Extrusion International 1-2016

Coffins, Flower Pots and Clarinets

The well established “Wood and Natural Fibre Composite

Award” was awarded for the fifth time. Out of 25 companies

that applied, a jury nominated six. Each of the nominated com-

panies introduced its new material or product to the confer-

ence participants in a 10-minute presentation on the first day

of the conference. The 220 participant of the conference

choose three winners. The award nomination took place dur-

ing the gala dinner. The award was sponsored by Coperion

GmbH (DE), international market leader in compounding and

extrusion technologies.

First place: ONORA BV (NL), 100% bio-based coffin with hemp

fibre reinforcement in injection moulding technology

The participants choose by far the natural fibre-reinforced,

100% bio-based coffin as their winner. The product is injec-

tion moulded which allows for great freedom of design and a

variety of shapes and colours. The bio-based compound makes

the coffin biodegradable and is an example for new large-vol-

ume applications of biocomposites. Life cycle assessments

show a CO 2 footprint that is not only lower than the CO 2 foot-

print of conventional but also other eco-coffins.

Second place: Millvision BV (NL), Flower pots made of

biodegradable biocomposite with agro rest fibres

These flower pots produced of agro rest fibres from pepper

and tomato cultivation and bio-based plastics are price com-

petitive. They are used for tree nurseries and market-gardens

and are cold soil biodegradable within just a few months. This

new pot acts as fertilizer, improves plant growth and therefore

prevents plastic waste from oil based containers and the asso-

ciated expense.

Third place: Aqvacomp Oy and Flaxwood Oy (FI), Cellulose

fibre-reinforced polystyrene for music instruments

Those composites have the potential to replace the use of a

number of rare and threatened wood species. Several recipes

have been developed for various musical instruments with

equivalent property profiles, for example a cellulose fibre com-

posite replacing granadilla wood in clarinets. The components

have excellent thermal and humidity resistance, reducing the

typical tuning problems of wooden instruments.

The next WPC & NFC Conference, Cologne will take place in

autumn 2017.

Extrusion International 1/2016