Project Profile Developing high performance bioplastics from wood By Tamar Atik The right grade I n the pursuit of mitigating climate change, one B.C. company has developed a method to make bioplastics from wood. But rather than another bio-alternative for plastic straws and containers, Advanced BioCarbon 3D Ltd. (ABC3D) is creating a wood-based engineered grade high performance plastic. Canadian Biomass spoke with chief executive officer Darrel Fry and environmental scientist Kim Klassen to learn more about this innovative process. “People often think of bioplastics as single-use with low-value functionality, but our products are incredibly high-functioning with exceptionally high heat resistance while being lightweight,” Fry says. “As an example, our goal is to be able to 3D print something like a piston for your car from this material – there’s such high heat resistance, and it’s also very strong.” The company’s focus is on addressing the broader issue of climate change, rather than the over-production of single-use plastics, Klassen says. “If we have extreme weather events happening all the time, it’s going to interrupt every part of society. So, climate change, above all other environmental concerns, is important and that is what this company addresses through product development, through sustainable bioplastics made from renewable resources. “Our products are carbon negative, so that’s not just reducing the impact on climate change; we’re actually helping to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.” ABC3D makes its products from wood chips by extracting the resins from wood. “Using a closed-loop manufacturing system, we are able to produce a sustainable product that is non-toxic and renewable,” Klassen says. “The process uses green chemistry and starts with wood chips from the forest industry that are mixed with a solvent and put through a series of pressurized heating and cooling phases to extract the resin from the wood chips. All solvent from the manufacturing process is put Advanced BioCarbon 3D Ltd. CEO Darrel Fry at the Natural Resources Canada Industrial Materials Institute. WINTER 2019 16 Canadian BIOMASS
Canadian Biomass Winter 2019: Page 16
