 |
 News & Events
|
|
Home > News & Events > Press Releases > Ingeo Fibers > Terra Ferma for a Sustainable Future
Terra Ferma for a Sustainable Future
|
Thanks to Terra Futura and Legambiente, NatureWorks LLC presents responsible innovations in Florence at Fortezza da Basso, March 31st to April 2nd. |
Terra Futura (Future Earth) is an important consumer exhibition whose focus is to bring sustainable and responsible innovation ideas to the attention of this demanding consumer. It is sponsored and promoted by Legambiente, Italy's key green political organisation and the most important government authority in the Italian market for the environment and the promotion of sustainable issues. As such, it has invited NatureWorks LLC to participate and bring their unique innovations to the attention of the consumer. At the same time NatureWorks will announce the launch of the Ingeo™ Earth Month program, which is a global initiative first established in 2005, and is a month-long series of events that include roundtable discussions, activities and sales initiatives.
NatureWorks LLC is the first company to offer a family of commercially available polymers derived from 100% annually renewable resources marketed under the NatureWorks® PLA and Ingeo™ fiber brand names and is proud to be part of Terra Futura. NatureWorks will use a creative space within the exhibition to showcase all the current commercial products on offer today.
NatureWorks® PLA, the nature-based bio-polymer is used for many disposable packaging applications including serviceware, plates and cutlery, film wrap for food and flowers, produce, gastronomy and bakery packaging and bottles for water, milk, juice and edible oils.
Ingeo™ fiber, its sister brand, has been developed for a multitude of textile based applications from apparel, to home textiles, to consumable/single-use nonwovens. Apparel end-uses cover fashion separates, urban sportswear such as jeans and T- shirts to next to skin essentials such as underwear and socks. home & office include bedding systems (mattresses, duvets and pillows using unique performance fiberfilling), with blankets, draperies, carpets, and wall fabrics completing the offer. Nonwoven industries have developed wipes in all their forms, diapers, cleaning and hygiene products to meet the critical demands for new and essential disposal solutions.
How is it made?
We start with an abundant, natural raw material like corn that can be easily and efficiently reproduced each year. This corn is put through a simple process to make plant sugars. The sugars are fermented in a process similar to making yogurt. Then the fermentation products are transformed into a high-performance polymer called polylactide, which is branded NatureWorks® PLA. Ingeo fiber is extruded from this polymer. The production of NatureWorks® PLA, the greenhouse-gas-neutral polymer from which Ingeo fiber is made, means up to 68 percent less greenhouse gases are added to the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases are the chief contributor to global climate change. Compostability and chemical recyclability mean that under the right conditions and with the right handling, the complete life cycle of production, consumption, disposal and reuse is neatly closed.
What's available today made from NatureWorks ® PLA?
At COOP Italia you can find the first disposable food service tableware made from NatureWorks® PLA and is part of the company's commitment to the environment through its eco-logical line. Cups, bowls and plates have been available in stores across Italy, with additional tableware products expected in the future. The products are brightly packaged in green and red, with a clear and user-friendly illustration showing the lifecycle of the tableware, from maize to the table and from disposal to compost. They also use NatureWorks® PLA packaging for portion packs of cheese and organic cherry tomatoes highlighting a new "natural-in-natural" format for food packaging.
Tableware made from NatureWorks PLA is a wholesome, natural choice. Like regular plastic ware, it's sturdy and strong and just as convenient and economical to use. Many of these products are made by Ilip, one of Europe's largest plastic material converters for disposable tableware and packaging for fruits and vegetables, including punnets, trays and fruit inserts - many of them now available in NatureWorks PLA. It is not only in Italy where you can find this nature base packaging innovation. Delhaize, the supermarket chain in Belgium, is using NatureWorks® PLA as an alternative to traditional petroleum-based plastics for a range of food containers and bags in its Aalst store.
What about Ingeo fiber?
Italy, from the beginning, has led the way with Ingeo fiber in apparel, home textiles and nonwovens. In fashion, sportswear and essentials, you can find everything from T-shirts to pants to shirting, underwear, socks and duvet jackets, all using the versatile fiber in different ways to offer performance products without compromise at the same time as being beautiful in their own right.
Ingeo fiber is available in two forms. The first is filament, like lustrous silks but with a high tech performance, or else it is spun into conventional yarns that compete in touch and feel with other natural fibers like cotton. It is a new and versatile vocabulary for the apparel industry, one that gives the performance of synthetics with the touch and feel of a natural fiber. It is the best of both worlds and one that mirrors the current need for more responsible products that don't deplete the earth's natural resources.
Pioneering brand partners developing products available to see using Ingeo™ fiber are Armani, Diesel, Bagutta, Versace Sport and A-style. Other equally personal applications are for the home. A full range of fiberfill products from duvets, pillows, cushions, upholstery, draperies and more mean that responsible innovation can now be a complete lifestyle choice. Bedding systems and mattresses in particular were pioneered by a number of Italian brands notably Ennerev, Dorelan, Sealy Europe, Bedding, Zigflex for a total of more than 1000 stores across Italy. Pillows and Duvets are being sold in the Carrefour and Auchan chains as well as independent outlets showing high quality products such as Zucchi for duvets and Zambaiti for blankets.
The third product style that can be bought today in the Italian market are the disposable nonwovens, Love'N Feminine hygiene pads from WIP which will be sold locally and at selected Auchan and Carrefour outlets.
It is clear that the message and drive for responsible innovation is becoming a reality and this revolutionary new bio polymer NatureWorks® PLA is now widely available in tangible products that have clearly anticipated the growing demand for a new sustainable approach to business and responsible innovation in everyday life.
About NatureWorks LLC
NatureWorks LLC is a stand-alone company wholly owned by Cargill. Dedicated to meeting the world's needs today without compromising the earth's ability to meet the needs of tomorrow, NatureWorks LLC is the first company to offer a family of commercially available greenhouse-gas-neutral polymers derived from 100 percent annually renewable resources with cost and performance that compete with petroleum-based packaging materials and fibers. The company applies its unique technology to the processing of natural plant sugars to create a proprietary polylactide polymer, which is marketed under the NatureWorks® PLA and Ingeo® fibers brand names. For more information about NatureWorks and its brands, please visit www.natureworksllc.com - www.ingeofibers.com
|
| For Editorial Information: | | |
|
|