UPM BioMotion™ RFF are a versatile product, built to increase the sustainability performance of various end-use applications made from thermoplastics. On the one hand, they can be used as additives, mainly to for coloring of compounds, but also compounds with a high UPM BioMotion™ RFF content are of interest, representing a completely new class of materials. Independent of the loading, UPM BioMotion™ RFF can be used in products for industrial, home, soil, and marine composting. The areas of application for UPM BioMotion™ RFF in thermoplastics are diverse, from packaging and consumer electronics to automotive, transportation and household items.
In terms of sustainability and resource conservation, it is desirable to recycle thermoplastics, such as packaging materials, in a closed loop. However, if carbon black is used as a pigment in black-colored plastics, these materials cannot be sorted in recycling plants and therefore cannot be recycled. Due to the strong absorption of carbon black, the polymer of which the article is made cannot be detected with a near-infrared (NIR) detection system.
UPM BioMotion™ RFF offer manufacturers of plastic articles and components the perfect alternative solution to help their customers achieve their sustainability goals. Unlike compounds colored with carbon black, UPM BioMotion™ RFF allow NIR detection of the base polymer and thus enables sorting and recycling of black-colored plastic products. The use of UPM BioMotion™ RFF as black pigment allows a characteristic black coloring of thermoplastic materials, with a slightly reddish and yellowish tone. Most efficient are loadings up to 3–5 wt%.
If a thermoplastic material is fed into the recycling cycle, it is important that the thermal and oxidative stress of further processing does not damage the polymer too much so that the recycled material can also be used in high quality applications. Thermoplastic materials colored with UPM BioMotion™ RFF show excellent thermal stability in terms of melt flow index (MFI) and oxidation induction time (OIT) during recycling. The MFI remains constant over a series of up to ten recycling cycles while the OIT even increases. No color changes of the thermoplastic materials are observed. Thus, additives used for thermal stabilization, especially of polyolefins during processing, might be even partially replaced by UPM BioMotion™ RFF.
UPM BioMotion™ RFF can be added directly during extrusion or as a masterbatch in extrusion or further processing of the thermoplastic materials. A UPM BioMotion™ RFF masterbatch has a significantly higher renewable material content and a significantly improved carbon footprint than masterbatches using fossil additives and pigments.
UPM BioMotion™ RFF can also be used in higher loadings as functional filler in thermoplastic compounds. Its unique combination of properties makes it advantageous over other filler materials. In addition to reduced carbon footprints and lightweight, UPM BioMotion™ RFF provides renewable material content which can be directly measured in form of biobased carbon in the final article with standardized methods. Further, it increases the stiffness of polymer compounds, while a characteristic black color is achieved. Even at high filler loadings easy processing in extrusion, injection molding and other conversion methods is given up to temperatures of 260°C without the characteristic strong odor which is known from Kraft lignin. Furthermore, UPM BioMotion™ RFF can be used in unlimited amounts as an additive for industrial, home, soil, and marine biodegradable products (according to DIN EN 13432 and DIN EN ISO 224031). This opens possibilities for various compostable applications with increased renewable material content.