Brabender and the TU Dresden plan to present how polymer material is created from seaweed during Interpack.

 

Process and product developer Brabender and TU Dresden announce they will demonstrate processing from the raw material of dried seaweed to reshaped packaging live during Interpack 2023 from May 4 to 10 at the booth of the VDMA Food Processing and Packaging Machinery Association. Interested parties would be able to learn more about the quality determination of the raw material as well as see flat film extrusion and film drying from seaweed biomass. The process developed by Brabender and the TU Dresden together with the University of the Philippines is said to be simple, involves low raw material costs and therefore had great potential as an environmentally friendly alternative to plastics. In the process, seaweed was processed directly by extrusion into a polymer material that can be made into a product such as granules, strands, film or 3D molded parts, they say. According to Brabender, the polymer material produced from dried seaweed is suitable as a substitute for plastics in certain applications, such as disposable packaging. The material has good mechanical properties and is water-soluble, is said.

 

Sources:

• plastverarbeiter.de (March 21, 2023)
• Photo: © Brabender