 7 % of this amount goes into the bioplastics<br />
industry, for example to Biotec. With these figures in mind<br />
– in addition to the fact that Novidon’s potato starch is<br />
derived from co-products – it can be clearly stated, that<br />
such bioplastics from starch are in no competition to<br />
food and feed, an extremely durable solution ready for<br />
expansion.<br />
www.novidon-starch.com<br />
www.duyniegroup.com<br />
www.biotec.de<br />
By: Michael Thielen<br />
Figure 3 Figure 4<br />
bioplastics MAGAZINE [<strong>03</strong>/16] Vol. 11 37