October 19, 2011
Bioplastics producer NatureWorks intends to meet growing food packaging demand for non-GM sourced bioplastic through an externally financed expansion into Asia. Read more: foodproductiondaily.com.
October 17, 2011
China's participation in the green industry is growing including being some of NatureWorks' largest customers. Buying Ingeo plastics that's made from greenhouse gases instead of contributing to them, puts these companies at the forefront of the green revolution. Read more: forbes.com.
October 12, 2011
"Asian petrochemicals maker PTT Chemical Public Co. Ltd. has paid $150 million for a 50 percent stake in bioplastics leader NatureWorks LLC...NatureWorks officials confirmed the deal Oct. 12, also confirming that the firm’s second global plant would be located in Thailand. In a phone interview, NatureWorks global marketing director Steve Davies said the new plant would be the same size as the Blair facility and likely would be collocated with existing PTT operations in Rayong." Read more: plasticsnews.com.
September 26, 2011
EU policymakers are being urged to support the European bioplastics industry. The bioplastics industry is projected to grow quickly over the next 10 years & Europe must position itself is be a signifcant part of that growth. Large brandowners like Danone echoed the necessity of supporting the bioplastics industry. Vincent Crasnier, Danone's director for the environment, said the company's move into the bioplastics arena was driven by its overarching environmental strategy. "For us, business and nature are not in competition. It's not been easy, but we believe it's the right thing to do." Read more: theparliament.com
September 23, 2011
Textile World takes a look at the raw materials and production of sustainable fibers including plant-based natural fibers like cotton and man-made fibers like Ingeo. Read more: textileworld.com.
September 19, 2011
Inventing, developing, marketing & selling a new polymer is a long road with many hurdles. Most polymers you've heard of (PP, PS, PET) were invented from the late 1930's through the 1960's. 40 years later, introducing a new polymer like Ingeo isn't easy. However, companies like NatureWorks are securing notable market adoption. Read more: pubs.acs.org
September 07, 2011
The Climate Action Programme highlights Stonyfield Farm's use of Ingeo for their multipack yogurt cups. By switching to Ingeo, Stonyfield reduced their CO2 emissions equivalent to 4,360 barrels of oil.
Read more: climateactionprogramme.org
September 01, 2011
Faribault Woolen Mill, a Minnesota business first opened in 1865, is set to reopen after shutting down in July 2009. With new owners the mill will once again start producing blankets & throws from Ingeo fibers. Read more: minnpost.com
August 26, 2011
In this video shown at the Green Game and throughout the season, the Portland Trailblazers highlight that over 90% of their food & beverage disposables, provided by StalkMarket, are compostable & that they're being collected for appropriate end-of-life disposal. Watch now.
August 25, 2011
Excellent Packaging & Supply has added baggase clamshells lined with Ingeo biopolymer to its foodservice products. The new Ingeo lining helps preserve the clamshells' structural integrity when they contain hot and moist food. Read more: prweb.com
August 09, 2011
NatureWorks's customer, Excellent Packaging, recently launched a range of crystal-clear, resealable "lip-n-tape" flat bags made from Ingeo biopolymer. Perfect for cold foods such as snack & sandwiches, the bags are 100% bio-based and compostable. "By adding these two bio-based food bags to our line of sustainable foodservice solutions, we are demonstrating that high-performance alternatives exist to non-sustainable clear retail food bags made from fossil-fuel derivatives," said Allen King, president of Excellent Packaging & Supply." Read more: sfgate.com
August 02, 2011
The president of Italian bottled water company Sant'Anna, Alberto Bertone, was recently interviewed about their use of Ingeo plastic for their Bio Bottle. Read more: ecodallecitta.it
August 01, 2011
Around the world coffee consumption grows and so too does the amount of consumer packaging waste. In fact, 58 billion paper cups are thrown away (not recycled) every year According to the Environmental Defense Organisation (EDP). In Australia and New Zealand alone, over 1.5 billion paper cups are disposed of each year while Americans throw away 2.5 billion disposable cups over the same period. By using an Ingeo-lining in paper coffee cups it opens up the possibility of composting as a new end-of-life solution. Read more: globalcoffeereview.com
July 26, 2011
Biopolymers Symposium recently inteviewed NatureWorks' Steve Davies (global director for marekting & PR) who shared his thoughts about Ingeo, trends in the bioplastics industry and what he's looking forward to at this year's Biopolymers Symposium conference.
