It is necessary to anticipate the growing scarcity and the possible drying up of petroleum, source of virtually all the plastics. In this context, all the countries study the replacement of oil-based products by bio-sourced equivalent or innovative products. For the bio-additives, a global consumption of 80mt in 2030 can be estimated. A bio-industry could provide many benefits such as productive use of agricultural and forestry wastes, lower emissions of greenhouse gases and pollutants, and growth in rural economies but some parameters must be evaluated such as pollution by fertilizers and pesticides.Bio industry calls for new industrial ways including biotechnology and bio refinery leading to bio platforms and bio blocks.
Some natural products and their derivatives have been used for a very long time and thanks to the continuous research efforts which are always of essential interest, for example: Fatty acids, their salts, esters and amides used as lubricants, processing aids, PVC heat stabilizers, emulsifiers; Epoxidized vegetable oils, Starch used as filler, Liquid depolymerized natural rubber. Plasticizers win the biggest slice of the cake leading to proprietary products such as GRINDSTED® SOFT-N-SAFE,
POLYSORB ID®, ECOLIBRIUM™, IsDEH, CITROFOL®, ATBC, UNIMOLL AGF, LAPOL®.
'Mixed metals' stabilizers based on a combination of metal carboxylates and co-stabilizers lead to PVC stabilizers for lead and cadmium free PVC formulations. Metals can be Calcium-Zinc, Barium-Zinc, Potassium-Zinc, Tin carboxylates. Of course, intensive research concerns protective agents derived from renewable resources, Cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL), gum from Moringa oleifera, Vitamin E, natural tocopherols, natural keratin, tomato extracts, grape seeds, etc. Additive manufacturers develop many additives and masterbatches: Curing agents for epoxy resins, processing aids, strengtheners, tackifiers, antistatic agents, organic fillers, biocarbon content enhancers for fossil plastics. Among natural fibres, cellulose nanofibres are promising, 2-3% into polypropylene (PP) leading to better performance than a 30% GF reinforced PP. For a more distant future, specific or general-purpose bio platforms and bio blocks are developing.
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