Industrial Uses for Crops: Markets for Bioplastics
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Project Report No. 450 April 2009 Price: £12.00 Industrial uses for crops: markets for bioplastics by Myles Barker1 and Richard Safford1 1HGCA, Caledonia House, 223 Pentonville Road, Kings Cross, London, N1 9HY While the authors have worked on the best information available to them, neither HGCA nor the authors shall in any event be liable for any loss, damage or injury howsoever suffered directly or indirectly in relation to the report or the research on which it is based. Reference herein to trade names and proprietary products without stating that they are protected does not imply that they may be regarded as unprotected and thus free for general use. No endorsement of named products is intended nor is it any criticism implied of other alternative, but unnamed, products. i Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 1.0 Introduction 4 2.0 Market drivers for bioplastics 7 2.0.1 Environment 7 2.0.2 Oil Supply 8 2.0.3 Technical properties and functionality 9 2.0.4 Consumer acceptance 10 2.0.5 Corporate Social Responsibility and PAS 2050 10 2.0.6 Plastic pricing 10 2.1 Legislative drivers for bioplastics 12 2.1.1 Packaging regulations 12 2.1.2 The Landfill Directive, Landfill Tax (LAX) and the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS) 13 2.1.3 PAS 103 13 2.1.4 The plastics export ‘green‐list’ 14 2.1.5 Packaging producer responsibility 14 2.2 End‐of‐life option drivers for bioplastics 16 3.0 Barriers faced by the bioplastics industry 16 3.0.1 Cost 17 3.0.2 Functional properties 17 3.0.3 Packaging requirements 18 3.0.4 Mixed plastic segregation and collection 18 3.0.5 Mixed plastic sorting and processing 19 3.0.6 Sorted plastic waste and recyclate marketing 19 3.1 End‐of‐life option barriers to bioplastics 20 4.0 Packaging labelling 22 5.0 Bioplastic disposal options 25 5.0.1 Recycling 25 5.0.2 Plastic export for recycling 29 5.0.3 Composting 29 5.0.3.1 EN13432 composting legislation 30 5.0.3.2 PAS 100 and ABPR composting legislation 31 5.0.4 Anaeorbic digestion 31 5.0.5 Mechanical biological waste treatment 32 5.0.6 Energy from waste 32 6.0 Carbon and energy accounting of bioplastics 33 6.0.1 Life cycle analysis 33 7.0 The current bioplastic market 36 7.0.1 The current world bioplastic market 36 7.0.2 Predicted worldwide bioplastic market growth 37 7.0.3 The current UK bioplastic market 38 8.0 The future of UK home‐grown cereal and oilseed feedstocks in the production of bioplastics 39 8.1 Ideal starch feedstock properties for bioplastic manufacture 39 8.1.1 Starch types for bioplastics 39 i 8.1.2 Starch extraction 40 8.1.3 Choosing starch for bioplastic manufacture 43 8.2 The feasibility of polylactic acid manufacture in the UK 44 8.2.1 Land use and feedstock options for UK PLA manufacture 45 8.3 The HGCA industrial uses programme 46 8.3.1 Plans for the HGCA industrial uses programme 47 9.0 Glossary 48 10.0 References 52 11.0 Appendix 61 11.1 Current and future bioplastics 61 11.1.1 Starch‐based bioplastics 62 11.1.1.1 Starch bioplastics 62 11.1.1.2 Starch sugar‐based bioplastics 63 11.1.1.2.1 Polylactic acid 63 11.1.1.2.2 Polyhydroxyalkanoates 63 11.1.1.2.3 Plastics made using bio‐based 1,3 propanediol and 1,4 butanediol 64 11.1.2 Cellulose‐based bioplastics 64 11.1.3 Lignin‐based bioplastics 65 11.1.4 Renewable resins 65 11.1.4.1 Plant oil‐based conventional plastics 65 11.1.4.2 Cellulose and starch‐based conventional plastics 66 11.1.5 Bio/petropolymer blends 66 11.1.6 Bioplastic composites 67 11.2 EU recycling and biodegradable waste reduction targets 68 11.3 NatureWorks PLA manufacture 69 Tables Table 3.01 Generic Polymer Composition of Mixed Plastic Waste 19 Table 3.02 Gate Fees for Waste Disposal 21 Table 9.01 Starch Amylose and Amylopectin Content 51 Table 11.01 Examples of Bioplastics 61 Table 11.02 Starch Crop Yields 62 Table 11.03 EU Material Recovery Targets 2008 (by weight) 68 Table 11.04 Business Material Recycling Targets (by weight) 68 Table 11.05 Landfill Directive Biodegradable Waste Reduction Targets (by weight) 69 Table 11.06 Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) Prices March 2009 69 ii Figures Figure 1.01 The Waste Framework Directive Pyramid Model 5 Figure 2.01 OPEC Crude Oil and European Petroplastic Resin Prices 8 Figure 2.02 Virgin and Recycled PET Plastic Prices 11 Figure 2.03 LIFFE Wheat Futures Prices 12 Figure 2.04 Der Grüne Punkt 15 Figure 3.01 Landfill Gate Fees and Tax 20 Figure 4.01 Polymer Identification Labels 22 Figure 4.02 ISO 14020 Series Packaging Labels 23 Figure 4.03 BRC/WRAP Packaging label 23 Figure 4.04 European Labels for Compostability and Biodegradability 24 Figure 4.05 Carbon Trust GHG Label and European Eco‐Label 24 Figure 5.01 Recycled PET and HDPE Flake Production 27 Figure 5.02 PET and HDPE Flake Purification 28 Figure 6.01 The Baumann LCA Model 33 Figure 6.02 LCA Forms 