Presented this year at the NPE plastics trade show in Orlando, Florida, the Innovation in
Bioplastics 2015 award honored Eastman Kodak for its creation of a bio-toner, designed for the
electro-photographic printing industry that contains greater than 90 percent biobased and
biodegradable materials.
As the impact of bioplastics on the plastics industry continues to grow, NPE offered the
perfect venue for the award ceremony, while at the same time presenting a great opportunity for the
entire plastics supply chain to learn about this segment of their industry.
As SPI President and CEO William R. Carteaux pointed out,“The term ‘bioplastics’ has quickly grown to
become synonymous with innovation, and Eastman Kodak’s creation of a bio-toner that is formulated with biobased and biodegradable materials continues that tradition.”
Eastman Kodak, headquartered in Rochester, NY, created its award-winning biobased and biodegradable
bio-toner using low-carbon-footprint, naturally-advanced Ingeo? resin, which is comprised of polylactic
acid (PLA) and derived from renewable and naturally abundant resources and natural waxes that only
contain a small amount of inorganic material. Having such a high percentage of PLA makes the de-inking
process for this material much simpler, and the resulting waste material that’s leftover contains mostly lactic
acid, which Eastman Kodak noted is a useful feedstock for other plastics products and stands in stark
contrast to typical residue leftover after standard de-inking processes.
According to Eastman Kodak, toner resin worth approximately $1 billion is consumed each year in the
printing industry for electro-photographic toners. One third of that goes into chemical toner production of
which color toner production accounts for 98 percent. Bioresins have limited impact in the industry,
accounting for only one percent of color toners and 10 percent of monochrome toners, but
developing economically-viable biotoners that can be used at 100 percent incorporation, as Eastman
Kodak’s innovative biotoner aims to do, can capture greater market share.
“The Innovation in Bioplastics Award was created to draw attention to solutions that are being created
by the industry using bioplastics, and to draw attention to companies that are using bioplastics not
just as a novelty, but to actually solve real world issues because of their unique functionality,” said Keith
Edwards of BASF, chairman of the SPI Bioplastics Division. “Bioplastics isn’t a revolution,it’s an evolution
and Eastman Kodak created a biobased toner that’s very innovative. Because it’s going to be used in a
wide array of applications it has the potential to have a huge impact on the marketplace.”
“We congratulate Eastman Kodak because they did something very new and we hope that their
success helps other companies look to bioplastics for the solutions they can bring,” Edwards added.
According to Eastman Kodak, their biobased toner will be widely available by May or June this year. (KL)
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