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OBIC
The Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center (OBIC) is a research initiative that integrates academia and industry toward the development of renewable specialty chemicals, polymers/plastics and advanced materials.
| Bioplastics at NPE, a major presence among exhibitors |
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 Bioplastics was a major topic at the NPE2009 (National Plastics Exhibit), which took place June 22-26 at the McCormick Place in Chicago. Among the hundreds of exhibitors, the increasing awareness and availability of bioplastics was evident. Biodegradable and bio-related materials were being offered by such companies as ENSO Bottles (biodegradable PET) and PolyOne (lead and phthalate-free). Plastics materials containing soy or corn were on display by Merquinsa, Mirel, Nature Works, PSM Bioplastics to name a few. Dow Chemical and Dupont sponsored an “Emerging Technologies Pavilion” which focused on sustainability, bioplastics, energy alternatives and nanocomposites.Off the exhibition floor, bioplastics was still a prime focus. SPI’s “Business of Plastics” Conference, which took place concurrently of NPE2009, highlighted both sustainability practices in the plastics industry as well as bioplastic materials. The objective of this education program was to encourage new market development in the growing bioplastics sector and address issues that arise as companies add sustainability initiatives to their business strategy. The bioplastics market has been growing annually at a rate of 20%-30%. Driven by both producer concerns over oil-price volatility and consumer preference for “green” products, new bioplastics materials and applications are being rapidly developed. First generation bioplastics were starch-based. Applications had short life spans and the performance benefit of bioplastics was mainly biodegradability. As the technology has improved, second and third generation bioplastics have expanded to more durable applications and can rival their petroleum-based counterparts in terms of performance. Today, we see bioplastics used in commercial products in furniture/bedding, transportation, construction, packaging, textiles and apparel markets. Growth of the industry will be dependent on three key points as stated by the SPI Bioplastics Council during NPE. First, education and awareness of current bioplastics capabilities and availability will help increase demand. As bioplastics have become performance-competitive, they are still usually not cost-competitive with the petroleum-based substitutes. A second key point is increasing capacity as quickly as possible by investing in more production facilities will help decrease the price. Such strategy is being instituted by Nature Works to increase availability of PLA materials. Thirdly, validation of claims on biodegradability, carbon footprints, and performance will be key to creating trust of the bioplastics materials.
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 | Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center OSU, College of Food, Ag., and Envl. Sciences Room 152 Howlett Hall, 2001 Fyffe Ct., Columbus, OH 43210 Phone- 614-292-2922 Fax- 614-247-4739 |