STRETCHING PLASTIC'S BOUNDARIES Novomer and NYSERDA are teaming up on an $800,000 project to scale up production of Novomer's polypropylene carbonate (PPC) materials, made using a combination of CO2 and petroleum.
Image: © NOVOMER, INC.
Plastic may be fantastic, but it takes an awful lot of petroleum to make it. As such, efforts to cut oil use in the U.S. have produced, among other results, a budding bioplastics industry specializing in plastic manufacturing that relies less on oil for its raw material and more on biomass, carbon dioxide or even microorganisms such as Escherichia coli. Such efforts got a boost Monday when Ithaca, N.Y.–based Novomer, Inc., announced an $800,000 effort co-funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to begin commercializing the company's polypropylene carbonate (PPC) materials, made using a combination of CO2 and petroleum.
By adding CO2, Novomer uses half as much oil as that which is required to make conventional plastics, says Mike Slowik, Novomer's manager of strategic planning and analysis. Conventional plastics include polystyrene (used to make packaging foam) and polycarbonate (for compact discs and eyeglasses).
Novomer's process works by employing a zinc-based catalyst to bond environmental by-products such as CO2 to liquid epoxides (a highly reactive ether) in a reactor that produces the same result as a pressure cooker, albeit with less energy required in terms of temperature and pressure.
The resulting material is a honeylike liquid that companies can use to make plastic products including bottles, clear packaging wrap and scratch-resistant coatings. Kodak Specialty Chemicals, along with Rochester Institute of Technology, plans to provide Novomer with the equipment and facilities needed to scale up production. With Kodak's help Novomer has been able to make sample batches of up to 14 kilograms at a time, Slowik says. Novomer's long-term goal is to get additional big manufacturers to use its CO2-based polymers in the plastic products they make and sell.
NYSERDA, a state-charted corporation that promotes research and development aimed at reducing New York State's dependence on petroleum, began working with Novomer in December 2008 on a $150,000 feasibility study. The results convinced Novomer to move forward with its work developing catalyst chemicals used to create PPC materials that can be produced with existing manufacturing infrastructures at a competitive cost to petroleum-based plastics.
NYSERDA considered a number of projects aimed at developing, demonstrating or commercializing new energy-efficient technologies for use in the industrial processes in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors before choosing Novomer, according to NYSERDA spokesperson Colleen Ryan. "With about 10 percent of all crude oil and natural gas in the U.S. being used for plastics manufacturing, the benefits of (Novomer's) PPC being commercialized are not only for a greener solution when compared to current materials," she says. "It is also lower in cost and offers higher performance for many applications."
Making Plastic Out of Pollution
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Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisanswer to climate change - let's just make a bunch of plastics. let's make everything from plastics. i vote for plastic LEGO-style houses, that you can assemble by yourself.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHow about some real science reporting. Tell us the specs. and possiable apps. of this material. We could use more real information and less feel good babble.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHow about some real science reporting. Tell us the specs. and possiable apps. of this material. We could use more real information and less feel good babble.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI would love to recycle obsolete circuit boards made of biodegradable material sealed in a non toxic ingestible layer of organically grown RSP adhesive.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBillions and billions more of styrofoam coffee cups oughta fix the ozone problem. Think throw-away!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'm jus' sayin'
So true Quinn, instead of styrofoam being the problem...maybe its the solution;-)(atleast for c02)...still its better than "storing" it underground...or worse on the ocean floor.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisplus polycarbonates could replace windows...etc.
Wayne : We could always pyrolyse plastics and dump the carbon produced to get rid of it. But the trouble is that PVC's contain chlorine which would be gassed off producing a similar effect as that which occurred to soldiers lungs in the World War One trenches...One large French car manufacturer patented the pyrolysis of used tyres, but abandoned it after receiving death threats from an anonymous energy company...Tyres are still mainly just dumped, often in third world countries where they harbour rain water causing mosquito invasions and chronic malaria.
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