The development of biopolymers within the industry is nothing new. However, over the last five years, the push for “green” has heightened research and development efforts. The goal in developing biopolymers is to reduce the plastics industry’s dependency on fossil fuel-based materials and ultimately deliver a resin to the industry that is sustainable and renewable.

The thermoforming industry has been working very diligently with resin suppliers on the development of biopolymers. The primary effort has been with corn-based products and many of them being compostable and biodegradable. Plastic Ingenuity has a team working on the development of this technology; we have been one of the thermoformers leading this push for the last five years. The primary challenge with biopolymers has been heat deflection strength, impact strength, and clarity. As a result, there are thousands of various derivatives of biopolymers currently being developed industry wide. The goal of such efforts has been to improve upon the blends that are commercially available.

One of the primary materials in the marketplace with respect to thermoforming is PLA (Polylactic Acid) by NaturesWorks LLC. PLA has been commercially available for about five years, and it has been utilized mainly in food packaging applications, like deli containers, wet salad containers, and disposable drinking cups. PLA has a heat deflection temperature (HDT) around 115 °F, which depending on the application, may present potential challenges. Such a low HDT would present an issue for medical applications that require sterilization. Plastic Ingenuity has been working diligently on tackling the HDT issue for a number of years. We have recently developed a high-heat PLA material that has produced parts with HDT above 200 ° F. This breakthrough is significant to the industry. To date, none of these parts have been tested in sterilization; however, that is the next step in the process.

In addition to PLA, there are many other biopolymers on the market. One such material is Plastarch Material (PSM). PSM is a material that has high heat capabilities, but it is not clear. This material has fairly stable shrink rate characteristics, and it is biodegradable and compostable. The greatest advantage presented by PSM is its ability to withstand high heat, over 200 ° F. PSM is comprised of corn starch which is a renewable and sustainable resource.

For years, the cost of biopolymers were prohibitive. However, the recent investment in infrastructure and building of capacity has allowed the prices to become more competitive with traditional petroleum-based plastics. The current price point has allowed for more analysis and product development which ultimate results in more innovation and adoption.

To conclude, Plastic Ingenuity has been very active in the development of biopolymer technology. Most of our effort has been on the commercialization of high heat capable materials for food and consumer packaging. However, the lessons learned in these applications can be converted into medical and pharmaceutical packaging fairly easily. This effort has spanned five years and includes extrusion, tooling, design and thermoforming investments. We believe that biopolymers will play a role in the future of our industry.

It is clear that biopolymers are here to stay. As the technology continues to improve, the range of potential applications will expand as well. It is critical for medical device and pharmaceutical companies who want to lead the charge to begin evaluating the current offerings. The input by package engineers from pharmaceutical and medical device companies is invaluable in shaping the products of the future.