The pace of bioeconomy invention and change continues at a frenetic pace. Here are the top innovations for the week of February 20th.<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s Digest, grow your own bioplastic home, avocado-pit bioplastic, Arla and UPM\u2019s wood-based dairy packaging, PHA bioplastic water bottle \u2014 these and more, ready for you now at The Digest online.<\/p>\n
#1 Arla to bring 40 million wood-based packages into supermarkets
\nIn Finland, Arla has been the first company in Finland to use renewable wood-based bioplastics in gable top paperboard cartons for milk, yogurt and cooking products. The tall oil-based raw material is a Finnish innovation by UPM.
\n\u201cWhen we have a liquid product such as milk, a thin plastic film is needed inside the carton for reasons of product safety and shelf life. In our new packaging, the source of plastic is now even more responsible because it is made of wood-based raw material,\u201d says Arla\u2019s Brand & Category Manager, Sanna Heikfolk.<\/p>\n
Bioplastic is well suited to dairy product packaging as it has the same technical characteristics as the conventional plastic used in cartons. Like the old material, the new packaging can be recycled with cardboard.<\/p>\n
UPM\u2019s Lappeenranta biorefinery utilises tall oil that is a residue of pulp production in the raw material for the new bioplastic cartons. The packaging is made by Elopak, and the Dow Chemical Company is also involved in the collaboration. The use of wood-based bioplastics in Arla\u2019s gable top cartons reduces the need for fossil-based plastics by 180,000 kilogrammes per year while also reducing the packaging\u2019s carbon footprint by about a fifth.<\/p>\n
More on the story, here. #2 Avocado-pit bioplastic firm ramps up production Founded six years ago, Biofase currently exports 80% of its products. Customers include popular restaurant chains, including P.F. Chang\u2019s and Chilies.<\/p>\n The cutlery and straws biodegrade in 240 days when buried or placed in a composter\u2014shorter than many bioplastics. Biofase products are more expensive than conventional single-use plastics, however. Forty cases of 24-packs of cutlery sells for $759, or 79 cts per utensil. Straws, which sell in boxes of 2,000, cost about 26 cts each.<\/p>\n More on the story, here. #3 Grow and build your own bioplastic home with food waste The contest asked readers to consider the challenges that cities will face over the next century and to propose innovative solutions for urban homes to overcome these challenges.<\/p>\n Through her design, Vergopoulou imagined a future where modern building materials would become incredibly scarce. She suggested that this could lead to a new DIY movement, where people would grow vegetables to produce bioplastic, which they would use to build their own cocoon-like homes.<\/p>\n Vergopoulou told Westminster University, her alma mater, that \u201cThis design was the outcome of rigorous physical and computational experimentation, focused on the combination of bioplastic with various weaving patterns. The ambition was to create a resistant and environmental friendly building method, available for everyone to reproduce. The project was focused on the process of making, creating a manual for the construction of a prototype house in a future community of scarcity.\u201d<\/p>\n More on the story, here #4 PHA water bottles eyed for ocean plastics crisis Dubbed Cove, founder Alex Totterman tells Fast Company the bottles only need microbial activity to break down, unlike PLA bioplastics, which require an industrial composter.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just became very clear that the reason we have a problem with plastic pollution is convenience, and trying to change that delivery mechanism is going to be very difficult,\u201d Totterman, adds. \u201cAnd we don\u2019t really have time. We\u2019re looking at probably less than 30 years and we\u2019ll have an ocean filled with more plastic than fish. While cleanup efforts are really important, we also just need to stop the amount of plastic going into our environment, especially single-use plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n The company currently uses biomass as feedstock but hopes to eventually use greenhouse gas. \u201cThe product could be carbon neutral, even carbon negative,\u201d Totterman says. More on the story, here. #5 BAUX launches 100% biobased acoustical panels The new BAUX acoustic pulp panels are a series of nine biobased, biodegradable panels that were inspired by origami folding techniques to create an acoustical environment and were presented during this year\u2019s Stockholm furniture fair.<\/p>\n BAUX\u2019s CEO, fredrik franzon told DesignBoom, \u201cDesigning and prototyping for the future is not enough. We need to create a sustainable future today. The new BAUX acoustic pulp is the result of our deep commitment to this vision. When it became clear to us that we could organically mimic nature\u2019s own characteristics\u2014like the fire retardancy properties of grass roots, the water repellency of lotus flowers, or strength created from the catalytic combination of potatoes, plant wax and citrus fruits\u2014we knew we were onto something revolutionary.\u201d<\/p>\n More on the story, here. #6 Attis Industries, Iowa State University enter carbon fiber pact Xianglan Bai, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at ISU, together with Wandga Qu, a post-doctorate in Bai\u2019s lab; Yixin Luo, a doctorate student; and scientists from Attis, will work to produce carbon fiber from melt-flowing lignin. Applications include automotive and aerospace industries.<\/p>\n The partnership is Attis\u2019s first with a university, but Jeff Cosman, chairman and CEO of Attis Industries, tells Iowa State Daily it made sense because of the ISU\u2019s reputation in carbon fiber research.<\/p>\n \u201cCarbon fiber is two times stronger than steel and one sixth of the weight,\u201d Cosman adds. \u201cIowa State\u2019s role is to do the research, to further advance carbon fiber in the market place because right now carbon fiber is too expensive to replace aluminum and steels and the petroleum-based plastics.