German sustainability start-up traceless uses Hauschild SpeedMixer® in R&D to revolutionize the polymer market with biodegradable natural biopolymers
For almost 50 years, the original "Hauschild SpeedMixer®" has enabled the production of homogeneous mixtures of different materials such as liquids, highly viscous pastes or powders in just a few minutes. About 7000 patents have already been filed worldwide with the help of the Hauschild SpeedMixer®. Another innovation created by using this DAC Mixer is now making its way through the industrial world: The German-based startup “traceless” produces biodegradable natural biopolymers as a granulate which can be further processed into a wide range of end products. These materials are a holistically sustainable alternative to conventional plastics and bioplastics, considering all impact indicators, and designed to leave no trace. With the help of the Hauschild SpeedMixer traceless is enjoying a much faster process throughput in the R&D work. “The perfection of this planetary mixer enables us to save time and money in our most important step of work: the constant further development of the material that will diminish global plastic pollution,” says traceless-founder Anne Lamp.
Polymers are worldwide important in the manufacturing of manifold products, pipelines are constructed of plastic due to their corrosion resistance, automotive and aerospace use them to manufacture lighter materials and many other industries are built upon polymer chemistry (textiles, rubber, paper, packaging etc).
Now nature has provided us also with natural biopolymers that don’t carry the disadvantage of plastic pollution and poor biodegradability. And this is where the story of traceless and Hauschild Engineering begins: traceless’ base material is a granulate that is fully bio-circular and – also important – does not compete with food production as it is based on by-products of plant processing.
This granulate can be further processed into films, coatings, adhesives, rigid materials and so on. Final products include packaging solutions for food or non-food which are already tested on a broader spectrum.
With Hauschild SpeedMixer efficiency has grown substantially in the R& D process
“In our laboratory, the further development of the granulate formulation for various product applications is done with the help of a Hauschild SpeedMixer,” says traceless co-founder Anne Lamp. “Efficiency has grown substantially in our R&D process, using the Hauschild speed mixer DAC 150. It has become an integral part of our laboratory practice thanks to its excellent and efficient mixing characteristics. We are able to perform each mixing with high accuracy and reproducibility, independently from the type of components present in the mixture. The technology allows us to perform high throughput experiments with an extremely precise process control. In the very short time frame of only few minutes we are achieving a homogenous mix, completely free of bubbles, thanks to its in-built degassing technology,” Lamp explains.
Unlike conventional plastics and bioplastics, both the production and the product of traceless' innovative, patent-pending technology are free of toxic chemicals. The materials are climate friendly, as their production and disposal emit up to 87% less CO2 compared to virgin plastics. Making use of natural biopolymers, traceless is plastic and microplastic free and does not fall under the EU Plastics Directive. Already competitive in quality to conventional plastics and bioplastics, on industrial production scale the materials will be price competitive to virgin plastics in the EU. The plastics- and packaging industry can further process the traceless granulate to flexible films, rigid materials, coatings or adhesives, using standard converting technologies. This way, traceless can be used in a wide variety of end products - from rigid and flexible packaging to disposables to products with high abrasion and coating & adhesive solutions.
Fabio Boccola, CEO of Hauschild Engineering, is very excited about these new biodegradable natural biopolymers. “Plastic-free is a mission we support hundred percent,” he adds. “It seems that the two female traceless founders are definitely on their way to making a real impact towards the global plastic pollution. We hope that it won’t take long until we can use traceless cups and jars in our mixers.”