The Age of Bio-Engineering Plastics

Fredric Petit, Director Sustainability, DSM Engineering Plastics (Holland) observed that the world has become addicted to fossil fuel but in the grand scheme of things the fossil-fuel age can be no more than a brief interlude separating millennia of renewable usage for fuel and materials.  The return to bio-based economics is imminent and with it the building blocks for plastics will have to move from petrochemicals to biomass.  DSM already have a leading position in bio-ethanol, bio-diesel and biogas along with bio-succinic acid and bio-adipic acid for polymer and plastics production. 

They are now focussing on bio-ethanol from cellulose in a 50/50 JV with POET called Project Liberty.  DSM will provide the enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation technology in a $250million investment to produce 20million gallons of ethanol/year in a commercial scale demonstration plant in Emmetsburg Iowa.  The technology will ultimately be replicated throughout POET’s 27 corn-based ethanol plants.  The JV is expected to produce revenue in 2013 from the sale of cellulosic bio-ethanol, biogas and (later) licensing the technology.

For the USA, EPA estimates the need for 350-400 new biorefineries by 2022 to produce 16 billion gallons/year of bioethanol under the Renewable Fuel Standard.  7.8 billion gallons of this should come from cellulose derived from corn-crop residues.

(from a paper given at the Biopolymer World Conference, Venice, April 2012)

Biopolymer World Conference: Venice-Mestre: April 22nd-24th 2012

This was the first biopolymer conference organised by San Diego-based Biopolymer World Magazine and it proved to be an informative addition to the EU calendar.  It attracted about 100 delegates and some excellent papers despite being shoe-horned into the space between a weekend and the annual St Marks day holiday.  The location may not have been the best either, Venice having holiday connotations for the international audience while mainland-Mestre, where the conference centre was located, is, in comparison with Venice, an unattractive industrial area.

This conference, like its older cousin the Bioplastics Conference, confuses traditional polymer chemists by using the “Bio” prefix in two different ways.  “Biopolymer” is used to refer both to conventional synthetic polymers made from bio-ethanol, and to biodegradable polymers made from fossil fuel.  Cellulose, “the most abundant biopolymer on the planet” only gets a mention as a constituent of biomass from which ethanol can be derived!

An ISO definition of “Biopolymer”  is emerging and this is most likely to use a carbon 14 assessment of the ratio of fossil to renewable carbon in the polymer with more than 25% renewable being required to allow the Biopolymer label.  “Biodegradability” is not required and may even be a disadvantage: biodegradable plastics being seen in some quarters as sources of contamination in the recycling of traditional polymers made from bio-ethanol.

Paper summaries will be posted here over the next few weeks.

P&G and U.S. EPA Sign Sustainability Research Agreement

CINCINNATI, Jul 24, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Procter & Gamble Company and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL) announced today the signing of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to develop new tools to optimize sustainability improvements in manufacturing facilities, and their associated supply chains.

These improvements will directly address the endpoints of P&G's long-term environmental sustainability vision, announced in September of 2010. This vision includes: 1) Powering its plants with 100% renewable energy; 2) Using 100% renewable materials or recyclate for all its products and packaging; 3) Having zero consumer or manufacturing waste going to landfills; and 4) Designing products that delight consumers while maximizing the conservation of resources.

In order to meet this commitment, new methods and tools are needed

Lenzing AG Intensifies Pulp Cooperation with Sappi

Lenzing AG, global market leader for man-made cellulose fibers, is intensifying its longstanding cooperation with the paper and pulp group Sappi. Both companies have concluded a multi-year pulp delivery contract at comparable terms and conditions with pricing linked to paper pulp as in the existing supply contract. The agreement is related to the construction of new dissolving pulp capacities by Sappi.

Sappi is the world’s largest manufacturer of dissolving pulp with an annual capacity of 800,000 tons at present growing to 1.3 million tons. Dissolving pulp is used in producing cellulose fibers, amongst other purposes. The raw material is wood mainly derived from certified eucalyptus plantations. Lenzing has already been sourcing high quality pulp for its non-integrated fiber production plants in Indonesia, China, Europe and the USA for several decades, including from the Sappi Group.

Download press release as PDF

For more information please contact:
Angelika Guldt
Head of Corporate Communications
Phone: +43 (0) 7672 701-2713
E-mail: a.guldt@lenzing.com

Kelheim Fibres at Dornbirn 2012

A Specialist Specialises

Commercial Director Matthew North will deliver a deep insight into the strategy of the Bavarian viscose fibre manufacturer Kelheim Fibres at this year’s Man-Made Fibers Congress in Dornbirn. In his speech with the title “A Specialist Specialises” he will reveals the secrets of success of Kelheim Fibres, who - as a medium-sized enterprise – has gained an excellent position in an increasingly competitive global market.

For those who want to know more about the newest products of the speciality fibre producer three more presentations will deliver more specific information.

Dr. Ingo Bernt from Kelheim Fibres’ R&D team will speak about the design of viscose fibres specially for wetlaid nonwovens. As current research shows, short fibres with a flat cross section prove particularly beneficial for the strength of a nonwoven web. The latest fibre invention from Kelheim, Leonardo, combines both properties perfectly and beyond that also scores with its extra smooth surface and transparency.

Dr. Philipp Wimmer, another member of Kelheim’s R&D team, will present viscose speciality fibres for enhanced fluid management. In his lecture he will speak both about speciality fibres with increased water absorbency and the completely new possibility to produce viscose fibres with reduced water absorbency or even water repellence.

