Biodegradable-plastic – Barrier-Films 04-03-2022 - Arhive

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Biodegradable-plastic – Barrier-Films

-The Compound Company acquires Exxelor™ polymers from Esso Deutschland GmbH to expand its global reach into new markets

Enschede, The Netherlands, March 01, 2022 – The Compound Company, a leading developer and manufacturer of compounds, announced it has acquired the production site, product portfolio and customer base for Exxelor™ polymer resins from ESSO Deutschland GmbH , ExxonMobil in Cologne, Germany. The acquisition will increase the global production capacity of The Compound Company to about 70 kilotons per year and significantly expand the group’s reach into new markets.

“We are very excited to welcome the Exxelor manufacturing force and portfolio in our organization,” says Frans Haafkens, major shareholder of The Compounding Company. Biodegradable-plastic – Barrier-Films

“The acquisition adds a new sizeable jewel to our crown and ideally complements our established offering of Yparex® extrudable adhesives and EcoForte® compound families. It provides great synergies to further grow our customer base, with new opportunities in several dynamic application areas such as e.g. e‑mobility.”

Exxelor™ polymer resins are chemically modified polyolefin and elastomers based resins used to enhance the performance of engineering thermoplastics and other polymers. Biodegradable-plastic – Barrier-Films

As impact modifiers they improve the toughness of compounds. As compatibilizers, coupling agents and adhesion promoters, they increase the bonding strength of non-polar polymers with polyolefins, fillers and reinforcements as well as metals, thermoset rubbers and most polar substrates, including glass.

Biodegradable-plastic - Barrier-Films

-Scientists Develop an Environmentally Sustainable Process to Produce Biodegradable Plastic

Scientists based in Brazil and Portugal have developed an environmentally sustainable process to produce biodegradable plastic using pigment extracted from yeast by “green” solvents. In an article published in the journal Green Chemistry, they show that this biodegradable plastic could in future be used in smart packaging with antioxidant and anti-microbial properties. Biodegradable-plastic – Barrier-Films

With similar applications to those of conventional plastics derived from oil, gas and coal, which take hundreds of years to decompose, sustainable bioplastics produced from sugarcane, corn and potatoes are starting to become commercially available.

After more than eight years of research, the scientists demonstrated that eutectic solvents can efficiently extract two carotenoids, astaxanthin and beta-carotene, from biomass of the yeast Phaffia rhodozyma.

Carotenoids are a class of more than 750 naturally occurring pigments synthesized by plants, algae and photosynthetic bacteria. They account for the yellow, orange and red colors of many plants. They have commercial applications in the food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries, among others.

According to the researchers, eutectic solvents can be used both to extract the pigments and to produce biodegradable plastic film based on bioactive starch without any need for additional purification. Biodegradable-plastic – Barrier-Films

Biodegradable-plastic - Barrier-Films

-Prices Firm for Polyolefins, PS and PET

PVC prices have the weakest outlook among commodity resins.

Moving toward the end of the first quarter, the pricing trajectory for the five major commodity resins was a mixed bag, with a potential bottoming-out for PP and PE prices, an upward push for PS and PET, and a downturn for PVC tabs.

Key drivers included the continued impact of higher feedstock costs and global logistics issues—including higher feedstock costs, a dearth of truck drivers, container availability, and some Gulf Coast warehouses at full capacity, delaying exports.

Those are the views of purchasing consultants from Resin Technology, Inc. (RTi), senior editors from PetroChemWire (PCW), CEO Michael Greenberg of The Plastics Exchange, and Scott Newell, executive  v.p.  polyolefins at Spartan Polymers.

PE Prices Flat

Polyethylene prices rolled over in January, with suppliers pushing back their 4¢/lb hike to February. Biodegradable-plastic – Barrier-Films

However, new price initiative emerged, averaging an additional 4¢/lb for last month, according  to Mike Burns, RTi’s v.p. of PE markets, PCW senior editor David Barry, and The Plastic Exchange’s Greenberg.

Burns ventured that PE prices would hold firm in February as suppliers’ price-hike attempts changed the narrative of slumping prices.

Biodegradable-plastic - Barrier-Films

-Innovation in Frankfurt, suspended operations in Russia

Messe Frankfurt RUS activities on hold until further notice as over 1,000 companies sign up for show in Germany. Biodegradable-plastic – Barrier-Films

Messe Frankfurt is opening the registration for the Techtextil Innovation Awards 2022, ahead of the leading international trade fair for technical textiles and nonwovens taking place in Frankfurt, Germany from June 21-24th.

