Thermoplastic Starch Blends that offer low carbon footprint and high performance

03-Apr-08

Thermoplastic Starch (TPS) Blends that deliver cost-effective, high property retention film and injection molded products with a substantially reduced Carbon Footprint relative to resins such as polyethylene, polypropylene, biodegradable polyester or polylactic acid (PLA) has been introduced by Cerestech, Inc. The company is a technology development and licensing spin-off from the École Polytechnique of Montréal. Cerestech's new line of CereloyTM blends offer an optimal mix of cost, performance and sustainability, and are an ideal complement to current and future converter offerings. Large-scale orders and sample sizes are available to converters worldwide and end-use products featuring CereloyTM are already appearing on store shelves. Using starches derived from corn, wheat and tapioca, the technology allows for a seamless substitution of traditional plastics from fossil-fuel sources with TPS in large volume applications such as films, bags and injection molded products. CereloyTM blends offer converters significant advantages based on the technology's innate ability to be tailored to meet specific performance requirements and resin grades. Products made in partnerships with leading film and injection molding companies have incorporated up to 30 percent TPS while maintaining, and in some cases exceeding, mechanical properties of equivalent reference products made from polyethylene, polypropylene and compostable ASTM 6400 compliant resins. The high performance of the TPS Blends in plastic products has been achieved after several years of fundamental and applied research and development activities in partnership with commercial processors. Several new CereloyTM resin grades are currently being launched for applications in film and injection molded products.