BUSINESS TRENDS

BioCycle October 2003, Vol. 44, No. 10, p. 21

BIOPLASTICS KNOW NO BOUNDARIES
Examples of the tremendous progress taking place with compostable plastics abound. The Toyota Motor Corporation announced plans last month to construct a pilot plant to produce bioplastics made from vegetable matter. The new facility - to be built within an existing manufacturing plant in Japan - is

planned to generate 1,000 tons of the polylactic acid plastics annually. Operations are scheduled to start in August 2004.
Biodegradables are catching wider attention in the media. “The most visible symbol of this sea change in manufacturing technology is a new Cargill Dow plant that towers above the flat corn country in Blair, Nebraska,” writes Fortune magazine (7/31/03) in an article titled Bioplastic Fantastic. “The joint venture company is producing a plastic called polylactic (PLA) which competes with traditional petroplastics like polyester and PET for use in packaging and clothes.”
The article notes that chemical conglomerates like DuPont as well as small, research-oriented firms like Metabolix of Cambridge, Massachusetts are “brewing up bioplastics in fermenters full of living organisms and nutrient broth.” A recent McKinsey & Co. industry analysis estimated that by 2010, chemical products made at least partly by biotech methods could amount to $280 billion. Adds Fortune: “Sales that large would displace a notable quantity of oil, freeing it up for other uses and helping keep prices down. It would also shift the source of industrial chemicals from foreign countries to farm fields nearer the markets where the end products will be consumed. That would cut transportation costs and conceivably reduce dependence on foreign oil.”
Recent reports in BioCycle provide this background on commercial developments in the bioplastics industry: The Cargill Dow plant in Nebraska can produce more than 140,000 metric tons of NatureWorks PLA annually using locally-grown corn as raw material; Studies at the USDA Agricultural Research Service in California indicate that cellulose-rich fibers from straw can be slurried and then molded into biodegradable packaging material; A “Compostable Logo” was awarded by the Biodegradable Products Institute to Eastman Chemical Company's Eastar Bio GP & Ultra copolyester which is designed to biodegrade to biomass, water and carbon dioxide in a commercial composting environment in 180 days; More public schools are composting and vermicomposting their cafeteria food residuals and using biodegradable plates and cutlery.
Another indication of the surge in biodegradable plastic markets is coming from the composting programs for food residuals. In the Northwest, for example, Wild Oats Market - a national natural foods supermarket - is using the corn-based resin NatureWorks PLA in its deli containers. These are used to package fruit, pasta and salads. (See “Supermarket Chain Uses Compostable Containers,” August 2003.)
An item in this month's Industry News “Buying Biodegradables In Bulk” has additional information on where to find products for consumer waste.

Copyright 2003, The JG Press, Inc.