Bio-plastics in Packaging; Innovations,

Opportunities and Challenges

Dr Roya Khalil

Australian Institute of Packaging Conference, 14-15 June 2012

Summary

Background

Terminology

Test standards & certifications

Innovations & applications

Global capacity & prediction demand

Challenges

- Communication & Marketing

- Disposal

Definition of Sustainability

Sustainability is simply stated as:

“meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future

generations to meet their own needs."

World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, Our Common Future

Sustainable strategy defined with +R

Reduce

Reuse

Recycle

Renewable

Sustainability and Packaging

Packaging industry, the sustainability focal point

and primary benchmark for other industries

- Resource intensive sector in an increasingly

resource constrained world

- Increased volume of packaging waste ending up

in landfills

Challenge can also be an opportunity to gain

competitive advantage through the development

of an environmentally sustainable strategy

- An option could be the use of bio-plastics

Terminology and Measurements

Bio-based (renewable soured) - Focus is on the origin of the carbon building block

- To be classified bio-based, material must be organic and contain some percentage of recently fixed

(new) carbon found in biological resources or crops

Biodegradable - Focus is on the end of life

- To be classified biodegradable, a certain % of the material must convert to carbon dioxide, water and

biomass via microbial assimilation within a time period of 180 days and less than 10 % of test material

remains on a 2mm sieve

- To be classified compostable, material must meet the biodegradation criteria and leave no impact on

plants, using OECD Guide 208 and meet the regulation (heavy metals less than 50 % of EPA

prescribed threshold)

The two classes however are not mutually exclusive.

How to identify and distinguish

bio-based or biodegradable?

- Accredited testing

laboratories

- Certified by industry

approved corporation

Standards &

Certifications

Raw Material Extraction

Material Processing

Part Manufacturing

Product Use

End of life

Life Cycle

Assessment

‘’Cradle to Grave‘’

How “Green” is Green?

Transport

Quantitative and qualitative

impact measure

LCA - ISO 14040

Eco Profiling

PIQET

Packaging Innovations (Rigids)

bio-plastics – Packaging Innovations- flexibles Packaging Innovations (Flexibles)

Legislative Initiatives

Japan

Government has set a goal that 20% of all plastics consumed in Japan will be renewably sourced by 2020

Germany

Germany banned on land filling solid waste with over 5% organic content

Biodegradable plastics exempt from the recycling directive until 2012 attributes to savings of 1.3 €/kg in

favour of compostable bio-plastics

Netherlands

Netherlands is Implementing a 40 € cents/kg tax on PET vs. tax on PLA of 8 € cents/kg

USA

USA Federal Farm Bill - Energy Title 9, each federal agency must design a plan to purchase as many bio-

based plastics as practically possible, procurement plan will be based on bio-based content, price and

performance

Global Capacity & Market Demand Global demand to triple to

over 1m tonnes by 2015

Demand for bio-based

plastics will be the primary

driver due to increased

commercial volume of bio-

based PE

Consumer preferences for

environmentally sustainable

materials

Improved performance of

bio-plastics when compared

with traditional plastics

Leading Manufacturers Braskem - Green PE (www.braskem.com.br)

Natureworks – Ingeo® (www.natureworksllc.com)

Purac – PURALACT® (www.purac.com)

BASF – Ecovio® and Ecoflex® (http://www.bioplastics.basf.com)

Novamont – Mater-bi® (www.novamont.com)

Innovia films – Cellophanes™ & Natureflex™ (www.innoviafilms.com)

Cereplast – Cereplast Compostables® & Cereplast Sustainable® (www.cereplast.com)

Plantic – HP1 ® and R® & Plantic eco Plastic™ (www.plantic.com.au)

Becasewecare – becausewecare™ (www.becausewecare.com.au)

Alesco - Bioshrink® (www.alesco.net)

Dow & Mitsui Chemicals – Green Plastics, PET & PP (www.dow.com)

Gap between consumers' ethical attitude and

purchasing decisions concerning environmentally

friendly products is important to the packaging

industry, driven by:

Lack of communication and understanding of

sustainability

Vague & misleading marketing and the

abundance of "green-washed" products

Misconception of increased cost and inferior

performance

“Recycling” remains widely accepted

Rightful Marketing and Consumer Communication

Packaging Waste Management

% Recycled % Land filled/ Disposed % Incineration % Energy Recovered

USA 12 54 - -

EUROPE 40 50 5 5

AUS 38 40 1 -

Up to 40% of plastics used is recycled

Recycling infrastructure mainly to collect beverage and milk bottles

Minimal infrastructure available for biodegradable plastics

Majority of packaging waste continue to be disposed in landfill

Lack of Bio-plastics Disposal Infrastructure

EU (2008)

Bio-plastics & Current Disposal Routes

Recycling – Contamination

- Bio-based PET, PE & PP

Landfill - Solid Waste and GHG

- Methanisation plan excluded

Incineration - lower calorific value

Composting – home & Industrial

- Logistics - collection for industrial compost

• Green DOT collection tax exemmption for EN13432 to end by late 2012 as a result

- Feasible volume

- Consumer awareness for home compost

Sustainability: Shared Responsibility

Incorporation/ Collaboration of bio-plastics in sustainability

strategies of local packaging councils and government

- e.g. packaging council Australia Inc (PCA), Australian packaging

covenant (APC), environmental protection agency (EPA)

Leverage international counterpart technology & policy

- e.g. waste reduction awards program (WRAP - UK)

£5m fund designed to support the development of new mixed plastics

Collection of rigid plastics guidelines

Compostable bio-plastics to be disposed off in food waste anaerobic

digestion

Standardised labelling schemes

References http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/images/d/d9/Share_of_recycling_and_recovery_operation_for_plastics_packaging_2008.PNG

http://www.pca.org.au/uploads/00207.pdf

http://en.european-bio-plastics.org/press/press-pictures/service-packaging/

http://en.european-ioplastics.org/wpontent/uploads/2011/04/EuBP_image_brochure_2011.pdf

http://www.icis.com/Articles/2011/12/02/9513755/world-bio-plastics-demand-to-reach-2.9b-by-2015-us-firm.html

http://naturalplasticstests.blogspot.com.au/2011/01/consumer-awareness-of-environmental.html

http://www.packagingdigest.com/article/518350-What_s_driving_sustainable_packaging_development_.php

www.smitherspira.com

http://www.packagingdigest.com/article/518350-What_s_driving_sustainable_packaging_development_.php

www.packagingcovenant.org.au

www.pca.org.au

www.wrap.org.uk