There is a strong trend towards sustainability and renewable material in the world. 1 Million plastic bags are used per minute throughout the year. Many of them end up in nature and stay there. By using Perstorp’s renewable Capa™ for Bioplastics those bags will biodegrade.

“The challenge on the market has been to combine performance and biodegradability of the end application. With our renewable Capa concept we are redrawing the map by enabling products with high performing properties without compromising sustainability”, says Linda Zellner, Project Manager for Bioplastics.

The renewable Capa concept enables freedom to design polymers that are flexible or hard, transparent or crystalline, tough or rigid and with a targeted melting point and polarity. Market indications show that these products are likely to deliver what many customers are looking for in terms of bio-based content and performance. Renewable Capa has been evaluated both in terms of compostability and bio-based content and is also certified as bio-based by the independent Belgian certification body Vinçotte.

“This is a major milestone in delivering breakthrough technology to this important market for Perstorp,” says Marie Grönborg, Executive Vice President, Business Area Specialties & Solutions. “With this technology our customers can create solutions to keep a step ahead of the competition. We believe in the dynamic bioplastic market which still is young, fast growing and is looking for new innovations. With an annual estimated growth of 20% (European Bioplastics 2015), this is an exciting market for us to be in”, Marie Grönborg continues.

Perstorp will continue to focus its efforts on three fast-growing bioplastic segments – paper coatings, bags and films, and packaging. It is already well established that Capa for Bioplastics is a biopolymer enhancer that offer stability and compatibility, improved mechanical properties, flexibility at low temperatures, and biodegradability. This effort is supported by Perstorp’s full industrial production and pilot facilities in Warrington, U.K. and its modern Swedish innovation center in Perstorp, for bioplastic formulations. With these capabilities we can develop and test concepts and scale up production to an industrial level.

Linda Zellner will be discussing these latest developments when she speaks at the 2015 European Bioplastics Conference in Berlin on November 5.