In our July 9, 2012 post we discussed the initiative driven by Coca Cola to develop bio-based plastics for beverage containers.  The first phase of this massive project has resulted in the Plant BottleTM which is made using bio-PET where the ethylene glycol starting monomer is made from renewable sources.  The Plant Bottle contains approximately 30% bio-based carbon.  But the ... [Click to Continue...]

Guest Post by Dr. Robert Humphreys Whenever I think of polyester, I am reminded of an old Steve Martin joke directed at the tacky clothes worn by band member Tommy Newsom during the Tonight Show: “Do you know how many polyesters had to die to make that suit?” There is actually some truth to this bit of levity when one is considering polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), since the ... [Click to Continue...]

At the recent Bioplastics: The Reinvention of Plastics conference in Las Vegas, March 4-6, 2013 there were 25 papers, 21 exhibitors, talking about their recent advances in biopolymers and bioplastics.  There was one consistent theme echoed over the last couple years.  Bioplastics are increasingly finding interesting applications in durables.  Initially, a lot of industry buzz ... [Click to Continue...]

Guest Post by Dr. Robert Humphreys In the previous post, Dr. Gotro presented some amazing data on production of bio-ethylene (bio-E) and bio-polyethylene (bio-PE). It may come as a surprise to find that fermentation, the process that is used to make beer, wine, yogurt and cheese, is also the source of bio-ethylene that is polymerized to bio-PE. In this post, we will give a ... [Click to Continue...]

At a the recent Bioplastics: The Re-invention of Plastics conference, James Kahn of Braskem gave a good update on the current state of bio-based polyethylene.  Braskem is the world leading supplier of bio-PE.  In 2010 and the forecast for 2015, bio-PE is the largest bio-based polymer currently in production.  So let’s take a deeper look into bio-PE. Initially, the focus of ... [Click to Continue...]