WORTHINGTON, Ohio — The Ohio Soybean Council, in collaboration with Battelle and Univenture, was awarded its fifth R&D 100 Award for the development of a soy meal-based polymer during the 47th Annual R&D 100 Awards ceremony in Orlando.
Only the top 100 innovations of the year receive this honor. Award recipients were determined by an independent judging panel and editors of R&D Magazine.
Potential
The soy meal-based polymer technology has the potential to be used in nearly any type of molded-plastic application and could be utilized in various industries such as packaging, construction, electrical, furniture and machinery.
Because of its wide-reaching applications, this technology could create millions of bushels per year in soybean demand, bringing an additional $4-$6 million per year in revenue to Ohio soybean farmers.
In the U.S. the overall plastics market demand was 115 billion pounds in 2007 and the demand for biodegradable plastic is increasing by 13.7 percent annually.
The soy meal-based polymer technology has comparable performance and is at a lower cost compared to the fully petroleum-derived equivalent, so it could be a leading alternative in filling this demand for biodegradable plastic.
Univenture
Univenture has already put this new technology to the manufacturing test.
Headquartered in Marysville, Ohio, Univenture specializes in a wide variety of customizable, cost-effective packaging and storage options, binders and automated packaging machinery.
Besides the reduction in petroleum used in the products, this innovative technology has the potential to be molded at lower temperatures, further reducing energy costs associated with the manufacturing process.
Additionally, the soy meal-based polymer does not absorb water in high humidity and has similar impact strength and mechanical properties compared with a fully petroleum-derived polymer.
