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Diversity of types

Plastics are distinguished by their enormous diversity which makes them so successful in numerous applications. This is also true of bioplastics. They also cover an abundance of types, each with its own individual profile.

There are currently three bio-based polymer types on the market: starch materials, polylactic acid (PLA, polyester) and cellulose materials. Polyhydroxy fatty acids (PHA) which are manufactured using biological processes can also be included as a promising fourth class, despite the fact that this polyester is only commercially available in very limited quantities. This will however soon change as a succession of companies have announced they will set up production facilities for PHA polymers.

Renewable raw materials already currently dominate the production of bioplastics, and particularly with regard to commercial products, can no longer be overlooked. Many bioplastics are however mixes or blends containing synthetic components. Synthetic polymer types and addititives are frequently used, albeit in small quantities, to improve the functional properties of the finished product and to expand the range of applications.

Table: Overview of biodegradable bioplastics on the market

Petrochemical base	Manufacturer (trade name)	Application
Polyester (certain types)	BASF (Ecoflex)	films, moulding
Polyester amides (dertain types)	different
Polyvinyl alkohol	different	films
Renewable base	Manufacturer (trade name)	Application
Starch-based polymers	Novamont (MaterBi) Rodenburg (Solanyl) Plantic Technologies Bioplast (Biotec) Biop and other	films, moulding, extrusion
Polyhydroxy-alkanoates (PHA)	Kaneka Metabolix Telles PHB Industrial	moulding, films
Polylactic acid (PLA)	NatureWorks PLA Pyramid Bioplastics Synbra Technologies	films, moulding, fibers
Cellulose-derivatives	Innovia Films (NatureFlex) FKuR	films, injection moulding

 

Different types can of course be combined with one another to form compounds or blends, or semi-finished products such as films (multi-layer). In this way, both the property profile and the range of applications can be considerably broadened. Paper and bioplastics also have excellent results when processed and combined with one another.

An increasing number of companies, for example, Purac (lactic acid), Roquette, Tate & Lyle (starch and sugar derivatives) and DuPont (propane-1,3-diol) manufacture monomers from renewable resources. These products, which are mostly derived from the biotechnological fermentation process, can be processed into a multitude of polymers and copolymers.