The Ministry of Science and Technology on August 16 approved StartUp loan of Rs 1.15 crores to TGP Bioplastics for commercialising “compostable” plastic and thus also mitigate the usage of Single Use Plastics (SUP).
- Currently, very few degradable materials/composites are available in the market. Most of them cost more than Rs. 280/kg for the raw materials.
- The cheapest degradable polymer today is Polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT) which is available at Rs. 280-300/kg, whereas conventional plastic raw materials cost around Rs. 90/kg.
- Hence, the market willingness for the degradable plastic is less. To solve this problem, the StartUp has developed a new composite material which is cheaper than the available compostable plastic (~Rs 180/kg), having comparable strength.
- The composite is a unique blend of Thermoplastic-Starch (TPS)-glycerin with some chemical modifications that provides higher strength with low manufacturing cost.
Polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT)
- PBAT combines some of the beneficial attributes of synthetic and biobased polymers. It is derived from common petrochemicals—purified terephthalic acid (PTA), butanediol, and adipic acid—and yet it is biodegradable.
- As a synthetic polymer, it can readily be produced at large scale, and it has the physical properties needed to make flexible films that rival those from conventional plastics.
- PBAT’s main selling point—its biodegradability—comes from ester linkages, as opposed to carbon-carbon backbones seen in non-degradable polymers such as polyethylene.
