Bioplastic
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Bio-based polyamides update
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I’ve been always monitoring activities from the bio-polyamides sector as I consider the nylon industry a high-potential area for bio-based chemicals. Here’s a slide from a presentation I gave early this year featuring various building blocks and intermediates required to produce a certain polyamide. The green arrows indicate current R&D/commercial production for bio-based alternatives. But of course,…
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BASF, Avantium form Synvina JV
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Commercial FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) production will be coming soon as Avantium and BASF formally announced the formation of Synvina, a joint venture to be based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, that will produce and market FDCA as well as market the new polymer, polyethylenefuranoate (PEF) based on FDCA. The JV is planning to invest a mid-three-digit…
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Toyobo, Avantium on PEF partnership
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I am still trying to catch up on blogging before I get very busy again next week for my September Biomaterials newsletter deadline at Tecnon OrbiChem. I am also almost finished with my glycerine presentation for the incoming ICIS Pan American Oleochemicals conference next month. By the way, if anybody is attending EPCA in Budapest…
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SPI Bioplastics Report
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The culmination of the first #BioplasticsWeek that SPI, the US plastics industry trade association based in Washington D.C., launched this year led to its release of its Bioplastics Report under its Plastics Market Watch Series, which focuses on key end markets for the plastics industry. Members of SPI’s Bioplastics division came together in 2007 with…
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Metabolix rejects Cellulac merger proposal
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I can’t really write any long posts this week due to tight newsletter deadline but I just saw a confirmation from UK-based Cellulac that it has proposed a merger to Metabolix, which was then rejected. Last week, Metabolix announced that it is closing its biopolymers (PHA-based) business with a layoff of around 45 positions (50%…
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Get to know the New Plastics Economy
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While the blog is still in the bioplastics mood, I’ve been hearing more and more about circular economy when it comes to the plastics industry and I came across this interesting study as well as this new three-year initiative called the “New Plastics Economy” (NPEC) led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in collaboration with a broad…
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Study: Biodegradable/compostable plastics in Europe
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nova-institute GmbH recently published a study on the consumption of biodegradable and compostable plastic products in Europe, which reportedly grew to 100,000 tons in 2015. Consumption is expected to grow beyond 300,000 tons in 2020 if the legal framework were to be set more favorably. This is based on an assumed annual growth rate of…