Laboratorios Maverick investigates PLA, the plastic that can be industrially composted

The objective of the European BeonNAT project is to create bioproducts with high added value in marginal lands in Spain, Germany, and Romania

Maverick Laboratories has joined the European BeonNAT project with the aim of investigating polylactic acid (PLA), a naturally-derived plastic that can be composted industrially and does not come from oil.

BeonNAT, funded by the European Commission with 5 million euros and managed by the Center for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research (CIEMAT), will grow six under-utilized species of trees and shrubs, such as juniper, rockrose, and cypress, and the elm, in infertile lands in Spain, Germany, and Romania.

From these trees, which will also serve to reduce the carbon footprint, substances such as paper, sawdust, essential oils, various extracts, biochar, activated carbon, absorbents, and bioplastics will be carefully selected and extracted and will become the base to develop the sustainable material PLA.

This project has received funding from the Biological Industries Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No. 887259. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program and the Biological Industries Consortium.

LABORATORIOS MAVERICK WILL CREATE AND VALIDATE THE QUALITY OF THE PACKAGING

As a specialist in the manufacture of containers and having its own blowing plant, Laboratorios Maverick’s cooperation will consist of making the bottles made with this bioplastic and validating them following the usual processes to ensure the container’s maximum quality.

This task will be coordinated with AIMPLAS, the Valencia-based Plastic Technological Institute, which will be in charge of synthesizing the PLA bioplastic to form the preforms that will be blown and evaluated at the Maverick Laboratories facilities.

Pedro Pérez, General Director of Laboratorios Maverick, stated that this initiative demonstrates the company’s commitment to introducing environmentally-friendly packaging into its production cycle.

“We are delighted to participate in BeonNAT by putting our facilities and the criteria of the most qualified professionals at the service of this project to investigate and validate the application of PLA in the industry. The commitment to sustainability is key to our business culture and initiatives of this kind are added to our efforts to promote the circular economy”, said Mr. Pérez.