Read more: biopolymersummit.com
July 20, 2011
Biologistica, our distributor in Chile, made a great video showcasing the use of Ingeo cups & how to dispose of them at an event organized by the student federation of the Catholic University (FEUC) in Santiago, Chile.
Watch the video: vimeo.com
July 14, 2011
Testifying at a U.S. Senate agricultural committee hearing, Marc Verbruggen outlined several important policy pricincles that Congress should consider as ways to support green chemistry, bio-based manufacturing and agricultural innovation. These suggestions included maintaing and expanding the USDA Biopreferred program as well as government policy or legislation granting monetary incentives or tax breaks for companies developing bio-based production in the US.
Read Dr. Verbruggen's complete testimony or watch the full hearing at www.senate.gov.
July 12, 2011
NET Radio, Nebraska's NPR station, recently looked in to the growing demand for bioplastics and how the NatureWorks manufacturing plant in Blair, NE participates in that growth. In the story Steve Bray, director of manufacturing for NatureWorks, noted, "In the first three years of operation, we saw triple-digit growth. Almost every year it's been double-digit growth. When the worldwide economy fell in 2008 to 2009 that slowed us down, but even then we had growth. Now that the economy is coming back we're seeing very strong growth again." The story also interviewed Kent Furst, an analyst for The Freedonia Group, who said, "Whether you look at it in pounds or dollars, [the bioplastic industry] is really growing very fast. We expect the industry to double in size in the next 3 or 4 years."
Read more: publicbroadcasting.net
July 01, 2011
Writing for Minnesota Business Magazine, Elizabeth Willard recently reported on how by running like a lean start-up company has propelled NatureWorks to the front of the bioplastics market. "Beyond favorable market dynamics, aggressive research and development, and a broad product portfolio of tailored grades of resin for different applications, NatureWorks boasts other advantages as well: a lean operation, a strategic owner and a manufacturing process that doesn’t rely on only one type of raw material. It’s no wonder that it’s tough to book the conference room these days, much less browse its contents. Despite just 100 employees, NatureWorks is a major player at the intersection of biotech and business."
Read more: minnesotabusiness.com
March 28, 2011
Today, biopolymers are primarily specified for nonwovens applications because of the environmental benefits offered by these relatively new plastic resins. Environmental benefits alone are not enough, however, for a sustained long-term adoption. These resins must also offer technical advantages and be commercially feasible. This article focuses on the biopolymer Ingeo, which is made from polylactic acid (PLA) and explores Ingeo’s environmental credentials, performance, and cost. By describing Ingeo, the critical factors for biopolymers in general are brought into focus. Read more: Chemical Fibers International.pdf
March 21, 2011
Recently CosmeticsDesign.com interviewed Steve Davies, marketing & PR director for NatureWorks, about the environmental footprint of Ingeo biopolymer. In the interview, Davies says "What matters is the net carbon footprint of the plastic as it get's made." Traditional plastics account for 2x more greenhouse gases than Ingeo biopolymer. Davies goes on to discuss how "...landfill today is unfortunately the most common fate for many plastics, and we've tested against rigourous testing protocols done by third parties...The long and short of it is that Ingeo does not degrade in landfills to make methane. In fact, all the carbon in Ingeo remains sequestered in the landfill." Listen to the interview: cosmeticsdesign.com
March 07, 2011
While participating in The Wall Street Journal's ECO:nomics conference, John Compton (CEO of PepsiCo Americas Foods), talked about marketing the evironmental aspects of their compostable SunChips bag made with Ingeo biopolymer. "Now, there was an issue with [the SunChips bag]: It was louder than the New York subway, louder than jet engines taking off. What would a company that's committed to green do: walk away or stay committed? If your people are passionate, they're going to fix it for you as long as you stay committed. Six months later, the compostable bag has half the noise of our current package....we should market green, we should be proud to do it, you have to stay committed, it has to be a 360 process, both internal and external. And if you do that, you can monetize environmental sustainability for the shareholders." Read more: wsj.com
February 24, 2011
