Ingeo News: Volume 8, Issue 3
December 15, 2011
At COP17, NatureWorks, Brand Partners, and Climate Action Highlight Initiatives to Lower Global Carbon Footprint
NatureWorks partnered with Climate Action for the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP17) held in Durban, South Africa, Nov. 28-Dec. 9, 2011. The goal of the COP annual initiative is to reduce global CO2 emissions, an objective that NatureWorks and its brand partners have been actively working on for more than ten years. NatureWorks and brand partners Bioserie, Earth’s Best, Electrolux, Elements Naturals, Henkel, LG Hausys, Shiseido, Stonyfield Farm, Walmart, and Target supported Climate Action’s reception at COP17 on December 7. The networking reception began with a welcome from Achim Steiner Executive Director, UNEP, followed by statements from Mike Brown - Chief Executive, Nedbank, His Excellency Mr. Salvador Namburete, Minister of Energy, Mozambique, and Chairman of the AU Conference of Energy Ministers of Africa (CEMA) and HSH Prince Albert II - Sovereign Prince of Monaco. Read more.
NatureWorks estimates that its aggregated total 2011 Ingeo sales into consumer products such as those in the COP17 special edition Ingeo™ LookBook, have reduced CO2 emissions equivalent to driving a car 312,708,697 miles in the US, as well as contributed fossil energy savings equivalent to the electricity consumed by 534,138 U.S. residents in one month.
Speaker & program highlights from the upcoming Innovation Takes Root conference
The plenary presentations are designed to inspire and address global environmental topics that drive our industry. Our plenary speaker for the 2nd day of the conference, Cargill Vice Chairman Paul Conway will share his thoughts on the future of agriculture, food production, and the carbohydrate economy.
Trusting Photosynthesis
Paul Conway
Vice Chairman
Cargill
The opening session will feature Gary Hirshberg from Stonyfield Farm and Steven Peterson from General Mills discussing how their companies have successfully incorporated bioplastics into their brands and how they envision sustainable practices leading them into a new era.
Inventing a Win-Win-Win-Win-Win Future
Gary Hirshberg
Chairman, President & CE-Yo
Stonyfield Farm
Steven Peterson
Director of Sourcing Sustainability
General Mills
In the session Advances in Ingeo Films, Lindsay Beck from ConAgra will present on how ConAgra Foods, introduced Ingeo-based flexible printed shrink films and worked with their packaging supply chain to control cost, increase performance and incorporate sustainability.
Commercialization of Bioplastic Packaging Offers Functional Advantages
Lindsay Beck
Senior Packaging Engineer, Sustainability
ConAgra Foods
David Jackson of Kimberly-Clark will moderate the Ingeo Fibers & Nonwovens session that highlights the latest developments in this growing market where biopolymers have been shown to meet and often exceed the properties of the incumbent materials.
Ingeo Fibers & Nonwovens Session Moderator
David Jackson
Senior Technical Leader, Global Nonwovens
Kimberly-Clark Corporation
Perhaps in no other market area are there more challenges for bioplastics than in durables. The Expanding Ingeo Applications in Durable Products session will feature companies like LG Hausys who have overcome these challenges and launched commercially available products.
Interior Applications of PLA
K. Min
Senior Vice President
LG Hausys, Ltd.
The Opportunities in Food Service and Food Packaging session will feature examples of the successful incorporation of bioplastics in closed loop venues. Justin Zeulner will talk about how at Rose Quarter, the home of the Portland Trail Blazers, they have achieved effective and exemplary environmental performance.
Sustainability in Sports and Entertainment Venues
Justin Zeulner
Director of Sustainability & Planning
Rose Quarter/Portland Trail Blazers
Ingeo Partner Updates
Films & Cards
Sustainable Cards, a company based in Sweden, has developed a new alternative to plastic hotel keys and gift and loyalty cards – it makes these products out of birch wood and in the process reduce CO2 by 50%. The wood is grown in sustainably managed forests. Sustainable cards are attractive, memorable, durable, reusable, and reliable. And now, they are coated with a clear Ingeo film to provide surface protection.
Films & Cards
Percol, a U.K.-based company known for its dedication to sustainable practices, is using a new Plastics Suppliers’ EarthFirst® Ingeo-based shrink sleeve film on its fair trade coffee packaging. Plastics Suppliers worked so closely and well with Percol’s packaging supplier Suprapak that EarthFirst received the Suprapak’s first ever supplier “excellence” rating.
