Hürth, Germany-based maker of biodegradable and biobased polymer compounds, FKuR Kunstoff GmbH, has opened an additional line for the production of biopolymers. It is the third compounding line the company has bought from KraussMaffei Berstorff.
"Thanks to the fact that biopolymers are biodegradable and/or made of renewable primary products, they have firmly established themselves in the market over the last few years", said Lars Darnedde who is responsible for process engineering in the field of biopolymer compounding and processing at KraussMaffei Berstorff.
"The global production of biopolymers increased from 249 kt in 2009 to about 1,160 kt in 2011 and experts expect the figure to quintuple to about 5,780 kt by 2016", added Darnedde.
The most common bioplastics are bio PE and PET as well as starch and PLA blends.