Innovia Films and Corbion Purac, a leading company in lactic acid and lactides, are joining forces to develop PLA (Poly Lactic Acid) film that is both transparent and resistant to higher temperatures.
UK-based Innovia Films, a leading global manufacturer of biofilms, says it saw an opportunity when Corbion Purac brought high heat PLA to market following its own dedicated research efforts.
“Innovia, a recognised leading player in the global film industry, is the right partner for Corbion Purac to develop this groundbreaking PLA film,” says Netherlands-based Corbion Purac senior vice president bioplastics Jeroen Jonker.
“By pooling our expertise and combining our research strengths, we can develop a biobased performance film to rival traditional, oil-based standards.”
This will, Jonker says, provide brand-owners with the opportunity to select “a more sustainable alternative” for their film applications.
Many biopolymers, including existing PLA, have limited heat resistance, meaning that brand-owners and packaging converters are limited to oil-based plastics for many applications.
However, according to the companies, Corbion Purac and Innovia are working together to create a bio-based, temperature stable, transparent PLA film.
Early product development has shown that such films exhibit “considerably less” shrinkage at high temperatures compared to existing PLA films and offer properties “much closer to oil-based PET”.
Possible opportunities for the new bioplastic film include both food and non-food packaging and many industrial applications.
Steve Langstaff, product development manager at Innovia, sees the product as a major breakthrough: “Dimensional stability, particularly at high temperatures is a real weakness in biofilms,” he says.
“This new development will fill a performance gap in the market and is a great opportunity for both Innovia and Corbion Purac”.
