Natural Plastics

Braskem, the leading thermoplastics producer in the Americas and the global leader in biopolymers, will exhibit at NPE 2012 from April 2 to 5 at the Orange County Convention Center, South Hall, booth number 22006. It will be Braskem's first appearance at a North America-based trade show.

With the theme, "Discover New Possibilities," Braskem will feature its global operations and extensive portfolio of innovative polypropylene (PP) and leading Green Polyethylene (Green PE) offering customers new performance opportunities. The company's unique "spirit of entrepreneurship" also will be showcased, which drives its customer focus, product innovation and sustainable development.

Braskem's booth also will feature touch screen computer stations enabling visitors to browse all company literature and send PDFs of brochures to any email address.

A Leading Polypropylene Producer In The US
With the acquisition of Dow's PP business last year, Braskem has significantly expanded its PP production capacity and market presence in North America. It operates five world-scale plants in the US - Marcus Hook, PA; Neal, WV; and Freeport, La Porte and Seadrift, TX - and a unit at its state-of-the-art Innovation and Technology Center in Pittsburgh, PA.

"Polyolefins is our core business," said Robert Nadin, VP Commercial & Supply, Braskem America. "We're at NPE to demonstrate our commitment to supplying the region with the highest quality products and services the industry offers."
Among the PP products Braskem will showcase at NPE are:
A new-generation PP for mono-spunbond nonwovens that provides a single-pellet solution designed to deliver an optimum combination of softness, cost effectiveness and sustainability for absorbent hygiene products and medical gowns and drapes;
The Unique 2000 Series Impact Copolymers for automotive and compounding designed to meet industry trends for higher levels of productivity and quality. Benefit from this exceptional balance of properties unmatched by the competition: high stiffness and flow performance; reduced emissions; low gels and suppressed tiger marking;
A wide range of PP resins for thermoforming that offers superior optics, exceptional stiffness and high heat distortion resistance. Light-weighting potential without sacrificing sidewall stiffness is an added benefit. Grades are microwaveable and FDA compliant.

Sustainable Solutions With Green PE
"We're innovating to meet market needs for more sustainable solutions," said Nadin. "Braskem is the only company producing renewable-resourced polyethylene, manufactured from sugar cane-based ethanol." 
The company's 200 KT per year commercial-scale Green PE facility in Triunfo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, produces HDPE and LLDPE that's shipped globally. Commercial-scale bulk or packaged quantities are supplied from the company's warehouses in New Jersey and Texas to North American customers. "Green PE provides our customers with a tangible, measurable way to produce a product made from a truly renewable resource with reduced CO2 impact, which advances their brand and corporate sustainability goals," added Nadin.

Braskem's Green PE is used in numerous consumer and industrial applications. Below are just a few of the many products that benefit from the company's sustainable solutions:
Coca-Cola's OdwallaTM juice bottles in the US;
P&G haircare bottles in the US and Europe;
Danone's dairy bottles in the US, Europe and Brazil;
Shiseido haircare stand pouch in Japan;
Johnson & Johnson's suncare bottles in Brazil and Latin America;
Nestle in partnership with TetraPak on cartoon package closures in Europe and Brazil.

Aggressive Growth Strategy
Braskem also will highlight one of its most important projects, Ethylene XXI. Braskem-Idesa, a joint venture between Braskem and Mexican group Idesa, is constructing a 1.05 million KT per year complex, integrating an ethane cracker and three PE plants in Mexico. The project is scheduled for start-up in early 2015 and will require a USD $3 billion investment.

Sustainability Pavilion Sponsors
Braskem's vision is to become the global leader in sustainable chemistry by 2020, innovating to better serve people. The company supports initiatives aimed at achieving this goal. Braskem is the sponsor of NPE's Sustainability Pavilion, which will highlight numerous important sustainable technologies, including Braskem's Green PE products and applications. The company's booth number in the Sustainability Pavilion is 59042.

Machinery Manufacturers Featuring Braskem Products
To showcase their extensive performance capabilities, Braskem products will be used at numerous machinery manufacturers during the show:
Bekum America Corp. will be blow molding 10 L bottles using SGF4950 Green PE in West Hall, booth number 2163.
Davis Standard will be running SLL218/21 Green PE on a cast film line in West Hall, booth number 5945.
BMB Spa will be injection molding Ti4100WM high melt flow PP in West Hall, booth number 323, demonstrating the grades exceptional TWIM capabilities.
Boy Machines Inc. will be molding D5501-70 in West Hall, booth number 2819, demonstrating high clarity for eye glass frames.
Cincinnati Milacron will be running RP250 clarified random copolymer to produce houseware lids in West Hall, booth number 2803.

