Bioplastics

Challenge: Single-serve coffee pods made of aluminum offer an excellent oxygen and flavor barrier, preserving freshness and extending shelf life. Increasingly, however, consumers are expressing concern about the environmental impact of the use of these capsules. Our customer sought to develop a pod that could be injection molded wholly from bioplastic.

The challenge was twofold: in the first place, obtaining the requisite barrier properties using a bioplastic was no easy task; secondly, end users required the capsules to be easily composted without negatively impacting the environment.

Solution: Granula scoured available suppliers for colorants with reduced heavy metal content or cleaner raw materials. All colors were tested according to the EU 13432 standard for plant toxicity and compostability. A selection of the tested colorants was subsequently made and these are now used in Granula’s biobased polymer masterbatches. For the purpose of this specific project, Granula helped to develop a masterbatch that added the right colorants together with processing additives to achieve a brilliant color and enhance the processability of the PLA polymer The PLA-based combi-batch further included mold release and nucleating agents to achieve good quality capsules.