CO₂ absorbing plastics

This   development   is   a   worldwide   new   approach.   It   allows   making standard     plastics     to     CO ₂      absorbers     from     the     surrounding atmosphere.   Especially   thin   films   are   ideal   therefore.   A   film   with 50   g/m²   will   absorb   ca.   6   g/m²   CO ₂ .   All   this   is   finished   after   one week exposure time to air.

Applications

There    are    already    nice    examples    commercially    available:    garbage bags!   They   are   available   with   10   pieces   per   roll.   In   the   roll   the films   are   not   accessible   to   surrounding   air   and   CO ₂ .   As soon   as   they   are   separated   from   the   roll,   the   absorption process will start. Further applications: carrier bags!

Mechanism

The    absorption    is    done    by    a    chemical    reaction    and    is    irreversibel    under    recycling conditions   even.   After   a   new   recycling   step   the   CO ₂ -Absorber   can   be   added   again   as   a masterbatch,    commercially    available    as    “WK    UP®sorb    CO2”    from    Walter    Kunststoffe GmbH ( www.walter-kunststoffe.com ).