Fernyhough leads a team of 30 researchers, many of them focused on developing bioplastics which boast less environmental impact than traditional petroleum-based plastics. In these temperature-controlled laboratories, they’ve tested everything from cow dung to kiwifruit to see what sort of properties they might have as bases for bioplastics.

They’ve made surfboard surfaces out of harakeke (flax) fibre, and thin plastic film from chicken feathers. They’ve turned beads of bioplastic made from corn starch into a foam which resembles polystyrene in almost every way, except for its environmental footprint. They’ve developed plant pots, and small containers suitable for cosmetics like lip balm, out of materials which will biodegrade much faster than petroleum-based plastics.

Some of these initiatives have been developed through the Biopolymer Network, a joint-venture with two other New Zealand research bodies, AgResearch, and Crop and Food Research. Like bioplastics researchers and manufacturers worldwide, the scientists in the Kiwi network know the key to realising the commercial potential of bioplastics is in finding alternatives which are as durable as the milk containers, telephones and children’s toys made from traditional plastic. And this is where New Zealand is ahead of the pack.

Japanese auto-giant Toyota, which launched a bioplastics unit in 1998, hopes to capture two-thirds of the global market for petroleum-free plastics by 2020. It has fitted bioplastic spare-tyre covers and floor mats in some of its cars. In 2005, electronics mega-company Fujitsu released its line of FMV-Biblo computers encased in bioplastic. So others are leading in terms of the application of bioplastics, but in the pivotal area of durability New Zealand is turning heads.

The upswing
Fernyhough, Studied in Liverpool University’s renowned polymer science laboratories, and worked for Kobe Steel and BP in Asia and Europe, before moving to Scion, where he is unit manager for biomaterials engineering. He has been at the CRI for six years, using tools such as an impact tester (a giant hammer) and a pelletiser (a processor) to research the uses and limitations of biopolymer technology.

It was a decade ago that Forest Research first seriously considered bioplastics as a way to utilise wood waste. But in the past two years, Fernyhough says, there has been a surge in product development.

A New Zealand product called the biopeg, which is hammered into the ground to keep fabrics such as matting attached to hillsides, has been developed for Mulford Engineering Plastics drawing on Scion’s expertise. The biopeg is made of a mix of natural, benign, renewable and biodegradable materials that (with the help of bacteria, fungus and the weather) will naturally decompose. It took three years to strike a balance between biodegradability and the hardiness required for the peg’s function.

Fernyhough says if bioplastics are to ever replace oil-based plastics, researchers need to crack these durability issues. At present most commercial bioplastics can’t hold coffee, because the heat causes the plastic to soften. And they can’t hold Coca-Cola because the bioplastic drains the fizz out of the liquid. New Zealand’s Good Water Company exports water drink-bottles which are bioplastic, although the lids for them are not. Cost-effective bioplastics are still not durable enough to screw on and seal effectively.

Fernyhough says New Zealand researchers are attracting international attention for their focus on durability, flexibility, heat resistance and other performance features of bioplastics. International laboratories are seeking out collaborations with organisations such as the Biopolymer Network. “In some areas we are leading. We are ahead of the game in development of performance features. It’s a huge opportunity for New Zealand, actually.”

The sustainability focus plays straight into New Zealand’s branding as a clean and pure, environmentally oriented nation. Bioplastics are defined as either plastics which are compostable according to a recognised standard (regardless of the source materials), or plastics which are made from renewable resources (whether compostable or not).
There are more than 400 plastics companies in New Zealand, with a collective annual turnover of $1.8 billion and a total of 8,000 employees. In 2003, these companies converted 242,930 tonnes of plastic into products.

Plastic products are composites usually containing fibres. In traditional petroleum-based plastics, a composite will include synthetic fibres such as glass and talc, and synthetic stabilisers. In bioplastics, a composite might be made from bio-based alternatives, such as wood fibre, and additives from waste products.

Scion has developed a research database of more than 350 formulations – from fish waste to effluent, and blends of natural grasses to discarded fruit – and tested each of them in bioplastic composites. Former Massey University researcher Dr Steven Pratt, now with the University of Queensland, worked on similar research: the seeming magic of making plastic from cow pats.

Waikato University researcher Dr Johan Verbeek has been researching the transformation of blood waste materials from meat works into value-added products. Verbeek says bioplastic netting and clips could be on the market in five years through the university’s commercial arm, Novatein. These products could be used in horticulture to tie up or protect plants, and would then disintegrate into a fertiliser.

Bioplastics use the colour palettes available in nature – almost any colour can be created. In most cases, they end up looking exactly like petroleum-based plastics. One of the most widely used bioplastics is polylactic acid (PLA), a transparent polymer made from common plants such as cane sugar, corn or sweet potatoes. The starch in the plants is broken down into glucose, fermented, made into lactic acid and polymerised. PLA can be heated and shaped, and the race is on to make it as durable as ordinary plastic.