Finally, Dr. Roland Scholz will present viscose fibres designed to improve dispersibility of wet wipes. The underlying research examined wet wipes for personal hygiene applications which frequently are flushed into toilets – and risk blocking the waste water system. In the course of the study important factors were discovered which facilitate the dispersibility of nonwovens based on 100% viscose fibres: In addition to water pressure in production and the properties of the nonwoven, the fibre geometry (titre, length and shape of cross-section) play a decisive role.

In addition to these lectures, Kelheim’s fibre experts are available for personal meetings at Kelheim Fibres’ information booth. 

BIOPLASTICS 2012: FROM NICHE TO MAINSTREAM

7th European Bioplastics Conference – Programme preview

Berlin, 19 July 2012. While brand owners are already testing bioplastics, all levels of the bioplastics value chain are working dynamically on optimising processes and creating new solutions. Bioplastics are now ready for the mass market. Current innovations and trends will be discussed on 6th and 7th November 2012 at the 7th European Bioplastics Conference in Berlin – the leading industry event in Europe.

The bioplastics industry is on the move – in the certification of biomass cultivation, new materials and products, and waste disposal and recycling solutions currently being developed. The most recent findings and positions will be presented at the annual conference of the European industry association, European Bioplastics. The event will take place on 6th and 7th November 2012 at the Maritim proArte Hotel in Berlin.

A highlight of this year’s programme is, amongst others, the inaugural speech from Alfredo Aguilar Romanillos, European Commission, Directorate Biotechnologies, Agriculture and Food.

Andritz Kusters Wet-Finishing for Diaper Spunbond

Tobias Schafer, Head of Sales for Andritz Kusters (Germany) commenced with market data for the Arab Maghreb Union (Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco and Mauretania), a region of MENA with 1.54 million babies born per year, mainly in Morocco and Algeria.  The birth rate is however declining.  

The diaper market is 55% penetrated with a potential of between 7 billion (according to John Starr) or 8.55 billion (according to EDANA) diapers/year.

Diaper performance is related to multiple insult strike-through times, wet-back and runoff from the coverstock.  These in turn are controlled by oil pick up in the hydrophobic finishing of the coverstock, a process which spreads 10 litres of finish over an area on nonwoven the size of a football pitch. Andritz have developed a new kiss roll applicator system with heated rollers for single or 2-sided coating.  Metered uptake and automatic concentration control guarantees precise wet pick up.  


Because of the air turbulence created by the fast moving spunbond in the kiss roll system a mesh structure is used over the rolls to reduce turbulence induced variations.  The new drum drier has two stages to allow hotter operation at the inlet side.  In-line oil uptake measurement with feedback to kiss roll speeds allows the  wet pick up to be controlled as line speed increases.

(from EDANA Middle East Symposium  - Dubai - 14th and 15th Feb 2012)

Stentering Nonwovens

Bernd Can, Sales Manager, Bruckner Textile Technologies (Germany) explained how their expertise in building heat setting machinery for textiles could be used to improve the performance of spunbond nonwovens, especially for geotextiles.  The key benefits of heat-setting spunbonds on a stenter rather than calendering were:

·    Ability to vary basis weight up or down by controlled shrinkage or       stretching in either or both of the MD and CD directions.

·         Increased strength.

·         Better MD/CD balance.

·         Improved resilience.

·         Better control of bico melting.

·         Contactless heating system: no melting on hot surfaces, no cleaning.

·         Fabric widths infinitely adjustable up to the machine width (i.e. up to 7m)

Temperature variations in the hot air ovens were minimised by Vent-Jet gas/air mixing technology and alternating up/down draught zones along the length of the oven.  This “Counter Air Flow” reduced temperature variations down to +/- 1% compared with +/-5% in a conventional stenter.

Bruckner was also able to provide belt systems for bonding high loft webs up to 30mm thick.  These belt systems could fuse ADL fabrics at 200m/min and dry spunlace fabrics at up to 500m/min.  They could also apply treatments to and dry SMS fabrics, but all these belt systems required more floor space than the current machinery.


(from EDANA Middle East Symposium  - Dubai - 14th and 15th Feb 2012)

Spunlaid Tencel progresses

Lenzing's New Business and Innovation Director Robert Smith gave a paper at the Nonwovens Network meeting in Bradford this week updating progress on their collaboration with Weyerhaeuser to produce Tencelweb(TM) nonwovens.  Since start up of the 50cm wide research line in 2009 the process has been revamped to increase the productivity, and will be able to produce nonwovens with a variety of fibre sizes in the spunbond to meltblown range.  Being made from a solution of cellulose,  fibre-reinforced film-like structures and paper can also be made by using unregenerated filaments or dope to bond those that have been  regenerated. 

The conference is reported by Sustainable Nonwovens and this paper is summarised at: Next step for extruded Tencel and also in Nonwovens Report International

Click here for Tencel History

Birla spending $2bn on Viscose Fibres

Mumbai: Indian billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla plans to spend $2 billion (Dh7.35 billion) in the next three years to add capacity and maintain his group’s position as the world’s largest producer of viscose staple fibre.

The Aditya Birla Group plans to raise its ability to produce the fibre used to make rayon, wipes and nappies by as much as 43 per cent to 1 million tonnes by 2015, Krishna Kishore Maheshwari, director of the pulp and fibre business, said in an interview.

Last week, Aditya Birla agreed to buy Terrace Bay Pulp, a paper pulp mill in Canada, to secure raw material supplies.

Birla, who runs businesses from cement to telecommunications, is betting his plan to acquire suppliers and add capacity will help the company control costs and enable it to profit from rising demand in Asia, home to the world’s two most populated nations. The investment in the fibre business will aid the group in boosting combined revenue by 63 per cent to $65 billion in three years.

Read the full article at Gulf News