{"id":176513,"date":"2026-05-06T07:37:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T05:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=176513"},"modified":"2026-04-30T13:57:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T11:57:31","slug":"bio-based-foam-replaces-petroleum-based-materials-without-changing-production-processes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/bio-based-foam-replaces-petroleum-based-materials-without-changing-production-processes\/","title":{"rendered":"Bio-based foam replaces petroleum-based materials \u2013 without changing production processes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\"xPBS
xPBS foam sheet \u00a9 Fraunhofer ICT<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

A new extruded foam made from polybutylene\u00a0succinate (PBS), developed by the Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence\u00a0Circular Plastics Economy CCPE, offers\u00a0industrial companies a direct\u00a0path to sustainable material solutions \u2013 without the need to invest in\u00a0new equipment. This approach simultaneously addresses\u00a0CO\u2082 reduction,\u00a0compliance with regulatory requirements, and economic efficiency.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cPBS Extrusion Foam (xPBS)\u201d project has successfully developed a\u00a0bio-based foam made from polybutylene succinate. Thanks to its unique\u00a0properties, it can\u00a0replace conventional polyethylene (PE) foams in key\u00a0applications \u2013 such as packaging, protective and transport solutions,\u00a0and construction applications. In these high-volume markets in\u00a0particular, regulatory requirements and increasing sustainability\u00a0demands are driving the need for bio-based materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A key factor for industry is that xPBS functions as a so-called drop-in solution. The foam can be processed on existing extrusion lines without requiring major investments in retrofitting. This gives companies the opportunity to make their products more sustainable in the short term without fundamentally changing existing processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fraunhofer expertise meets industrial feasibility<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The project\u2019s success is based on close collaboration among several\u00a0Fraunhofer institutes and their expertise across the entire value\u00a0chain. While Fraunhofer ICT\u00a0drove the formulation and process\u00a0development of the foaming process as well as the upscaling to\u00a0pilot-scale plants, Fraunhofer IAP focused on polymer synthesis and\u00a0the\u00a0targeted adjustment of material properties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through this integration of material and process development, a PBS\u00a0foam was produced that performs not only in the laboratory but also\u00a0under realistic production\u00a0conditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cOur goal was to develop a\u00a0material solution that can be used directly in industry,\u201d explains Anja\u00a0Dennard, project manager at Fraunhofer ICT.<\/strong> \u201cThe fact that\u00a0we can now\u00a0produce PBS foams with properties comparable to PE on an industrial\u00a0scale is a first and a decisive step toward practical application.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Balancing Performance and Sustainability<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The developed PBS foams achieve densities on par with established LDPE materials and can be processed reliably. This makes them suitable for numerous applications where fossil-based foams have been used until now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, the material offers significant environmental benefits: PBS is bio-based, biodegradable, and can be recycled due to its thermoplastic nature. For companies, this means they can achieve their sustainability goals without having to compromise on technical performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Market proximity creates competitive advantages<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

With the achieved technological maturity, the transition from development to industrial application is significantly shortened. Companies benefit from low implementation risk and a clear path to scaling up. At the same time, future regulatory requirements \u2013 such as those related to sustainability and recyclability \u2013 can be met early on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This makes xPBS not only a technological innovation but also a strategic tool for positioning oneself competitively against more sustainable alternatives to conventional plastic foams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outlook: New markets through xPBS-food<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

With the follow-up project xPBS-food, which launched in January 2026, the technology is being specifically adapted for the sensitive field of food packaging. The goal of the joint project between the Fraunhofer CCPE Institutes ICT; IAP, LBF, and IVV is to develop a food-safe, PBS-based, monomaterial foam packaging solution that meets functional and sensory requirements while also being recyclable or biodegradable. This opens up another, particularly high-growth application area and demonstrates how the technology can be scaled to new markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The xPBS project demonstrates that sustainable plastic solutions are\u00a0already economically and industrially viable today \u2013 and opens up\u00a0concrete opportunities for\u00a0companies to actively shape the\u00a0transformation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new extruded foam made from polybutylene\u00a0succinate (PBS), developed by the Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence\u00a0Circular Plastics Economy CCPE, offers\u00a0industrial companies a direct\u00a0path to sustainable material solutions \u2013 without the need to invest in\u00a0new equipment. This approach simultaneously addresses\u00a0CO\u2082 reduction,\u00a0compliance with regulatory requirements, and economic efficiency. The \u201cPBS Extrusion Foam (xPBS)\u201d project has successfully developed a\u00a0bio-based […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":176518,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"Together with several\u00a0Fraunhofer institutes the Fraunhofer Cluster CCPE has successfully developed a \u201cPBS Extrusion Foam (xPBS)\u201d","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[16380,11270,12610,7105,12805],"supplier":[18649,20839,104,201,938],"class_list":["post-176513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-biobased","tag-biodegradability","tag-biofoam","tag-packaging","tag-polyethylene","supplier-fraunhofer-cluster-of-excellence-circular-plastics-economy-ccpe","supplier-fraunhofer-institute-for-structural-durability-and-system-reliability-lbf","supplier-fraunhofer-institut-fuer-angewandte-polymerforschung-iap","supplier-fraunhofer-institut-fuer-chemische-technologie-ict","supplier-fraunhofer-institut-fuer-verfahrenstechnik-und-verpackung-ivv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176513"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176530,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176513\/revisions\/176530"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176513"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=176513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}