Every year, major oil companies such as BP and Exxon collectively create a total of 90 million tonnes of the three main synthetic plastics: polystyrene, polyethylene and polypropylene. In comparison, US company NatureWorks, the dominant manufacturer of PLA with an estimated 90% market share, sends 140,000 tonnes of PLA around the world every year under the brand name Ingeo.

“It’s a drop in the ocean, but a rapidly increasing drop,” Fernyhough says. In 2006, PLA production was just 50,000 tonnes. At some point between 2010 and 2012, it is predicted PLA production will hit 1 million tonnes to service growing demand.

Bioplastics are used to make rubbish bags, food-wrapping films, and eating utensils, and can be woven into fabrics, and moulded into hardy construction materials such as the biopeg. Plant-based plastics are increasingly popular for use in medical implants, because they disintegrate over time, eliminating the need for subsequent surgery to remove screws or anchors.

New Zealand’s largest rigid-plastic moulding company Alto has trialled PLA pellets through its machines and manufactures a very small line of bioplastic sandwich containers for South Island tourism company Real Journeys. It has also produced bioplastic drink cups for the last three annual Round the Bays runs in Auckland. After the runs, the cups were collected for composting at an industrial plant in Waitakere.

Business development and technical manager Ron Starnes says the companies from which Alto evolved were first looking at bioplastics in 1993, when PLA was 15 times the price of petroleum-based plastic. Alto’s predecessors played a pivotal role in NatureWorks’ development by creating a plastic cup at its Hamilton factory. This was sent back to the US company to prove it could be done.

Since 2003, Alto has maintained a modest but determined interest in bioplastics, but, to put it in perspective, PLA products represent less than 0.5% of Alto’s total output. However, Starnes says products such as meat trays used in supermarkets could one day present an opportunity for bioplastics.

Most meat trays are put out with household rubbish destined for landfills, because of the blood and reluctance to handle them after use. Alto has researched the use of bioplastics for meat trays and its factories will be ready to roll out the product, as soon as a supermarket deems it worthwhile to pay the premium in return for an environmental marketing gain. But Starnes says this could be some time, due to the cost differentiation and to confusion among customers about the reusability or sustainability of bioplastics.

Confused, you should be
There are few bioplastic products available for purchase in New Zealand now, yet it may not be any easier to be an environmentally conscious consumer of plastics if biopolymers do become more readily available. Andrew Turnbull, an investor and entrepreneur on the board of the ICE Angels investment group, is a former chemical and process engineer with a strong interest in biotechnology. He says price competitiveness is holding back the bioplastics market. Even with soaring crude oil prices, the oil needed to create a petroleum-based plastic is still cheaper than the base products needed to create an equivalent bioplastic product.

Turnbull believes consumers would be prepared to pay a 10 to 20% premium for the environmental benefits of bioplastics, but the environmental premium is roughly double at the moment. We have a conscience, but not at any price.

Turnbull says there are several factories aimed at manufacturing PLA under construction in China. In fact, there are so many factories being built to ride the bioplastic wave, he predicts a glut of PLA hitting the market in coming years. While manufacturers wait for that over-supply to materialise, New Zealand must utilise the calm before the storm to source materials found in abundance in this country, and figure out how to create cost-effective, durable, bioplastic composites.

Aside from cost, the bioplastics industry is also dogged by confusion about whether or not their product truly represents a more socially acceptable alternative. Land planted in crops for bioplastic is then unavailable for growing food crops. Should consumers push for bioplastics if it forces up the cost of food? What if those bioplastics are compostable in theory but only in an industrial composter, of which there are few in New Zealand? Bioplastics can’t yet be added to kerbside recycling in New Zealand as they aren’t compatible with the petroleum-based plastics which dominate the country’s recycling effort.

Industry group Plastics New Zealand says, “The biggest threat with the introduction of degradable plastics is they will not be clearly identifiable. This could lead to the contamination of successful recycling methods that are in place now for other types of plastics.” What if the presence of bioplastics confused consumers sufficiently that they stopped recycling?

Turnbull says it’s wrong to assume that a product which is biologically sourced is good for the environment. Oil is a natural resource, albeit a non-renewable one. But at least petroleum-based plastic products can be recycled (unlike bioplastics) and can also claim biodegradability, although the timeframes can be several decades longer. Even compostable bioplastics can’t just be chucked in a home composting unit. They need a particular combination of moisture and heat which can’t be found in a household environment, or even in a properly functioning landfill.

And then there’s the fact 20% of the crops used to make corn starch in the United States are genetically modified. So the world’s largest producer of PLA bioplastic is using a source material some consumers may be uncomfortable with.

These are among the big questions facing the New Zealand Plastics Industry Degradables Working Group, of which Fernyhough is a member. With a list of limitations and such confusion among consumers, bioplastics don’t yet appear to be a serious contender in the plastics market. Perhaps this is why, in spite of the obvious excitement around developments in his balmy Rotorua laboratories, Fernyhough refuses to write off petroleum-based plastics. “There will always be a market for both the synthetic [plastics] and the bioplastics.”