Biobent Polymers' Revolutionary Panacea Bioplastics Set New Industry Standard for Performance While Cutting Petroleum By Up To 40%

MARYSVILLE, OH, January 20, 2011 (Press-News.org) Biobent Polymers, a new division of global plastics manufacturer Univenture, today launched its Panacea family of bioplastics. The new bio-composite is the industry's first bioplastic resin to maintain the characteristics of the base plastic material while replacing up to 40% of the petroleum normally used in plastics manufacturing. The award-winning technology behind Panacea was developed by Battelle Memorial Institute with funding from the Ohio Soybean Council, and licensed exclusively to Univenture, an innovative manufacturer of eco-friendly plastic packaging and products. The announcement was made by Keith Masavage, Chief of Strategy and Operations at Univenture.

The first two products which Biobent will offer, Panacea PP and Panacea PE, are polypropylene and polyethylene based products that will be priced competitively in the bioplastics market. Most bioplastics are significantly more expensive than their petroleum derived counterparts, but this will not be the case for the Panacea products. The innovative process used to make the Panacea line is capable of blending traditional thermoplastics with a low cost, unrefined agricultural co-product - soy meal. The net result is high performing bio-composite materials with a cost structure competitive with purely petroleum derived plastics.

"Panacea is the first line of bioplastics without traditional compromises," stated Mr. Masavage. He added that "Bioplastics have been on the market for decades but every material introduced to date has required sacrifices in performance or price, and often both. Only Panacea offers enhanced sustainability, high performance and a competitive price."

Funded by the Ohio Soybean Council, researchers at Battelle developed a patent pending process to combine soybean meal with "off the shelf" plastic resins. The resulting bio-composite replaces 10%-40% of the petroleum-based resin with low-cost agricultural co-products. This unique bio-composite was tested in Univenture's patented UniKeep binders, which were injection molded at its manufacturing facility in Marysville, Ohio. The successful production of UniKeep binders affirmed the commercial potential of this revolutionary technology. In late 2009 this innovation received a coveted R&D 100 Award. The R&D 100 Award was founded by R&D Magazine in 1963 to promote the 100 most technically innovative products developed each year, in applications as diverse as environmental sciences, energy devices, semiconductor, software, and communications.

Panacea PP and Panacea PE evaluation kits are available upon request. For a free evaluation kit, contact Bruce Thornbloom at bthornbloom@biobent.com or (937) 645-4600.

LINKS:
Websites: http://www.biobent.com
http://www.univenture.com
http://www.battelle.org

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marysville-OH/Univenture/61503866042?ref=ts

ABOUT UNIVENTURE
Univenture Inc. has been designing and manufacturing plastic products, including those made of bio-based plastics, since its founding in 1988. The company was listed on the Inc. 500 fastest growing privately held companies five times and the Small Business Administration named founder, Ross O. Youngs, National Business Person of the Year in 1997. The dedicated focus of the Univenture team has resulted in numerous industry awards and accolades for its innovation, commitment to customers and sales growth.

PHOTO LIBRARY - A high resolution photo library of the Biobent Polymers Panacea sustainable bioplastics is available for download via the following link: http://stylegroup.com/biobent

INTERVIEWS - Univenture's Chief of Strategy and Operations, Keith Masavage, is available for interviews and desk side briefings regarding Biobent Polymers and Panacea. He is also available to provide expert quotes and bylined articles upon request. To schedule an interview or discuss article options contact Steven Style at 212-465-1290 or stevens@stylegroup.com