Agricultural mulch films

The promising market segments of Bionolle in the future are compostable bags and agricultural mulching film applications, where better processability (equivalent to conventional resin) and further cost reduction are required. 

Agricultural mulching film is one of the typical applications for biodegradable plastics. Currently, Bionolle mulching film is commonly used in Japan, and is an important market for us. However, some farmers are anxious about the effects of repeated use of biodegradable plastic on the farm. We, as a manufacturer of Bionolle, need to accumulate knowledge on such usage in the farm. 

Plastic Bag Manufacturer Bag Dispensers Agricultural Mulch Film Vehicle Bed Liners Printing Services... 

Several years ago, Princeton Polymer Labs. contracted with a client to develop a degradable agricultural mulch film. A first generation additive system was developed and some 12,000 sq. ft. of polyethylene film containing the additive was tried out in 14 states in the U.S.A. Both black and clear films... 

A second generation, and far more effective photo-degrading additive system was later developed and extensive indoor and outdoor testing was done. With such an effective system it was obvious that its use could go much further than just agricultural mulch films. 

Realistic uses for Degradable Plastics include those applications where materials are used outdoors for a limited time only and it is not economically desirable to collect the residual materials after use. Examples are agricultural mulch, films and cordage, twine, etc. Another application is that of packaging which is stored and used indoors and discarded outdoors, in other words litter for which manual collection is not practicable. 

In this regard, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), a hydrolysis product of polyvinyl acetate, is well suited for blending with natural polymers since it is highly polar and water-soluble synthetic polymer which is also biodegra ble. PVA and starch films have been prepared for use as agricultural mulch films and as water-soluble laundry bags. Cast films made firom PVA and cellulose, prepared in N,N-dimethylacetamide-lithium chloride, exhibited good miscibility due to their mutual ability to form infra-... 

Llop, C., Perez, A., 1992, Technology available for re( ling agricultural mulch film Maknunol.Chem.,MacromoLSymp.Sl 115-121... 

Otey, F. H, and Mark, A. M., 1976, Degradable starch-based agricultural mulch film, IJ.S. Patent 3,949,145... 

Lahalih, S. M., Akashah, S. A., and Al-Hajjar F. H., 1987, Development of degradable slow release multinutritional agricultural mulch film, Ind.Eng.ChemRes. 26 2366-2372... 

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