Clear Lam is now offering an overwrap film for medical kit packaging. The new film is an Ingeo blend. It can be clear or printed. The film seals at high speed, a feature sought after by packagers for optimum productivity. Read more.
Fibers
Following last year’s successful launch of Electrolux’s s-bag Green, the innovative Ingeo-engineered one-size fits all dust bag, the company is now exploring Ingeo applications in bioplastics as well as textile products. In early October at the Electrolux headquarters in Stockholm, the Electrolux Consumables and Accessories (ECA) team and Sustainability function within Small Appliancs, co-hosted an exploratory workshop on the subject of bioplastics and the many applications of Ingeo biopolymer. The workshop, the first of its kind, was successful with participants from many different company functions within Electrolux and sparked cross-fertilization and discussions on potential applications for Ingeo within the company.
Food Serviceware
StalkMarket’s line of certified compostable food service ware was a finalist in the Sustainable Business Oregon Innovation Awards for product. Twice a year, Sustainable Business Oregon honors organizations that are innovating new ways to implement sustainable practices as part of a successful business strategy. ASEAN Corporation, the owner of StalkMarket, Planet+, and Jaya, offers one of the largest selections of compostable food service ware in the world, including: Hot drink and soup cups and lids, cutlery, cold drink cups and lids, straws, clear hinged deli containers, and paper products. 75-80% of the products ASEAN sells have some Ingeo content.
Select brands receive the 2011 Leader of Change Award
NatureWorks joins a prestigious group of other 2011 Leader in Change award recipients, including Billabong, Domini Social Investment Fund, DSM, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Marks & Spencer, Philips Lighting, Seventh Generation and Unilever. The Leader of Change award is given by the Foundation for Social Change and the United Nations Office for Partnerships (UNOP) and recognizes visionary executives of companies, financial institutions, and advocacy groups that have demonstrated an exemplary commitment to the pursuit of sustainability whereby environmental and social performance are embedded in the competitive strategy of the organization. Read more about the award and the Foundation for Social Change.
Best Foams Paper Award
NatureWorks' Jed Randall recently won a Best Foams Paper Award for Foams award inconjunction with Dr. Chul Park of the University of Toronta at the Society of Plastics Engineers ANTEC 2011 conference for a paper he co-authored titled "The effect of chain branching on the crystallinity behavior of polylactide with the presence of dissolved CO2."
In the News
200 Minnesotans You Should Know
Features our CEO Marc Verbruggen
Twin Cities Business
Following the October announcement of PTT Chemical Public Co. Ltd. taking an equity interest in NatureWorks, coverage in the media was extensive. Here are a few samples:
- Thailand's PTT Chemical buys 50 percent stake in NatureWorks
Plastics News - NatureWorks gets US$150 million equity investment from leading Thailand...
Canadian Plastics - NatureWorks attracts PTTCH
Bangkok Post
Danone wins Bioplastics Award
Plastics News
Ingeo Bioplastic Expands Composting Options
Washington State Recycling Association
Atlanta Airport Makes a Bold Sustainable Statement
Zero Waste Zones
Upcoming Events
Throughout the year we'll be exhibiting and speaking at several shows and conferences. Come see us and talk about the latest Ingeo developments.
EcoProducts
December 15-17, 2011 | Tokyo
Visit us at the BP Consulting booth.
Middle East & North Africa Nonwovens Symposium 2012
February 14-15, 2012 | Dubai
We will be exhibiting so come visit our booth.
Innovation Takes Root
February 20-22, 2012 | Orlando, FL
Come join the global forum on Ingeo biopolymer.
Bringing Bioproducts to Market – Overcoming Risks to Commercialization
March 26 – 28, 2012 | Sarnia, Ontario
Marc Verbruggen will present on March 27th
SPI’s Business of Plastics Conference - NPE2012
April 1-5, 2012 | Orlando, FL
Marc Verbruggen (CEO) and Steve Davies (Director of Marketing & Communications) will be presenting.
AMI Bioplastics Compounding and Processing
May 8-9, 2012 | Miami, FL
Jed Randall (Research Chemist) will present Enhancing Performance of Biopolymers Through Polymer and Formulation Design.
BioPlastics: The Re-Invention of Plastics
June 13-15, 2012 | San Francisco, CA
Deepak Venkatraman (Research Chemist) will present Ingeo: A Proven Polymer for the Durables Segment.