An ambitious project aimed at developing a new type of foamed material based on starch for flexible, foamed film applications has got off to a promising start, say the project’s initiators. Their goal is to be able to offer the packaging or construction sector an alternative to the fossil-based foams commonly for these films, that are rarely recycled, even when placed in the recycling bin.
The foam films available on the market - foamed polystyrene (PS), polyethylene (LDPE) or polyurethane (PU) - tend to be discarded after a single use and then incinerated, which represents a major waste of resources.
Producing a foamed film from a renewable resource like starch would mean that these films could be composted at the end of life. The five partners in the project - Fraunhofer UMSICHT, Loick Biowertstoff GmbH, the Institute for Plastics Processing at RWTH Aachen University (IKV), SHS plus GmbH and Gefinex GmbH construction applications - note that foamed starch film packaging could help solve the existing disposal problem in the packaging sector.
The project partners have announced that the first compounds made from starch, additives and biopolymers have now been created. The project also comprises the development of processes to produce the new films economically and efficiently.
By the end of 2025, the project will have yielded an industrially manufacturable, marketable product made from renewable raw materials that can function as an alternative to conventional fossil-based plastics, say the partners.
The joint project with the short title "Starch foam films" is managed by the Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e. V. (FNR) and will run for three years. It addresses the funding area "Development of a potentially marketable, bio-based product" as part of the "Renewable Resources" funding program.