DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY — France-based Natureplast is experimenting with some very unusual ingredients for its plastic recipes and is this year showing samples of materials made using sources such as olive stones.
The company, which describes itself as a bioplastics trader, makes plastic samples in its 3-year-old R&D lab, where it experiments with unusual compounds.
On its stand, the firm is demonstrating a flower pot made out of a plastic based on olive stones, which was launched this year. It also has samples of bioplastics made using leather, shell and algae.
President Thomas Lefèvre says Natureplast helps partners who are looking for something that is not readily available on the market. The leather compound, for example is attracting a lot of interest from automotive companies, he said.
The algae material, on the other hand, is showing promise because algae is cheap, readily available and does not compete with food sources.