The trio have introduced a product line based on Braskem's Green PE and are working together to extend and further develop the line.
Brazilian biopolymer manufacturer Braskem
It claims its 100% recyclable, sugar cane-based polyethylene reduces the environmental impact of greenhouse gases because using renewable raw materials binds up to 2.15 tonnes of atmospheric CO2 for each tonne of Green PE.
Patrick Zimmermann, marketing and distribution manager, FKuR Kunststoff, told BakeryandSnacks, its partnership with Oerlemans Plastics and BK Pac has been very successful and it plans to continue searching for ways to increase product sustainability by using renewable resources.
“It is also a model for many further possible national and multinational cooperative projects,” he said.
“It clearly demonstrates the potential of such projects to conserve resources and help to maintain an environmental balance while at the same time generating economic benefits along the entire value chain by using Green PE."
As part of the project, FKuR is the distributor for Green PE from Brazilian biopolymer manufacturer Braskem which is used to produce the film.
Two production sites in the Netherlands
Oerlemans Plastics then uses the Braskem bio-based PE supplied by FKuR in its two production sites in Genderen and Giessen in the Netherlands to produce flexible films.
Finally, the printed and perforated films produced from Green PE are sent to Scandinavian distributor BK Pac, which specialises in packaging materials such as films, trays, bags, carton boxes etc. for vegetables, fruit, meat and other foodstuffs.
Zimmermann added, because BK Pac is a local company and familiar with the market it can feed information back into the value chain which can be used for further development and innovation.
FKuR Kunststoff, inWillich, Germany, produces bioplastic compounds for flexible packaging and technical applications. Its product lines include Bio-Flex, Biograde, Fibrolon, and Terralene.
Oerlemans Plastics manufactures flexible plastics packaging film, processing PE-LD, PE-MD, PE-LLD and PE-HD and BK Pac develops and sells packaging to the food industry.
FKuR and Braskem signed a Green PE Compounding agreement for BioPE in 2011, which led to the first tailor-made green polyethylene compounds available in Europe.
Braskem became the world’s first producer of LLDPE and HDPE from renewable resources in September 2010.
The ethanol used to make Green PE is made from sugarcane produced in Brazil. The renewable resource ratio per product can reach up to 100%, depending on the application.