Plastic made from Plants

Plantics developed biodegradable plastic. This type of plastic is sustainable and produced without any pollutants. 

Plantics’ mission is to develop and market its proprietary biopolymer. Plantics offers biodegradable alternatives for currently existing agricultural plastic products, thereby saving time, labor, and waste-management costs for customers in addition to making their products and operations more sustainable – all without the need to pay a “green premium”.

 

Get in touch

CONTACT

Helias Andriessen

Email: Helias.Andriessen@plantics.com

Website: www.plantics.com 

Our Story

We live in a plastic world. Think about how many plastic objects you use in a day. Virtually everything is made from plastic; from your toothbrush to your shopping bags. Nearly everything that is sold today, is packaged in plastic. Plastic is everywhere, and 99% of all this plastic is made using oil or gas.

Not only is plastic everywhere, it is here to stay. Every single piece of plastic that you have ever used is likely to still be somewhere on this planet! Most plastics easily take hundreds of years to degrade. They often end up in a landfill (abroad) or are incinerated; both heavily taxing on our planet.

Yet, alternatives to conventional petrochemical-based plastics hardly see application. Bio-plastic comprises less than a percent of the annual nearly 300-million-ton global plastic production.
Why? Bio-plastic used to be far more expensive than conventional plastic. Until now.

Plantics aims to tackle the global environmental problems of plastic pollution with innovative and cost-saving bio-plastic solutions that have a high impact through commercial success.

Four types of plastics explained:

Type 1

Biodegradable
Renewable resources

Type 2

Biodegradable
Renewable resources

Type 3

Bio-degradable
Partly renewable resources

Plantics

Biodegradable
100% Renewable resources

Type 1

Biodegradable
Renewable resources
Bio-based
Compostable

Type 2

Biodegradable
Renewable resources
Bio-based
Compostable

Type 3

Bio-degradable
Renewable resources
Bio-based
Compostable

Plantics

Biodegradable
Renewable resources
Bio-based
Compostable

Let’s talk business

ClientsActors in the packaging, agriculture, waste management, transport. These industries have single use applications using petrochemical-based plastic that lead to (costly) waste management problems, increased staff costs, plastic toxicity problems, regulatory change, plastic product lack of heat/chemical resistance, and/or lack of “green” marketability of their current products.

Plantics provides100% biodegradability and compostability, full non-toxicity (even when ingested or incinerated), flame retardancy, high chemical and heat resistance, a bio-plastic who’s feedstock does not compete with food production, at such low-cost that it can compete economically with conventional oil-based plastics.

The competitionNon-degradable petroleum-based plastics and any other bio-plastic, currently available, are generally much more expensive than their petroleum-based plastic counterparts. This is due to the often high feedstock costs and/or costly (high-tech) production processes.

Our partners

Products

Plantics’ mission is to develop and market its proprietary bio-polymer. Plantics offers a unique product; the first thermoset bio-plastic that’s fully biodegradable, compostable and 100% bio-based. Importantly, due to its low-cost it can compete economically with conventional petroleum-based plastics. Thereby, delivering an environmentally sustainable alternative without the need for our customers to pay a “Green-premium” as often required for other bio-plastic.
Plantics aims to become a bio-polymer supplier. Plantics supplies its bio-plastic in various forms like foam or granules. Granules are typically used by plastic converters who turn raw material into final products (i.e. via transfer molding, injection molding). Plantics’ launching product is horticulture packaging. Plantics horticulture packaging is both bio-based and biodegradable, and is a replacement for the currently used petroleum-based packaging used in horticulture.

Industry

PlasticsThe global plastic production is about 300 million ton per annum. Plantics is active in the global thermoset market. This industry’s compounded annual growth rate is 11.3% (2011-2016) with an estimated current valuation of €80Bn. Since the plastic industry is highly price driven, less than <0.4% of the 300 million ton per annum global plastic production is bio-plastic. Nevertheless, bio-plastic is currently one of the fastest growing material businesses worldwide.
PackagingGenerally speaking, the packaging industry, our most relevant market, is estimated to grow at a rate of 4% in real terms till 2018. However, bio-based plastic packaging is expected to grow at a CAGR of 33%¹.
Bio-plastics’ share of the packaging sector is expected to grow from 0.2% in 2013 to 2.4% by 2023. Driven by both bio renewability and biodegradability trends, the demand for bio-plastics in packaging is expected to grow to about 9.45 million tpa by 2023.
¹Smithers Pira

Founding team

Prof. dr. Gadi Rothenberg

Co-inventor

Rothenberg is a world-leading researcher in catalysis and sustainable materials. He has published over 150 papers, co-invented the bio-plastic technology (and 13 other patents) and co-founded three spin-off companies: Sorbisense A/S, Yellowdiesel BV and Plantics BV.

Dr. Wridzer Bakker

CEO

As of 2017, Bakker is the CEO of Plantics.

Dr. Albert Alberts

Co-inventor & Research director

Alberts co-invented the bio-plastic technology, is co-founder, director and shareholder of Plantics BV. Dr. Alberts has decades of international research experience in (polymer) chemistry, and is a senior researcher within Plantics.

