German biodegradable and biobased plastics producer Bio-Fed (Cologne; www.bio-fed.com) has added renewable resource-based polyamide compounds, the "MVera ECS" products, to its portfolio. The main focus of Bio-Fed, a subsidiary of Akro-Plastic (Niederzissen / Germany; www.akro-plastic.com), is on compostable and biodegradable plastic compounds for film applications as well as injection moulding.

The new "PA 6.10 fulfils the standard definition of a bioplastic since it is made up of approximately 60% renewable resources," says Bio-Fed's product manager, Roland Andernach. Castor oil, derived from the seeds of the plant Ricinuns communis, forms the basis of sebacic acid, which is the product's renewable raw material content. Unlike previous products in the MVera series, the new ECS products are biobased, but not biodegradable. The company sees MVera ECS products as valuable for technical applications that need a long-life product with high material resistance as well as having a more favourable carbon footprint than that of polymers entirely from fossil origin.

According to Andernach, the biobased PA 6.10 compound technically closes the gap between PA 6, PA 6.6 and PA 12, yet with working properties that correspond to those of PA 6.