COST COMPETITIVE BIOPLASTIC FOR POLYETHYLENE REPLACEMENT

Plastic manufacture and incineration are a significant contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions (up to 13%). Further, the accumulation of non-biodegradable plastics in waterways and oceans is a growing problem. This project aims to replace large-volume petrochemical plastics, such as polyethylene and polypropylene, with a family of renewable and biodegradable bioplastics with equal or better performance at an equal or lesser cost than existing petrochemical alternatives. These bioplastics will have an estimated 75% lower carbon footprint and a benign end of life, whether they are collected and up-cycled to new products or accidentally dispersed into the environment and degrade to natural molecules. Sust-Chem's renewable thermoplastics are made of the polyacetal poly(2,5-dihydroxy-1,4-dioxane), a.k.a. PDHDO. PDHDO can be obtained by the condensation of glycolaldehyde dimer, also known as 2,5-dihydroxy-1,4-dioxane, DHDO. In prior work we developed a process of making our bioplastic via catalysis by a Lewis acid and repeated the process an multigram scale with laboratory equipment. We demonstrated the product had properties similar to low density polyethylene.The objective of this USDA Phase I project is to increase the molecular weight of the product and develop a scalable, reproducible, and cost-effective process to manufacture our bioplastic at scale. Further we want to demonstrate processing in thin film form with commercial equipment. A successful project will demonstrate the commercial manufacturability of our bioplastic and use in thin film applications for bags and packaging.The overall technical objective of this USDA project is to demonstrate that PDHDO can be used as an LDPE replacement in thin film applications. Technical objective of this Phase I project include:1. Improve the polymerization process to reach a polymer with molecular weight of 30,000-50,000 Dalton which it the molecular weight of LDPE for film applications. Scale up production to kilograms quantities2. Demonstrate thin film processing using available commercial equipment. We plan to evaluate several methods to process PDHDO in thin film forms with existing industrial equipment.3. Characterize the properties of the thin film and begin identifying initial target applications and compare to the properties of the status quo material. Key performance metrics will include water absorption, and tensile and tear strength in thin film form.4. Carry out an engineering, cost and lifecycle analysis to demonstrate economic viability, and estimate the environmental impact and confirm the GHG reduction potential of our bioplastic. This analysis will include of the monomer (GA), dimer (DHDO) and polymer (PDHDO).