Leasing of solar PV systems

Home solar systems on average earn themselves back in less than 10 years but have a technical lifespan of 30 years or more. That means 20 years of free electricity against future electricity prices.

In addition a home solar system for an average household can save more than 2 ton CO2 per year. Still globally the penetration of home solar systems is below 1%. The three barriers for mass conversion of home solar in our view are: cost, hassle and risk.

Solease solves these three problems by leasing solar systems in the same way as you would lease a car. They buy, install, finance and insure the system and are also responsible for monitoring and repair. All at a monthly cost that from day 1 is lower than electricity price charged by the utility.

 

Get in touch

CONTACT

Pierre Vermeulen
pierre@solease.nl
www.solease.nl
+31 6 51 13 74 47

Stop waste becoming waste

iZdesign’s ultimate goal is to enable a zero waste world where people and companies recognise all residue or subsidiary materials are repurpose-able resources of high value, reducing natural resource consumption, and waste streams to landfill.

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It is the passion of founder Daniel Cremin, who is constantly looking for ways to employ existing technology to stop waste becoming waste. To enable this, they are establishing an Online Waste Exchange Network for Industrial Symbiosis, creating a streamlined process and infrastructure for recovering materials and value from waste; supporting small and medium business enterprises into Industrial Symbiosis market. This will help those businesses to extract revenue value from waste and strengthens circular economy strategies.
 
The climate impact of iZdesign’s plans is impressive, resulting in a significant increase in resource efficiency, and in the reduction of natural resource consumption . It reduces both waste streams going to landfill and CO2 emissions, and creates the possibilities for environmental, economic innovation opportunities.

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Get in touch

CONTACT

Daniel Cremin, e: daniel@dynamicsarts.com, t: +44 (0)7968320455

www.izdesign.eu

Intelligent e-powered bike-trailers

NÜWIEL revolutionizes cities. We develop alternative  mobility solutions for city logistics and urban lifestyle. Our e-powered bike-trailer can be attached to any bicycle and used as an e-powered handcart. It carries its own weight and instantly replicates the movement of a bicycle. In other words, it knows exactly when to  accelerate, slow down, brake and even provide a push to a rider. NÜWIEL is the first intelligent bike-trailer with a motor and a three-level brake system. 

 

Get in touch

CONTACT

Natalia Tomiyama
T: +4917643686634
E: natalia.tomiyama@nuwiel.de
http://nuwiel.de

This bike trailer not only carries cargo, it pushes your bicycle with an electric motor

Derek Markham derekmarkham

May 1, 2017

© NÜWIEL

NÜWIEL's "intelligent bicycle trailer" aims to help people move heavier loads by bike both safely and comfortably.

The number of different options for personal electric mobility is growing rapidly, with new electric skateboards, scooters, bikes, motorcycles, and more hitting the market every week, but one solution hasn't gotten nearly the amount of traction that the others have. However, for those who love to bike, and who don't want to convert their bike to electric, but would like a little something extra for those days when hauling cargo, an electric bike trailer might be just the ticket.

Electric pusher trailers aren't new, but they are rather uncommon to see, perhaps because the average cyclist isn't interested in adding a trailer to their daily rider, or perhaps because those who do pull a bike trailer regularly aren't too concerned with the extra effort required to conquer hills or long distances. Either way, e-bikes and electric bike conversions seem to get a lot more play in the media and on the roads and trails than electric bike trailers, but a forthcoming unit from a German startup may help to change that.

NÜWIEL, a Hamburg-based startup that is working on "clean transportation solutions for last mile delivery," is teasing out information about its electric bike trailer, which could be a method of leveraging pedal power and zero (tailpipe) carbon emissions for deliveries and running errands without committing to an electric bicycle for all bike trips. While the trailer isn't yet for sale, and the company will initially focus on the commercial delivery and logistics sector, an electric pusher trailer might be a viable option for getting to a low-car or car-free lifestyle. Here's a very brief look at the prototype of the NÜWIEL trailer:

The trailer attaches to the rear of a bicycle, similar to the way a kid-carrier trailer does, which means that it will most likely be quick and easy to install or remove, and although the trailer isn't directly connected to the bicycle's pedals or drivetrain, it is said to be able to "know exactly when to accelerate, decelerate and brake." While pedal-assist electric bikes rely on either cadence or torque sensors to control the amount of assistance being applied by the motor, the NÜWIEL uses sensors in the tow bar to measure the movement of the bike, which allows it to properly add force to the bike when needed, up to a top speed of 25 kph (~15.5 mph). The cargo capacity for the trailer is about 90 kg (~198 lb), a regenerative braking feature allows the NÜWIEL to slow the bike while partially recharging the batteries, and the batteries are said to have an average range of about 50 kilometers per charge.

