Still, that estimate will not be fulfilled in the near future because of low oil price, high production costs and restricted production capacity of biomass-based polymers, researchers of the study concluded.

2007 global bioplastic capacity (at 360,000 metric tonnes) is said to be only 0.3% of the global plastic production, which is dominated by petrochemical plastics. The bioplastic market, however, experienced a 38% growth rate from 2003 to 2007. European growth rate was said to be as high as 48%.

Standard polymers like polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC or PET, as well as high-performance polymers like polyamide or polyester have already been been totally or partially substituted by their renewable raw materials equivalents.

Based on recent company announcements the production capacity of bio-based plastics is projected to increase from 360,000 tons in 2007 to about 2.3 million tons by 2013, corresponding to an annual growth of 37%.

"Important major projects were delayed in the years 2008 and 2009 due to the financial and economic crisis. Despite the still uncertain data, we deem such studies to be very essential. The role that lightweight conventional plastics played in the past, substituting durable materials like iron and steel in vast products, could soon be taken over by bio-based plastics. As the study shows, the potential is enormous," says Hasso von Pogrell, Managing Director of European Bioplastics.

The study has a lot of good information about starch plastics, cellulosic polymers, polylactic acid (PLA) polymers, PTT from biobased propanediol, biobased polyamides, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), biobased polyethylene and PVC from bio-PE, and other emerging biobased thermoplastics.

FYI. Some recent news on bioplastics that I was not able to post:

• DuPont launches first product using Plantic material

• Plaxica raises £1 million to develop next generation biopolymers

• Johnson & Johnson initiates the production of packages made from green resin

• Cereplast expands into the 200 million consumer Brazilian market with its compostable biodegradable plastics

• Plastic Trees: Part of the Energy Solution? - SPI's Business Blog
  

Carbofuran is an N-methyl carbamate insecticide and nematicide that has been registered to control pests in soil and on leaves in a variety of field, fruit, and vegetable crops.

In October 30, the EPA finally decided to implement its final rule to ban the pesticide and said that farmers who use the product should switch to safer alternatives instead. The carbofuran ban will start after December 31, 2009.

"EPA has carefully evaluated the scientific issues and has provided more than 500 days of public comment on this decision. It is now important to move forward with the needed public health protections, especially for children."

The EPA said the objections and science arguments presented were flawed and FMC's proposed amendments to the carbofuran registration is said to be insufficient.

FMC and the three commodity crop associations plan to take legal action against the EPA's decision in a federal court. FMC said the EPA's attempt to link carbofuran food residues to symptoms of potential poisoning in children is unwarranted.

"EPA's unprecedented attempt to deny any review of its science deprives the registrant and the growers who use carbofuran the right to prove that the product is safe, and represents a bold abuse of power in contradiction of the agency's earlier commitments to transparency and good science," said Dr. Michael Morelli, Director of Global Regulatory Affairs, FMC Agricultural Products Group.

First stop, the company announced that its Genetron® R-245fa refrigerant in an equipment called the 35Z Micro Power Plant, manufactured by Germany-based Turbolina GmbH & Co. KG. The equipment, which is sold to homeowners uses water heated by thermal solar panels to evaporate the refrigerant, which in turn drives a turbine to generate electricity.

The unit does not produce any carbon dioxide emissions and the remaining heat from the 35Z can be used to supply heating and hot water. (Cool! - I wonder how much this cost though?). Honeywell said the refrigerant is non-flammable, non-ozone-depleting and has low toxicity.

In Europe, Honeywell said it has partnered with Toyota Motors in a project to further improve the environmental leadership of the car manufacturer's operations across Europe. Toyota will implement Honeywell's HC900 Hybrid Controller platform and Profit® Controller in up to three of its European assembly plants by the end of 2010, reducing energy requirements and boosting environmental performance at each site.

Another European announcement was the use of Honeywell's Experion® Process Knowledge System (PKS) by Valorly, a division of the French utility Suez Environnement, in its Rillieux-la-Pape production plant. The PKS system will be used to control Valorly's incineration system, which transforms waste into both thermal and electrical energy.

With the installation of Experion, Honeywell noted that Valorly can turn waste into a valuable commodity and use it to produce electricity, heat and transportation fuels.

Finally, Honeywell's automation system was also chosen by Flambeau River Biofuels (FRB) to supply and integrate all of FRB's automation equipment for the largest second-generation "green diesel" plant they're building in the US.

The plant - located in Park Falls, Wis., and expected to be operational by 2012 - will produce energy, transportation fuels and chemicals from renewable biomass resources. The plant will process 1,000 dry tons per day of woody biomass from bark, sawdust and residue typically burned after forest harvesting.

According to DEFRA, a regulatory ban is needed to reduce phosphorus pollution in the UK's water system as well as reduce the energy and chemicals used by the water industry to remove phosphorus from sewage effluent. Domestic laundry cleaning products are said to contribute 3-4% of phosphorus pollution load to the freshwater environment in the UK and Wales.

The plan is to ban on sales of all DLCPs containing more than 0.4% phosphorus by 2015. Estimated costs of the ban, which will affect manufacturers and their customers who will bear the costs of the change, are around £5-8 million/year ($8-13m/year) within 15-year period and a one time cost of £10-15 million for the transition.

Water companies, however, will be able to save a total cost (in 15-year time frame) of around £59-123 million. There is of course the environmental benefits of not having phosphorus in the water system, according to DEFRA.

The group estimates 41,600 tonnes of phosphorus is discharged to England, Wales and Scotland's water environment each year. DEFRA estimates phosphates from household products account for 61% of the phosphorus discharged; 28% from agriculture; 5% from industry and 6% from other sources.

For phosphate updates in the US, check out my posts from the AOCS conference in May.

The chemical screening tool GreenWERCS reportedly analyzes the composition of individual products from ingredients entered by manufacturers. It also examines potential impact of those ingredients on human health and the environment.

According to a recent blog by the Environmental Defense Fund, GreenWERCS uses a pre-identified scoring and weighting algorithm to provide information on the chemical ingredients of the products and whether they include:

* persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic substances (PBTs);
* carcinogens, mutagens or reproductive toxicants (CMRs); and
* potential hazardous waste.

GreenWERCS is said to represent the second phase of Walmart's new approach to assessing chemicals. Walmart's goal is to eventually set standards and metrics on the sustainability of each of the billions of products that they sell, from how they're made, how they're distributed to how they're disposed.

To know more about GreenWERCS, you can also check out the website of the company who develops the tool, the WERCS (World Environmental Regulatory Compliance Solutions).