Bionolle/starch

We examined all processes (from raw material extraction, production, and shipping) for succinic acid, 1,4-butanediol, and starch purchased as intermediate materials and examined Bionolle production plant, product distribution, and disposal after use for each of the two Bionolle t3q>es used in this study naphtha-derived neat Bionolle and starch-Bionolle compound. For disposal after use, only carbon emissions from Bionolle after biodegradation were taken into account. Disposal treatment was disregarded because the materials can be placed in landfills without treatment. Carbon from starch was disregarded, since we ignore CO2... 

Fig. 21 Bionolle life cycle flow. Top conventional Bionolle. Bottom starch-Bionolle compound...

For starch-Bionolle compound production process, we obtain data of product yield and mixing ratios of Bionolle, starch, plasticizer, and water from actual site data provided by Showa Denko. Data of electric power consumption for kneading process are taken from actual site data from Showa Denko. 

Figure 22 shows the results of life cycle CO2 emission analyses of Bionolle and starch-Bionolle compound. For starch-Bionolle compound, the life cycle CO2 emission is around 30% less than for Bionolle, i.e., around 20% less for production alone. 

For both Bionolle and starch-Bionolle compound, the largest amount of CO2 is emitted from disposal, i.e., around 60% of total amount for Bionolle and around 50% of total amount for starch-Bionolle compound. 

For starch-Bionolle compound, Bionolle production from succinic acid and 1,4-butanediol corresponded to approximately one-quarter (one-half excluding disposal) of the total life cycle. Production of succinic acid and 1,4-butanediol account for about 10% (around 20%, excluding disposal) of the total life cycle. In addition, the starch kneading process accounts for about 5% of the total life cycle. Sea transport for starch account for around 3% of the total life cycle. 

Figure 23 shows the result of comparisons of life cycle CO2 emission of Bionolle, starch-Bionolle compound, LDPE, and polystyrene. Data for producing LDPE and polystyrene are taken from a report of the Plastic Waste Management Institute [17]. The disposal method assumed is incineration. CO2 emissions from both Bionolle and starch-Bionolle compound are lower than those of LDPE or polystyrene. 

LCA is an important process for evaluating the effects that a product has on the environment over the entire period of its hfe. We evaluated LCA by comparing total CO2 (life cycle CO2) exhaust from production of Bionolle and of conventional resins like LDPE. From this analysis, Bionolle has turned out to be more a environmentally friendly resin than LDPE. The effectiveness of the starch-Bionolle compound has also been confirmed. 

Gormal Stewart (2002), Compatibilisation of biodegradable starch/Bionolle " blends. Thesis, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Queensland, Australia, May. 

Bionolle is a typical biodegradable plastic. Currently, each raw material is made from petroleum, but we are developing more environmentally friendly green plastics. The first approach is to produce plastics from monomers such as succinic acid by biological methods. The second approach is to make hybrid compounds of Bionolle and natural resources like starch. The typical chain of materials for Bionolle is shown in Fig. 1. 

The hybrid compound of Bionolle and starch was developed by Showa Highpolymer in 2006 and has already been launched in the market. 

When we think of more environmentally friendly materials, the compound of starch and Bionolle is thought to be promising. But, on the other hand, the physical properties tend to become worse after compounding. We had to overcome these contradictions to commercialize our starch compound. 

Figure 18 shows compost bags made of the conventional Bionolle, which are already in the market, and the trial samples of compost bags made of starch... 

We evaluated the EGAs of Bionolle and starch compound in comparison with conventional resins like low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polystyrene, because... 

Starch-BionoUe compound is produced by kneading Bionolle as shown in Sect. 8.6.1 with certain amounts of starch and a plasticizer. All the production processes, except for the production processes for starch and plasticizer newly added as raw materials and those for starch and plasticizer for kneading neat Bionolle, are the same as in Sect. 8.6.1. Product distributions are also the same as in Sect. 8.6.1, since weight and distribution conditions are identical. However, CO2 emission to be accounted for in the disposal process is different from that in Sect. 8.6.1, since raw materials include biomass, i.e., starch. Transportation processes of starch and plasticizer to the Tatsuno Factory are also different. The data for newly added processes and for processes different from those in Sect. 8.6.1 are shown below. 

Transportation of succinic acid and 1,4-butanediol and other various raw materials is the same as for Bionolle. Starch and plasticizer are transported to Showa Denko Tatsuno Factory from domestic and overseas production plants. We derive various scenarios from actual transport information in this study, including distance, route, means of transport, and loading ratios. Fuel consumption and CO2 emission related to transportation are estimated based on these scenarios. As starch is assumed to be produced in the USA, we account for both sea transportation from the USA to Japan and land transportation from domestic ports to the Tatsuno Factory in this study. For inventory data per unit amount of transport during transportation, we refer to data from JEMAI LCA Ver. 1.1.6 [8] for land transportation and data from the literature [15] for sea transportation in particular, data from the literature [16] is also referred to for sea transportation distances. 

The amount of CO2 derived from petroleum is estimated from the rate of CO2 emission from Bionolle by multiplying with the content ratio of Bionolle in the product. CO2 generated by starch is omitted from CO2 emission on complete degradation in soil, since these emissions are biomass-generated. 

Starch kneading Bionolle production Succinic acid production 1,4-butanediol production Starch, etc. production Raw material transportation Disposal (C02 emission)... 

Polybutylene Succinate (PBS). Manufacturers of polybutylene succinate, produced from polymerization of succinic acid and 1,4-butanediol, include Showa Highpoly-mer, which produces Bionolle polymers SK Polymers, which makes SkyGreen BDP and Mitsubishi Chemical. Normally, the source of both monomers is maleic anhydride. However, Mitsubishi is working with Ajinomoto to produce succinic acid by fermentation of sugar and starch, providing a biodegradable polymer that is partly biobased. ... 

Products that fulfil the requirements Examples of polymer materials that obtained the OK compost mark include blends of aliphatic-aromatic copolyesters and polylactic acid (BASF Ecovio), starch based (Biotec BIOPLAST), starch-based blends (Novamont Mater Bi), ahphatic copolyesters (Showa High Polymer Bionolle). 

Bionolle - Starch-polyester blend starch blend... 

Jayeskara R., Sheridan S., Lourbakos E., Beh H., Christie G.B.Y., Jenkins M., Halley P.B., McGlashan S., Lonergan G.T. Biodegradation and ecotoxicity evaluation of a Bionolle and starch blend and its degradation products in compost, Ind. Biodeter. Biodeg. 51 (2003) 77. 

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