"The use of the NÜWIEL trailers makes deliveries with trucks and cars in the urban area superfluous. Reduce the maintenance costs of your vehicle by a large number and at the same time help to reduce noise pollution, traffic jam and air pollution in cities." - NÜWIEL, via Google Translate

According to Utopia.de, the NÜWIEL will be available to courier and transport companies in the fall of 2017, and to consumers by 2019, but no price has been established yet for this electric trailer. The article also states that the trailer can be used without a bike, as a motorized hand cart, which could be another relevant application for those who want to do their shopping or errands on foot instead of in a car or on a bike.

h/t Electric Bike Report

Turning city infrastructure into smart interconnected objects

Turning city infrastructure into smart interconnected objects

Greinon has developed a non-centralized intelligent wireless system for remote monitoring and control over the city infrastructure, so that information from street lights, traffic lights, trash containers, etc could be collected and analysed in real time by infrastructure manager.

The system comprises hardware and software, and is based on wireless connectivity and combination of sensors. It makes it possible for the city to save up to 80% of energy, cut down maintenance costs by 2/3, improve citizens’ comfort and security, cut down CO2 emissions and lighting pollution tremendously. 

Greinon’s wireless controller is the first fully modular system on the market, which makes it cheaper to install, easier to customise, and possible to fit into various applications that could be interested for cities in near future. The hardware is tiny in size and consumes much less power than alternative solutions.

 

Get in touch

CONTACT

Tanya Kolyaka
Email: tatyana@greinon.sePhone: +46 (0) 765 6996 47
Webpage: www.greinon.se

Technology

What is TH4+?

TH4+, or Thermal Hydrolysis for +, is teCH₄⁺ innovative process that comprises the following steps:

1. Feed conditioning

The organic waste is fed into dosification vessels and heated up with vapors from the heat recovery section (Step 3) for optimum heat integration and energy efficiency. Two parallel dosification vessels sequentially feed the organic material to pressurization tanks, where the waste is pressurized using compressed air or steam. This allows the organic material to flow through the process without the need for pumps or any other mechanical means.

2. Hydrolysis

The pressurized material enters a mixer, where live steam is injected to achieve the temperature setpoint in an extremely rapid manner. In conventional processes, the material to be hydrolyzed is kept at high temperatures for approximately 30 minutes, long enough for the material to undergo secondary reactions that reduce its methanogenic potential. This limits standard hydrolysis temperatures to 180ºC. The TH4+ process overcomes this limitation by means of an exceptionally quick heating time of below 5 seconds. This greatly minimizes the impact of the secondary reactions even at temperatures as high as 220ºC. The hot material is flashed to a regulation tank that provides a stable pressure throughout the system.

3. Heat recovery

The content of the regulation tank is fed to the flash vessel through a series of flash valves. This second sudden decompression further fractures the cells structure, making the material more soluble

Why Thermal Hydrolysis?

• Enhances biogas yields by 30% approx.
• Improves biogas quality (more CH4, less H2S)
• Decreases GHG emissions and carbon footprint, as the additional biogas is a renewable energy source
• Reduces sludge volume, cutting drying and handling costs
• Improves sludge quality producing pathogen-free, odor-less biosolids
• Enables a foam-free, smoother anaerobic digestion downstream process
• Debottlenecks existing digesters, doubling their loading capacity and avoiding significant capital expenditure

Why TH4+?

• Best-in-class technology
• Continuous hydrolysis process that overcomes the issues linked to batch processing
• Super quick heating enables higher temperatures and pressures
• No need to pump the viscous, highly abrasive organic material:
  • Higher reliability as eliminates recurrent mechanical problems
  • Lower maintenance cost
• Regulation tank ensures stable pressure control throughout the system
• Optimized heat integration for lower specific energy consumption
• Compact design with reduced footprint

Technologies Comparison

Company	Technology	Time (min.)	Temp. (ºC)	Flash	Reactor	Heat exchangers	Pumps	Maintenance	Footprint
Cambi	THP	30	165	Y	Tank	N	Y	H	H
Veolia	Exelys	30	165	N	Plug	Y	Y	H	H
SH+E	Lysotherm	30	165	N	Tank	Y	Y	H	H
Sustec	TurboTec	30	165	N	Tank	Y	Y	H	H
Aqualogy	Actylis	15	170	Y	Loop	N	Y	H	L
teCH4+	TH4+	< 1	220-160	Double	New concept	N	N	L	L

H: High / L: Low / Y: Yes / N: No

Economic Comparison

Based on a 400,000 population equivalent (PE) thermal hydrolysis plant, the main economic benefits are:

TH4+

Competitors

Savings Increased biogas production k€/year

200

190

+5%

Savings Higher-quality biosolids k/year

310

296

+5%

Savings Lower CO2 emissions, k€/year

10

10

Energy cost, k€/year

-10

-40

+25%

Maintenance cost, k€/year

-30

-36

+17%

Total savings, k€/year

480

420

+15%

Total investment, k€

1800

3000

-40%

Return Payback, years

0123.012345678

01234567.01

-47%

Return IRR, %

0120123456.01234%

01012.01234567%

+107%

Return NPV, k€

2200

640

+343%