In response to consumer feedback in the US, SunChips has introduced a new quieter bag made with Ingeo biopolymer. A different adhesive used between two layers of the bag, now acts as sort of a noise barrier. The new bag is in stores now in the original flavor of SunChips. Read more: huffingtonpost.com
February 01, 2011
Robert Green, director of North American nonwovens & fibers, writes about the properties & latest applications for Ingeo biopolymer in nonwovens and fibers. "In the international fibers industry, converters transform Ingeo into staple fibers, spunbound, meltblown, continuous filament, and spun yarn products." Green also highlights the performance enhancements that can be gained when using Ingeo in place of PET. "The following results were demonstrated when a 35/65 Ingeo-viscose fabric was compared to a 35/65 PET viscose fabric:
-
The Ingeo blend showed superior performance in wicking
-
Yielded greater thickness (mm) for a similar mass (g/m2)
-
Demonstrated faster absorbency time
-
In both cross machine direction and machine direction, Ingeo demonstrated greater elongation and tensile strength"
Read the full article: natureworksllc.com
January 14, 2011
Recently the USDA finalized and published the rules of their labeling & certification program for biobased products. Companies will be able to apply for the label for any product that is made with at least 25% renewable content. This is a great step forward in reducing market confusion over what is eco-friendly packaging and prevent further greenwashing. “We see it as a firm move to bio-based content being an expectation, not an exception to the norm,” said Steve Davies, Global Marketing Director for NatureWorks LLC. Read more: plasticsnews.com
December 08, 2010
"Recently, Polenghi LAS, an Italian food and juice bottler, developed Europe’s first extrusion-blow-molded Ingeo bottle for its new “bio” line of organic lemon juice...By switching from polyolefin resin to the new material for packaging 10 million bottles of its new bio organic lemon juice, Polenghi will conserve 1,000 barrels of oil and reduce CO2 emissions by 126 tons compared to an equivalent oil-based plastic squeeze bottle. Polenghi’s achievement demonstrates the first European commercial introduction of a proven, low-environmental impact and renewably sourced bioplastic substitute for polyolefin resins in extrusion-blow-molding applications. This material also offers stable pricing compared to the volatility experienced in the petroleum market." Read more: designworldonline.com
December 07, 2010
At COP16, a Shiseido shampoo bottle made with Ingeo biopolymer will be on display in the Innovation Gallery. The bottle is part of Shiseido’s Urara range and further demonstrates how Ingeo plastic can bring eco-friendly attributes to personal care products. Read more: cosmeticsdesign.com
October 13, 2010
Stonyfield Farm, the world’s largest organic yogurt producer, has announced that they will begin using Ingeo plastics for all of its multipack form/fill/seal containers. The new Ingeo-based cups made by Clear Lam will replace packaging made from polystyrene, resulting in 48% less greenhouse gas emissions. Read more: packworld.com
October 03, 2010
As the use of biopolymers grows within the plastics industry, NatureWorks partner Taghleef Industries has developed a new BOPLA film line to meet the rising demand. Their new film, made with Ingeo biopolymer, will be marketed at Nativia. Read more: natureworksllc.com
October 02, 2010
Since many types of currencies are green, why aren’t credit, gift, and identity cards green as well? Green in terms of being made with renewable materials and offering a lower carbon footprint than PVC, PETG, and other petrochemical-based plastics. Read more from Jim Nangeroni of NatureWorks as he discusses new technologies & options for companies looking to make the next generation of eco-friendly cards. Read more: natureworksllc.com
October 01, 2010
Advancements in compounding and additive technologies will usher in a new era of development in eco-friendly durable applications. For example, at Innovation Takes Root 2010, NatureWorks presented a new grade of modified Ingeo with increased heat resistant & impact properties. Partners like Bioserie have also been innovating in their development of iPhone & iPod cases using Ingeo. Read more: compoundingworld.com
June 30, 2010
Chief Marketing Officer of NatureWorks, Peter Clydesdale, shows of the lastest Ingeo innovations from partners such as SunChips, Snyder's Pretzels and Target and discusses the science behind them at this year's World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing in Washington, DC. Watch the video: youtube.com