34 Figure 7.01 Uses of Bio‐ and Petroplastics in Europe 36 Figure 7.02 Current Worldwide Bioplastic Production Capacity [ktpa] 37 Figure 7.03 Predicted Worldwide Bioplastic Market Growth [ktpa] 38 Figure 8.01 Wheat Starch Extraction 42 Figure 8.02 Cassava Starch Extraction 43 Figure 8.03 Oilseed Rape Oil‐Based Bioresin Casting and Moulding 46 Figure 8.04 Wheat Starch and Straw Products 47 Figure 11.01 Thermoplastic starch Cutlery 62 Figure 11.02 PLA Products 63 Figure 11.03 Cellulose Acetate Film 64 Figure 11.04 Lignin‐Based Speaker Hulls 65 Figure 11.05 Rilsan PA11 Tubing 65 Figure 11.06 Biopropylene 50 Products 66 Figure 11.07 Ecovio Film 67 Figure 11.08 Mater‐Bi Bags 67 Figure 11.09 NatureFlex/Mater‐Bi Bags 68 Figure 11.10 NEC PLA/Kenaf N701i ECO Cell Phone 68 Figure 11.11 Manufacture of Lactic Acid from Maize Dextrose 69 Figure 11.12 Manufacture of PLA from Lactic Acid 70 Abbreviations ABPR ‐ Animal by‐products AD ‐ Anaerobic digestion ADM ‐ Archer Daniels Midland APME ‐ Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe ASP ‐ Aerated Static Pile BDO ‐ Butanediol iii BMT ‐ Biological Mechanical Treatment BRC ‐ British Retail Consortium BSI ‐ British Standards Institution CA ‐ Cellulose acetate CBL ‐ Compression bonded loosefill CD ‐ Compact disc CEN ‐ Comité Européen de Normalisation CLR ‐ Closed Loop Recycling CSR ‐ Corporate Social Responsibility DEFRA ‐ Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs DDGS ‐ Dried Distillers Grains and Solubles DSD ‐ Duales System Deutschland DTI ‐ Department for Trade and Industry DVD ‐ Digital Versatile Disc EC ‐ European Community EfW ‐ Energy from Waste EU ‐ European Union FIIA ‐ French Industrial Innovation Ageny GHG ‐ Greenhouse gas GM ‐ Genetically modified GMO ‐ Genetically modified organism GPO ‐ German Packaging Ordinance HDPE ‐ High density polyethylene ISO ‐ International Standards Organisation IVC ‐ In‐vessel composting KTPA ‐ Kilo tonnes per annum LA ‐ Local authority LAX ‐ Landfill tax LCA ‐ Life cycle analysis LDPE ‐ Low density polyethylene LIFFE ‐ London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange MAP ‐ Modified Atmosphere Packaging MBT ‐ Mechanical Biological Treatment MRF ‐ Material Recovery Facility MSW ‐ Municipal Solid Waste MTPA ‐ Million tonnes per annum NIR ‐ Near infrared OECD ‐ Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development OPEC ‐ Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries OSB ‐ Oriented Strand Board PA ‐ Polyamide PAS ‐ Publicly Available Specification PBT ‐ Polybutylene terephthalate PCS ‐ Producer Compliance Scheme PDO ‐ Propanediol PE ‐ Polyethylene iv PERN ‐ Packaging Export Recovery Note PET ‐ Polyethylene terephthalate PHA ‐ Polyhydroxyalkanoate PHB ‐ Polyhydroxy butyrate PLA ‐ Polylactic acid PMMA ‐ Polymethyl methacrylate PP ‐ Polypropylene PRN ‐ Packaging Recovery Note PS ‐ Polystyrene PSM ‐ Plastarch Material PU ‐ Polyurethane PVC ‐ Polyvinyl chloride RDF ‐ Refuse Derived Fuel rPET ‐ Recycled polyethylene terephthalate RPS ‐ Regular Packing and Stacking RTFO ‐ Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation SPI ‐ Society of the Plastics Industry TPA ‐ Tonnes per annum TPS ‐ Thermoplastic Starch WID ‐ Waste Incineration Directive WRAP ‐ Waste and Resources Action Programme Acknowledgements The authors are indebted to John Williams of the National Non‐Food Crop Centre, Peter Reineck of Peter Reineck Associates Limited, David Pearson and Nathalie Gorce‐Joire of Limagrain Céréales Ingrédients, Chris Scarrott of Roquette, Richard Murphy of Imperial College London, Nina Sweet of WRAP, Jenny Wild of Beiersdorf AG, Clair Minshall of Valpak, Eamonn Tighe of NatureWorks LLC, Henk Vooijs of Novamont SPA, Kevin Parker of Clarifoil, Andy Sweetman of Innovia Films, Bob Findlen of Telles‐Mirel, Robert Scarpello of the Environment Agency, Melvyn Chimes of the Association for Organics Recycling, Roger Hughes of the Composting Company Limited, Michael Chesshire of Biogen‐ Geenfinch for advice and information. The authors are also grateful to Jim Song and Karnik Tarverdi of Brunel University, Colin Fitchett and Colin Chappell of Cambridge Biopolymers Limited, Shaun Clifford of Canonbury Arts Limited for advice, information, product samples and pictures. v Executive Summary Plastics are essential and are used in coatings, construction, containers, furniture, packaging and textiles. They provide us with a means of protecting goods and chemicals, prolonging the shelf‐life of foodstuffs and waterproofing to name but a few applications. However, we currently rely heavily upon fossil fuel as a feedstock and energy source for plastic manufacture. This situation is not sustainable because crude oil stocks are finite. In addition, the manufacture of fossil fuel‐based plastics (petroplastics) is energy intensive and results in the emission of large quantities of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide that contribute to global warming.