Akro-Plastic, Bio-Fed and AF-Color focus on sustainable products

Bio-Fed

The Cologne-based Bio-Fed also provides solutions for reducing the carbon footprint as well as for waste reduction with biodegradable and biobased products. This also includes bioplastics with sustainable organic fillers such as cellulose, lignin or starch. The biomass-balanced M·Vera polypropylene compounds, which are certified according to REDcert2 and ISCC Plus, as well as the matching masterbatches AF-CirColor, AF-CirCarbon and AF-CirComplex, manufactured by the sister company AF-Color and available through Bio-Fed, also make an important contribution to this.

Most of the M·Vera bioplastics are biodegradable compounds, lot of them are also partially to fully biobased. They are suitable for various different processing technologies such as blown film, injection moulding, extrusion and thermoforming. The range also includes a mulch film grade that is certified as soil degradable according to EN 17033. Suitable AF-Eco color, carbon black and additive masterbatches are also offered for all biodegradable compounds.

Injection moulding

The Bio-Fed injection moulding portfolio includes products that cover a wide range of mechanical properties and can therefore be used for a broad spectrum of applications.

• Products with various stiffnesses of up to 8,300 MPa
• Tough compounds with an impact strength of up to 65kj/m2
• Elastic compounds with elongation values of 30-300 %
• Tensile strength up to 70 MPa
• HDT (B) up to almost 100 °C
  

"In addition, Bio-Fed offers products with short processing times that are certified according to OK compost Home or OK biodegradable Soil. These compounds for injection moulding have similar cycle times to commercial polyolefins such as PP or PE, without the need for special machines or moulds. They can also be processed in moulds with conventional technologies such as hot and cold runners with the same performance and efficiency as standard plastics," explains Dr Stanislaw Haftka, Sales Director at Bio-Fed. "Our high-HDT materials can also be used in applications with high heat resistance, e.g., for coffee capsules, reusable cutlery, dishwasher-safe tableware, etc., without the need to temper the end product," Haftka adds.

Extrusion and thermoforming

For extrusion and thermoforming, OK compost Industrial certified products with different proportions of renewable content are offered. They have different mechanical properties that are individually tailor made for the specific application. In addition, they can be processed with standard equipment. The products can be processed into sheets, films, profiles or similar.

AF-Color

Thanks to its comprehensive know-how and the continuous expansion of production capacities, AF-Color is one of the leading manufacturers of technically high-quality masterbatches, carbon black and additive concentrates. A particular focus is on masterbatches for future-oriented and sustainable applications that support the circular economy.

"As a masterbatch manufacturer, there is an opportunity to influence the circular economy in a number of ways. First and foremost is the intention to avoid plastic waste, i.e., to keep the plastics in the cycle for as long as possible, following the Sustainable Design approach," says Dirk Schöning, Sustainability Director at AF-Color. "The recycling of plastics is to be taken as a measure when the described re-use approach is no longer applicable. In the packaging sector, this goal cannot be implemented for the time being, so the development and manufacture of products that optimally support recycling before, during and after the process is required here," adds Dirk Schöning.

AF-Color will be presenting its most relevant problem solutions at K 2022:
The first is AF-Carbon IR - soot-free masterbatches for improved infrared detectability. The soot frequently used up to now (not only in black applications) leads to faulty detection of the packaging to be sorted in the recycling process. Soot-free formulations therefore increase the percentage of recyclability.

The AF-Complex range offers several solutions to this problem with different additive batches. For example, a drying batch for an improved recycling process in different versions (standard and premium), suitable for film and injection moulded parts with a drying degree of up to 80 %, as well as a highly effective odour absorber, e.g., for sulphur and nitrogen components in recycled material, which is particularly suitable for recycled polyamide (PA) as well as polyolefins (PE and PP).