Description

Röchling-BioBoom, our new PLA-based material offers a real alternative to conventional plastics – with one decisive advantage: it is manufactured in a particularly climate-friendly way from renewable raw materials.

Röchling-BioBoom – winner of the Sustainability Award in Automotive 2021 in the “Complete Vehicle” category

Goal Time to make an impact As a processor of plastics for technical applications, we also have a social and ecological responsibility. That is why the entire Röchling Group is working on solutions that will ensure a world worth living in for future generations. For years, we have been conducting concentrated research into how CO2 emissions can be effectively reduced. This applies especially to emissions that are already generated during production. In our view, bioplastics are the next step toward resource-saving production.

Röchling Automotive has succeeded in developing biopolymers that constitute a genuine alternative to conventional plastics. Compared with fossil-fuel-based polymers, bioplastics reduce production emissions by as much as 90 percent. That means that new Röchling-BioBoom save 515 kilograms of carbon dioxide in the manufacture of a mid-range car. The savings potential applies to the entire production chain, from raw plastics to further processing and vehicle production.

Thanks to many years of development work, we have greatly expanded the range of potential applications of our bioplastics. Our next goal is to be able to offer a biovariant for all products in our portfolio.

Key Facts A new dimension of sustainability The inspiration behind the development of Röchling-BioBoom was to use highly available, reasonably priced and, above all, renewable raw materials. The new material consists of at least 90 percent of ingredients extracted from sugar cane and sugar beet, for example. In the future, we will even be able to use cellulose for this purpose. These ingredients are renewable and at the same time available in large quantities. There is no effect on the food chain, because most of the raw materials come from production for industrial purposes. That makes the product sustainable and guarantees reliable availability in almost any quantity.

Our biopolymers are just as suitable for use in automotive engineering as the plastics normally used. In terms of stability and durability, the new material is even clearly superior to standard PLA. With better aesthetic properties and higher scratch resistance and dimensional stability, our Bio-PLA is often even the better choice.

Certified Sustainability Well to Wheel Despite their numerous impressive properties, bioplastics are still frequently viewed with skepticism. People often ask where the raw materials come from, how much energy is required to produce the plastics and what happens to materials that have reached the end of their lives. These questions are, of course, perfectly justified. We believe that bioplastics represent a real alternative only if their positive environmental impact can be measured and demonstrated.

Röchling Automotive has even set up its own supply chains to accommodate this new material, which means that the components are subject to continuous quality control – from the raw material production stage right through to the finished product. Continuous testing is also performed by a number of independent organizations. Röchling-BioBoom is, among other things, REACH-compliant and has successfully completed a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

Bonsucro, an NGO, has certified the product as sustainable.

Possible Applications We are Pioneers The new generation of biopolymers meets all Röchling quality standards. The bioplastic is optimized for use in the automotive industry and is also more stable and more durable than previous versions. So far advanced is our development process that we are able to use Röchling-BioBoom for both mass production and new developments. With three different variants available, the biopolymers are suitable for almost any part of our entire product range.

We are currently preparing products such as filter boxes, active grille shutters, cowl grilles, exterior grilles and air intake ducts for the market, with more coming soon.

Components made from the new material can be used even at high temperatures without any problems at all. Reinforcement using glass fibers, wood fibers or talc opens up technically and visually sophisticated applications without having to avoid certain surface structures.