Products from Biomass Waste
Wood powder, rice husk, starch, coffee grounds, oyster shells, abalone shells and clam shells are made into tableware, cups, bathroom items, building blocks, pet items and packaging. A household can replace these items one by one, and hotel rooms and restaurants use the same kinds of things. The fibre material degrades naturally, and the degradation time can be adjusted for the use.
Where the raw materials come from
Coffee grounds, wood powder, rice husk and starch are the fibre-line raw materials. All of them are natural polymers. The shell line uses oyster, abalone and clam shells. The shells are washed, ground to powder, mixed with a binder, pelletised and injection-moulded.
Two grades
Both grades degrade naturally. The degradation time can be adjusted for the use, in the natural environment or under specified conditions. One grade adds a low-molecular plastic to the natural polymers. That grade's carbon content is about 30% to 55%, and it degrades in about 10 to 30 years. The other grade is natural polymer only, including wood powder, rice husk, starch and coffee grounds, with no low-molecular plastic. That grade's carbon content is 100%, and it degrades in about 5 to 30 years. The fibre-material products can be recycled.
For shell material, natural content is as high as 85% with recycled plastic added. The other grade is 100% natural material.
What the products are
The products are tableware, cups, bathroom items, building blocks, pet items, takeaway boxes and folding cartons. Homes and hotels both use these items, so the range is wider than a single industrial use.
Non-toxic, and flame retardant when added
The fibre material is made from natural polymers such as wood powder and coffee grounds, and it is non-toxic. The shell material's migration test uses 4% acetic acid at 95°C for 2 hours, and nothing was detected, under KFDA. In the shell material, lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium were not detected, under RoHS. Flame retardancy is added to the shell material during manufacture, for electronic products and building materials.
Tested physical properties
The figures below are for the fibre material. Tensile strength 21.2 MPa (ASTM D638), tensile modulus 2270 MPa (ASTM D638), elongation 2.94% (ASTM D638), Izod impact strength 48.2 J/m (ASTM D256), flexural strength 36.8 MPa (ASTM D790), flexural modulus 3119.3 MPa (ASTM D790), specific gravity 1.1 g/cm³ (ASTM D792), 24-hour water absorption 0.16% (ASTM D570), Rockwell hardness 84 (ASTM D785), melt flow 8.2 g/10 min (ASTM D128), heat deflection temperature 67°C at 1.82 MPa (ASTM D648), softening temperature 144°C at 10N and 65°C at 50N (ASTM D1525), shrinkage 10%, natural carbon content 27% to 100% (ASTM D6866). For the shell material, tensile strength is 24 MPa (ASTM D638), flexural strength 45 MPa (ASTM D790), Izod impact strength 6.5 kJ/m² (ASTM D256), density 1.25 g/cm³ (ASTM D792), Shore D hardness 72 (DIN EN ISO 868), heat deflection temperature 105°C (DIN EN ISO 75), and Vicat softening point 155°C (DIN EN ISO 306).
Certificates
The certificates include Beta Analytic, TÜV Rheinland, CNAS, KFCC and PEFC. The Beta Analytic biobased-carbon result is 100%, and the TÜV carbon result is 25%. The two tests stand on their own. One fibre grade has a carbon content of about 30% to 55%, and the other has a carbon content of 100%. The physical-property table gives a natural carbon content of 27% to 100%. The three sets stand on their own and are not added together. The other tests are SGS non-toxic testing, a 30% organic-polymer degradation test, and food-grade product testing.