“The key is in our mechanical properties. The resistance to the impact that we achieve is much better than that of the base PLA”, Lorena García, Managing Director of the startup, has said. PLA-Premium has been tested in several profile manufacturers, and the feedback has been tremendously positive.
PLA-Premium from ADBioplastics is emerging as the best sustainable alternative to PVC, and the key is impact resistance. With the additive developed by this Valencian startup, it has been possible to improve the basic properties of PLA to make it more flexible and less fragile. An improvement, which is especially suitable for the manufacture of biobased, biodegradable, and compostable profiles in the construction sector using the extrusion technique. According to Lorena García, Managing Director of ADBioplastics: “what we have done with our additive has been to revolutionize conventional PLA to position ourselves with a Premium version and go where it alone cannot. We not only improve the mechanical properties but also the barrier properties and the processability, maintaining transparency at all times”.
To date, pellet samples have been sent to various profile manufacturers in the construction industry and feedback has been highly satisfactory. That is why, after the pilot-scale validation comes to the industrial scaling. “We are immersed in this second phase to be able to manufacture on a large scale and satisfy the demand of our potential customers”, García has explained. For this, a large reactor has been purchased that will allow an annual capacity of about 120 tons of PLA-Premium.
ADBioplastics, among the TOP 5 bioplastics in the world
Recently, ADBioplastics has been nominated as one of the 5 best-biobased polymer startups in the world and that have the most impact in the materials sector. Startups Insights, an Austrian-based platform dedicated to discovering cutting-edge startups, has been commissioned to carry out this exhaustive investigation in which more than 190 companies from around the world have participated. “We know that our technology company has a lot to contribute in the bioplastics sector, but we never imagined being among the top 5 in the world. A recognition that does nothing more than strengthen us in our green fight for the planet thanks to our compostable bioplastics”, García has said.
ADBioplastics is dedicated to the development and manufacture, to measure, of BIOplastics for the food, cosmetic, textile, 3D printing, and construction sectors. The product known as PLA-Premium is biobased because it is produced from corn, sugar cane, and/or beet, as well as biodegradable and compostable; which means that, under industrial conditions, it disintegrates 90% turning into CO2, compost, and water. A process that will help comply with the European Union’s Plastics Reduction Directive set for 2030.