A Biofriendly
World
Innovators to the Bioplastic Industry
A "National Historic Chemical Landmark"
Leo Baekeland created Bakelite in 1907, a synthetic plastic that revolutionized the plastic industry by its electrical non-conductivity and heat-resistant properties in electrical insulators, radio and telephone casings and other products such as kitchenware, jewelry, toys, and firearms.
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The First Bioplastic Car
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In 1914, Henry Ford created the first ever car made entirely of bioplastics. From soybean and 13 other bioplastic materials, this car gained a massive amount of attention, though world war II at the time caused other issues to rise, taking the attention away from this impressive innovation.
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Rilsan Movement
In 1947, the same material as zip ties, Rilsan (polyamide 11 or nylon 11) was patented by Organico. Carmaker Citroen used it for its DS cars. This brand is now owned by Arkema, France's leading chemicals producer who found Biostrength®, additives that have enhanced Polylactic acid or polylactide (PLA) to be used in a wide range of products, in replacement of unrenewable plastic.
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Efforts to Advance
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W.R. Grace & Co. applied for several patents in the 1950s-60s to research and evaluate if bioplastics (PHA and PHB) can be produced from microbes and bacteria on a commercial scale, though they eventually lose interest due to the rising popularity of cheap oil.
An Industry Leader Is Born
Novamont, one of the first bioplastics company that had been able to be economically and commercially stable, was seen as the industry's leader in 1990. Three of their known products are Mater-bi, Matrol-bi, and Celus-bi, all renewable lines of biodegradable material that are used to make eco-friendly plastic products. Learn more about Novamont [here!]
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First Bioplastic Car
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In 2018, the first prototype car completely made out of bioplastics was launched by a team of Eindhoven University of Technology Researchers. The car has 2 electrical engines and has a maximum speed of 100 kmh, all while being 100% recyclable, paving the future for more renewable vehicles.
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IKEA Innovation
Neste started the industrial production of Bio-polypropylene for home furniture company IKEA in 2018. Polypropylene (PP) is the second most used plastics after Polyethylene with global sales reaching $145 billon. Neste could replace fossil-based PP with bio-PP and play a major role in the industry.
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