\u201d<\/p>\n More on the story, here. #7 Rock on! Wood type doesn\u2019t matter for guitars Some of the woods used for guitar backs are revered by guitar players for their acoustic qualities, and are claimed to be tonally superior to other woods. Unfortunately, many of these woods are expensive, rare, and from unsustainable sources.<\/p>\n The researchers tested six steel-string acoustic guitars which were specially built by guitar maker Roger Bucknall (Fylde Guitars). They all had the same design and material specifications except for the back and side plates which were made of woods varying widely in availability and price<\/p>\n Overall sound quality ratings were then given by 52 guitarists in a dimly lit room who played the different guitars while wearing welder\u2019s goggles to prevent visual identification. They gave similar ratings to all six guitars, while blinded tests by 31 of the same guitarists indicated that they could not easily distinguish the guitars by their sound or feel.<\/p>\n Professor Christopher Plack of Lancaster University said, \u201cOverall our results suggest that the back wood has a negligible effect on the sound quality and playability of an acoustic guitar, and that cheaper and sustainable woods can be used as substitutes of expensive and endangered woods without loss of sound quality.\u201d<\/p>\n More on the story, here. #8 Green Dot Bioplastics raises $6.5 million The round was led by Fulcrum Global Capital. Other participants include Open Prairie through its Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund and iiM (Innovations in Motion).<\/p>\n The company is headquartered in Emporia, KS and was founded in 2011. Its products include bioplastics and biocomposites used in footwear, textiles, home furnishings, electronics cases, pet supplies, toys, outdoor recreation, lawn and garden, horticulture and construction. The company expects bioplastics demand to grow 18.8% annually, reaching $68 billion by 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is an increasing global issue with plastic pollution coupled with a growing demand to reduce or eliminate our footprint of plastic pollution in our landfills and oceans,\u201d Duane Cantrell, Managing Partner and CEO of Fulcrum Global Capital says. \u201cWith the increasing global challenge of plastic pollution, we are excited to invest in a company using agricultural byproducts to provide corporations with near-term solutions for truly biodegradable products and packaging that can reduce our use of chemical based plastics and begin to eliminate plastic pollution.\u201d<\/p>\n More on the story, here. #9 Amyris adds sweetener veteran to boost ingredients business \u201cOreste has a successful track record in commercial leadership roles in the food and beverage and natural ingredients sectors, along with deep expertise in global markets,\u201d Amyris says. Most recently, he led global sales and marketing as the Chief Commercial Officer for Naturex, a leader in natural ingredients recently bought by Givaudan. He has over 20 years\u2019 experience in senior commercial roles in chemicals, personal care, and food & beverage, including six years leading the sales growth strategy for Tate & Lyle Latin America. Prior to that, he held key commercial and business development roles with such companies as IFF.<\/p>\n \u201cWe welcome Oreste to Amyris at an inflection point when our businesses are experiencing solid, recurring revenue growth,\u201d says John Melo, Amyris President & CEO. \u201cHis proven experience as a successful leader in the markets we are growing, gives us a significant advantage toward maximizing the real opportunities ahead of us for revenue growth through key partnerships for our No Compromise\u2122 ingredients.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\nIn Mexico, a company making disposable cutlery and straws out of avocado pits has hit production capacity of 130 tons of bioplastic per month.<\/p>\n
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\nIn the United Kingdom, architect Maria Vergopoulou proposed and designed a micro home called \u201cCocoon BioFloss\u201d made from extremely fine bioplastic fibres, reminiscent of candy floss, aka cotton candy. Her design was among the top three winners for the Dezeen X MINI Living Future Urban Home competition which called on readers to design a home for 100 years in the future.<\/p>\n
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\nIn California, a new bottled water is launching later this month using PHA bioplastic that will biodegrade in water and soil after just 6 months.<\/p>\n
\nThe first bottles will be sold in Los Angeles, beginning on February 28.<\/p>\n
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\nIn Sweden, BAUX launched their latest innovation, the first 100% bio-based acoustical panels, which were developed in collaboration with design studio Form Us With Love, scientists from the royal institute of technology (KTH), and a high-tech life science laboratory working with biomimicry to organically modify cellulosic fibers from recycled streams of swedish pine and spruce trees. The pulp is colored with non-GMO wheat bran instead of paint in order to create panels that are 100% biobased and biodegradable.<\/p>\n
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\nIn Iowa, Attis Industries and researchers at Iowa State University are jointly evaluating processes to produce carbon fiber from lignin.<\/p>\n
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\nIn the United Kingdom, Lancaster University researchers got to rockin\u2019 with guitar players in the name of research, testing six different acoustic guitars in a study addressing the effects of the type of wood used in their construction.<\/p>\n
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\nIn Kansas, Green Dot Bioplastics has raised $6.5 million in a series A preferred round to help the company capitalize on growing demand for renewable plastics.<\/p>\n
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\nIn California, renewable chemicals firm Amyris has appointed Oreste Fieschi President of Sweeteners & Ingredients to lead the commercial growth of its sweetener business and build capability across the entire ingredients portfolio.<\/p>\n