ecovio^® – Certified Compostable Polymer With Bio-based Content

Thanks to its special chemical structure, ecovio^® can be biodegraded by microorganisms and their enzymes. Under the conditions of an industrial composting plant – respective temperature, high moisture, defined oxygen content – biodegradation only takes a few weeks. ecovio^® offers various product grades that meet the following, international and national standards and regulations for industrial composting, among others:

With ecovio^®, BASF offers a certified compostable polymer which also contains variable biobased content. It consists of the compostable BASF polymer ecoflex^®, polylactid acid (PLA) and other additives. In contrast to simple starch based bioplastics, ecovio^® is more resistant to mechanical stress and moisture.

ecovio^® products are just as high-performing and strong in use as conventional plastics. An ecovio^® bag can take the same load as its polyethylene counterpart. The product properties were designed such that the products only fully biodegrade in compost after use.

ecovio^® is a certified compostable and mostly bio-based polymer for film applications.

• Mostly biobased
• Usable on blown film equipment for LDPE
• Elastic
• Moisture and tear resistant

Compostable shopping bags offer the customer an additional advantage. They are not only strong enough to be used many times as a shopping bag: In their final phase, the bags can be used for collection of organic waste.

Whether shopping bag or organic waste bag ‒ kitchen and food waste can be collected hygienically in ecovio^® bags, then turned, together with the bag, into compost. Undesirable odor and pest infestation are prevented. Thanks to its good wet strength, liquid from teabags or the remains of fruit do not leak through, so there is no more laborious scrubbing of the organic waste bin.

The compostable product grade ecovio^® FS is a new development from BASF: The material mainly consists of renewable raw materials and can be composted even faster. In Germany, bags made from this material can be used for the collection of organic waste in accordance with the German Biowaste Ordinance at the end of 2011.

ecovio^® M was specially developed for film applications in farming and gardening.

• Certified compostable acc. to EN 13432
• Ready-made compound with slip- and anti-block agents
• High strength and excellent failure energy
• Down-gauging to 8 μm possible
• Easy processing as a drop-in solution on conventional blown film lines for PE
• Suitable for the production of black, transparent or colored mulch films

Films are not only employed for bags and packaging, they also have applications in agriculture and horticulture. Here, mulch films are used to increase the yield, speed up harvesting as well as to save water and herbicides. Conventional mulch films made of polyethylene (PE) have to be collected from the fields and recycled after harvesting. Because of earth and plant remnants sticking to the films recycling is more difficult or even impossible. Mulch films made of ecovio^® M2351 are completely and biologically degraded by microorganisms like bacteria and fungi that exist naturally in the soil. Farmers can simply plow the ecovio^® mulch films back into the ground along with the plant debris. This saves time and money.

ecovio^® can be used for a wide range of packaging applications. With ecovio^®, compostable plastic parts can be produced on standard plastics manufacturing machines.

• Mostly biobased
• Usable on conventional plastics manufacturing machines
• Runs on single- and multi-purpose tools
• Suitable for food contact

Products made of ecovio^® benefit from an optimal balance of stiffness and toughness. Depending on the application, the flow behavior is flexibly tunable: from a medium to a high flow capacity. The surface look ranges from beige to light gray, depending on the amount of mineral fillers. Especially for plastic components in packaging or for applications with high mechanical loads, these products are a good choice.

ecovio^® PS was specially developed for coating paper and paperboard.

• Mostly biobased
• Good barrier properties against liquids, fat and mineral oil
• Suitable for food contact

The certified compostable and mostly biobased polymer has multiple advantageous properties. In extrusion coating, ecovio^® PS offers a low coating thickness at high coating rates and process stability.

The good adhesion of ecovio^® PS to many types of paper and paperboard, its temperature stability up to 100°C and sealing capacity comparable to PE make it ideal for the production of paper- and paperboard-based packaging and disposable tableware, e.g., cups, paper plates, or wrapping paper.

In addition to the option of composting packaging which is contaminated with the remains of food after use, ecovio^® PS also offers the option of paper recycling.

Make sure your sensitive goods are perfectly protected during transport: ecovio^® EA is the optimal product for biodegradable transport packaging

• High biobased content (ca. 85%)
  
• Certified compostable
• Expandable granules – similar to EPS
• Can be processed on conventional EPS and EPP machines
• Excellent multi-shock behavior
• Good thermal insulationproperties
• Approved for food contact in the EU

ecovio^® EA expands the existing BASF foam portfolio with a new, certified compostable and biobased particle foam. It can be processed in common, modern EPS and EPP systems in the conventional pre-expansion and molding process steps. Thanks to its high flexibility in processing, ecovio^® EA can be processed into any given molded parts of different densities.

Due to BASF’s innovative production method, ecovio^® EA – like EPS, for example – is delivered in octabins as expandable granules and has comparable storage times. The result is a product that allows the production of foam molded parts with a high degree of design freedom which are certifiably biodegradable after use.

Fruit and vegetable bags made of certified compostable ecovio^® help to close the loop of the food value chain

• Blown films can be extruded up to 12 µm
• High tear and wear stability
• Approved for food contact
• Reduce food losses due to the good breathability

Fruit and vegetable bags made of ecovio^® are more than simple carrier bags. They can be reused as organic waste bags and thus improve the collection and recovery of organic food waste. The ecovio^® bags also comply with the recent standards in France and Italy for compostable fruit and vegetable bags made of renewable resources. In France, for example, single-use plastic bags that are thinner than 50 micrometer have to consist of at least 40 percent of renewable resources and be home-compostable. Thus bags made of ecovio^® support a safer, cleaner and easier food waste collection, closing the loop of the food value chain.