Source:  www.braskem.com.br

Cereplast, Inc. (Nasdaq:CERP), a leading manufacturer of proprietary biobased, sustainable plastics, will unveil several new technologically advanced bioplastic resin grades at The International Plastics Showcase, NPE 2012. The exhibition is hosted by SPI, The Plastics Industry Trade Association, and takes place April 1-5, 2012 in Orlando, Florida.

The new bioplastic resin grades include Sustainable 1020D, a translucent injection molding grade, Compostable 4008D, a new paper extrusion coating grade, Hybrid 106D, a high starch, high melt flow injection molding grade, and an EVA Hybrid grade. Cereplast will also feature the Cereplast Compostables^® family of resins, including the recently added Compostable 3002, Compostable 3010 and Compostable 3020, which are for use on blown film extruder lines for the manufacture of compostable bags, all of which have received DIN CERTCO certifications of compostability. Additionally, the Company will feature the Cereplast Sustainables^® product line, which includes the new Cereplast Hybrid Resins^® grades Hybrid 102D and Hybrid 105D.

"We are excited to be an exhibitor at NPE, the world's largest plastics exhibition, a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase our unique and technologically advanced materials to the international marketplace," said Cereplast Chairman and CEO, Frederic Scheer.

Source:  WWW.CEREPLAST.COM

This year, European Bioplastics organised its industry conference already for the fifth time. On 1 and 2 December, over 360 experts from all around the globe came together in Düsseldorf to exchange information and insights about new bioplastic materials and products. Hence, European Bioplastics was able to tie in with the success of last year’s record-breaking event.
“Despite the temporal proximity to other important plastics events, the European Bioplastics Conference has definitively established itself as the leading business forum for the bioplastics industry”, said Andy Sweetman, Chairman of European Bioplastics. This year, more than 70 percent of the participants came from Europe, almost 20 percent from Asia, and the better part of the remaining 10 percent from North and South America.
Besides numerous speeches focusing on new products and applications for bioplastic materials, 28 exhibitors showcased a variety of their samples at the conference. Many products introduced in the presentations could be seen and examined at the exhibition.
Another highlight of this year’s event was the Bioplastics Award 2010, which was conferred for the first time during the European Bioplastics Conference. Presented by the Bioplastics Magazine, the 2010 award went to EconCore, a company offering core technologies with regard to cost efficient honeycomb panels and components. The jury based its decision on the potential to considerably reduce weight and materials needed in construction as a result of the consistently applied sandwich structure with its cost effective core. The products of EconCore would contribute decisively to more sustainable construction.
European Bioplastics’ Managing Director, Hasso von Pogrell, was very satisfied with the course of the conference: “The demand for exchanging information, creating networks and forming cooperations obviously increases with the opportunities offered.

Our association and the annual conference provide an optimal platform to do so,” he concluded.

Speakers:
Bas Krins, API Institute; Dr. Stéphane Girois, Arkema; Dirk den Ouden, Avantium; Dr. Lars Börger, BASF; Fredric Petit, DSM; Richard Janssen, DSM; Dr. Karlheinz Hausmann, DuPont; Dr. Harald Häger, Evonik; Dipl. Ing. (FH) Christoph Lohr, FKuR; Steve Dejonghe, Galactic; Thomas Stintzing, Gehr; Fabio Marzorati, Goglio Cofibox; Peter Rushe, Henkel; Andy Sweetman, Innovia Films; Johann Axel Zimmermann, NaKu; Dipl. Ing. Uwe Bonten, NGR; Dr. John Williams, NNFCC; Stefano Facco, Novamont; Bruno de Wilde, OWS; David Webber, PA European Consulting; Marco Polenghi, Polenghi; Prof. Dr. Marina Franke, Procter&Gamble; Oliver Schmid, Propper; Sicco de Vos, Purac; Daniel Ganz, Sukano; Dr. Stanislaw Haftka, Telles (Mirel); Dr. Rainer Hagen, Uhde Inventa Fischer

Exhibitors:
API, BASF, Beta Analytic, Limagrain, BioSphere, BKG, Cereplast, DIN CERTCO, FNR, Fachhochschule Hannover, FKuR, Huhtamaki, Innovia Films, Messe Düsseldorf, Kaneka, Kingfa, Mirel, NatureWorks, Novamont, OWS, PolyOne, Proganic, Purac, Sukano, Synprodo, Taghleef Industries, Vincotte, Xinfu Pharm