A biopolymer foam

Feb 25, 2013

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The four-year ReBioFoam research project, an effort to develop a foam made from organic, biodegradable biopolymers, has come to a close. Used as a protective packaging solution alternative to synthetic expanded materials, it will reduce recourse to landfill disposal with a leap forward for recovery.

The international conference at which the properties and features of ReBioFoam - biopolymer foam for protective packaging - were illustrated was held in the Aula Magna of the University of Novara’s Faculty of Economy, with representatives of the European Commission and the Italian Ministry of Education and Research in attendance. The presence of such important institutions betrays the significance of the “discovery”, not to mention its global impact. Subsidized by the EU as part of Framework Program 7, and coordinated by Novamont, the ReBioFoam project was led by a consortium of 10 members from Italy, Poland, Spain, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

Most of the R&D was conducted by a core group of partners heavily oriented toward innovation (Novamont, C-Tech Innovation, FEN and Chemtex Italia), along with a collection of excellent research centers (Fraunhofer Institut, Czech Technical University and ITENE), concerns in the packaging sector (Complas Pack and Recticel) and an important enterprise in the sector of home electric appliances (Electrolux). Expansion of the biopolymers was made possible with the help of microwave technology, which uses the water content inside the material as an expansion agent.

Life cycle analysis
The success of the ReBioFoam project opens up new prospects in terms environmental sustainability. The biodegradability and compostability tests were carried out on a ReBioFoam demonstrator in 3 sizes, in compliance with CEN regulation on Biodegradability and Compostability (EN 13432:2002). Disintegration under domestic composting conditions was also assessed in compliance with UNI 11355:2010 regulations, demonstrating effective disintegration of the material even at low temperatures.

The results of the life cycle analysis of the new packaging demonstrate how its use would offer considerable advantages in terms of reducing greenhouse gases (for example fossil CO2) and the use of non-renewable energy (for example oil). On the other hand, considering waste, the organic, compostable expanded packaging systems are not disposed of in a landfill but in already existing organic recycling systems. According to the researchers’ estimates, landfill disposal would go from approximately 52% (current scenario with conventional packaging systems) to 37% (alternate scenario with a compostable packaging system), while recycling would go from 0.5% (conventional product) to 40% (compostable prototype), with no changes to the waste collection model currently in use, and with further positive effects on direct and indirect waste management costs.

How to produce ReBioFoam - The process that led to the production of the new biofoams can be described in two main phases:
1) extrusion of the raw materials with small quantities of renewable and/or organic additives, and subsequent treatment process, aimed at obtaining granules with specific parameters, suitable for expansion;
2) microwave-assisted expansion and moulding: the granules are transferred to a transparent mould and are reworked in a microwave oven at a controlled temperature. The quick electric heating forces the granules to expand in the mould in the form of foam, in such a way forming a 3-dimensional expanded product.
The feasibility of the process was limited to semi-industrial scale through the use of an automated pilot line capable of producing a well-defined demonstrator (in this case a washing-machine glass window) with the required density (40-45 kg/m3). At the same time, a new angular packaging design was developed, characterized by different support surfaces that can be mounted in different ways in order to obtain elements in a wide variety of shapes, with protected corners or expanded edges for electric appliances, consumer devices, etc.