© Piotr Banczerowski
The new PLA material can be processed into plastic films in a similar way to LDPE using conventional processing plants.
Flexible, disposable plastic films used in shopping or garbage bags are made mainly from petroleum-based low-density polyethylene (LDPE). These films, however, come with a large carbon footprint and contribute to environmental pollution. A team from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP has now developed a flexible and recyclable plastic film material based on polylactide (PLA) bioplastic and paved the way for its commercialization. For their efforts, they will receive the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize for 2024.
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