The international events organiser is meanwhile suspending all of its events in Russia and said in a brief statement: “The Russian invasion of Ukraine is an unprecedented threat to peaceful coexistence in Europe. Messe Frankfurt supports all of the federal government’s sanctions. Against this background, the management of Messe Frankfurt decided today to suspend events of its subsidiary Messe Frankfurt RUS until further notice.”

Among other events, this casts uncertainty on the Techtextil Russia event which was scheduled to take place in Moscow from September 20-22.

Registrations

Techtextil and Texprocess 2022 in Frankfurt already have registrations from more than 1,000 international exhibitors and twelve national pavilions.

The deadline for applications for the Innovation Awards is March 25, 2022.

Innovative new products are being sought in the following categories – concept, technology, material, application, product, sustainability and circular economy, sustainable technology and recycling, and technology and digitalization. New, unconventional ideas, concepts and visions are particularly welcome. The Techtextil Innovation Award supports progressive approaches and dialogue between researchers, the manufacturing industry and users.

For the first time, Techtextil will also mark an outstanding development in the field of functional or performing textiles materials for fashion with the Techtextil Performance Fashion Award. Biodegradable-plastic – Barrier-Films

Innovation in Frankfurt, suspended operations in Russia

-Limited evidence that chemical recycling can help tackle the issue of plastic waste, says WWF

There has been a lot of discussion in recent years about the potential of chemical recycling technologies to help address the issue of plastic waste by managing plastics that were previously thought of as unrecyclable. But WWF argues that there is currently limited evidence to indicate whether chemical recycling can provide additional benefits to mechanical recycling, or that these technologies are safe to begin with. Biodegradable-plastic – Barrier-Films

A position paper published recently by the organization states that not only is there not sufficient evidence that chemical recycling will have a positive impact on plastic waste management, but that the evidence that does exist suggests that it may pose hazards to the health of humans and the environment. The paper argues that the available evidence does not yet prove that chemical recycling will provide any extra advantages to existing mechanical recycling systems, and that there is some danger that such technologies could even weaken the systems already in place.

WWF’s No Plastic in Nature strategy aims to address the plastics problem by 2030 through government policy, working with the private sector, and focusing on public engagement. “Through these pillars, we work with all stakeholders over a variety of industries to really reach a common vision, and that’s to reimagine how we source, design, dispose of and reuse the plastics we depend on every day,” said Erin Simon, head of plastics and business at WWF-US Biodegradable-plastic – Barrier-Films

Biodegradable-plastic - Barrier-Films

-Ampacet Additive Makes Multilayer Barrier Films Recyclable

New ReVive 311A Compatibilizer earns How2Recycle Prequalification for Store Drop-Off for multilayer films that combine PA6 and EVOH.

Masterbatch supplier Ampacet, Tarrytown, NY, has launched a compatibilizer that boosts the recyclability of multilayer barrier films containing polyamide 6 (PA6) and ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH). Biodegradable-plastic – Barrier-Films

The Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) has granted the new compatibilizer How2Recycle Prequalification for Store Drop-Off. Thus, multilayer barrier films containing the proper combination of PA6 and/or EVOH — with correct compatibilizer loading — may be eligible to display the How2Recycle Store Drop-Off label.

Post-consumer and post-industrial films made with the compatibilizer can be disposed of in the polyolefin recycling stream and may be used for film production or other plastics processing.

“ReVive offers the best of all possible worlds in food packaging,” said Doreen Becker, Ampacet sustainability director, in a prepared statement. She noted that although multilayer EVOH/PA6 barrier films have not been recyclable, they are superior to monomaterial polyethylene (PE) films for preserving freshness and preventing food waste.

The new compatibilizer enables plastics processors to meet sustainability goals by boosting their use of post-consumer/post-industrial resin, and it helps consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies deliver well protected foods in recyclable packaging. Biodegradable-plastic – Barrier-Films

“ReVive’s How2Recycle Prequalification for Store Drop-Off allows us to show consumer packaged goods [companies] how to use the How2Recycle standardized labeling system in packaging to achieve circular economy goals and help encourage consumers to recycle,” Becker said.

Ampacet Additive Makes Multilayer Barrier Films Recyclable

Biodegradable-plastic – Barrier-Films

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