Ingeo News: May 2021

NatureWorks and IMA Announce New Strategic Partnership for the Compostable Coffee Pods Market

Partnership will accelerate the availability of a turn-key solution for K-Cup compatible compostable coffee pods in North America with excellent performance in converting, assembly, filling, brewing, and taste

BOLOGNA, Italy and MINNETONKA, Minn., (April 27, 2021) – NatureWorks, the world’s leading manufacturer of low-carbon Ingeo™️ PLA biopolymers, and IMA Coffee, global market leader in coffee handling, processing, and packaging, today announced that they have entered into a joint strategic partnership aimed at accelerating the market for high performing K-Cup compatible compostable single-serve coffee pods in North America. The multi-year partnership brings together NatureWorks’ decades of expertise with compostable materials, formulations, and processing technology with IMA’s industry-leading competencies and application-specific know-how encompassing all stages of coffee handling, processing, and packaging.

The pressure on the single serve coffee market to make more meaningful progress towards a more sustainable packaging solution has grown significantly in recent years. Consumers appreciate single-serve capsules for the convenient and quality brewing experience but see the packaging waste associated with a capsule as a detriment. Compostable capsules create the opportunity to not only address consumer concerns and divert the packaging away from landfills, but, perhaps more importantly, to recover the used coffee grounds, enabling their processing at a compost facility where they deliver valuable nutrients to the final compost.

“At NatureWorks, we’ve seen tremendous interest in compostable single-serve pods,” says Flavio Di Marcotullio, Global Industry Manager for NatureWorks. “Brandowners and roasters are responding to both consumer demands for more sustainable packaging and to circular economy directives that specify compostable packaging as a key enabler of recovering food waste for compost. To continue supporting this growth, we saw the opportunity to partner with IMA as they have long helped the single-serve coffee market implement innovative new packaging technologies and have a long-term commitment towards sustainable solutions.”

Read the full press release here.

Tee Markers 3D Printed with Ingeo for The Zurich Classic on Earth Day 2021

This Earth Day, NatureWorks spent time among some new, eco-focused initiatives at the Zurich Classic golf tournament. We sponsored the event and brought along custom tee markers made from Ingeo-based filament and printed by our partner, Slant 3D. The tee markers, with a small carbon footprint (84% smaller than if they were made with a petrochemical-based plastic) and the use of a renewable material with sustainable manufacturing process, fit in perfectly with the golf tournament’s efforts to reduce environmental impact. Read more about the Zurich Classic’s commitment to sustainability in the link here.

Read about how the game of golf is is embracing the natural world - and saving it for generations to come in Sustainable Sport and our recent news release in Taiwan also highlighted the tee markers and reaffirmed our commitment to the development of Ingeo biopolymers and applications that reduce the impact of carbon emissions on the climate, and its commitment to achieve a circular economy for Earth Day.



NatureWorks’ DAQ System

Developed by NatureWorks, our proprietary Data Acquisition System (DAQ), accurately measures coffee brewing performance in single serve capsule systems.

With this DAQ system, we can apply data acquired from brewing hundreds of cups of coffee to design compostable coffee capsules using Ingeo that make the best tasting coffee across multiple brewing systems. We simplify the consumer experience from brew to industrial compost bin.

Because good tastes better. ☕ 👇



NatureWorks is a Participating Member of the AMGTA

NatureWorks is now a proud Participating Member of the AMGTA - Additive Manufacturing Green Trade Association, a global non-profit trade group founded to promote the environmental benefits of additive manufacturing. We look forward to participating & promoting principles of sustainability within the AM space. About AMGTA.

Congratulations to NatureWorks’ Andrea Auchter

We’re very excited to announce NatureWorks Applications Development Engineer, Andrea Auchter, has earned her Lifetime Certified Packaging Professional certification from the IoPP - Institute of Packaging Professionals. Congratulations to Andrea on this amazing achievement!

PARTNER UPDATES

Fibers & Nonwovens

Aries Face Masks Meet ASTM Standards
Aries, maker of barrier face coverings made with Ingeo, has released the Aries Work Week Barrier Face Covering, which meets the newly released ASTM standard F3502-21 at Level 2 (high performance) for both filtration and breathability. This innovative Ingeo-based fabric was developed in response to meltblown nonwoven mask shortages - its unique manufacturing process as a spunbond nonwoven results in a single-layer mask with both high filtration and breathability. Read the full Nonwovens Industry article here. 

Paper

PlantPaper and Ellepot join forces in merger
Our partner, PlantPaper, who uses spunbond Ingeo in their plant papers, recently made the announcement that they will join forces with Ellepot to form the Ellepot Group on a mission to reduce the used of plastics in the plant propagation process by providing game-changing systems to the global market. Present on five continents, with 18 partners and sales to more than 120 countries, Ellepot Group is determined to be the industry leader in paper pot technologies. Read the press release here.

Food Serviceware

World Centric Marks their 17th Anniversary
Founded in 2004 as a non-profit, World Centric worked to raise awareness of large-scale humanitarian and environmental issues. In 2009 World Centric converted to a for-profit company selling compostable foodservice products and committing 25% of profits to fund its mission to be of service to people and the planet. To date, World Centric has given $8,000,000 to grassroots nonprofits to fund more than 180 projects that provide basic needs and economic development opportunities for communities experiencing extreme poverty while beneficially impacting the environment.

“Today, just like 17 years ago, we continue to uphold the same mission and values to be of service to people and the planet in all that we do, and elevate awareness of global sustainability issues. The greater good is far more important for the future, and we will continue to act with purpose and be of service to the greater humanity and planet." - Aseem Das, Founder and CEO of World Centric. Read more here.

3D Printing

eSUN new lightweight PLA launched
eSUN has officially launched their new 3D printing filament - ePLA-LW (Lightweight PLA) in April. The material is made from Ingeo and is specially developed for RC planes, drones, and other lightweight prints. The new ePLA-LW has a stable interlayer bonding and the foaming rate and strength can be controlled by adjusting the printing temperature. Learn more about eSUN’s products here.


Polymaker at TCT Asia 2021
Longtime partner, Polymaker, will be exhibiting at TCT Asia 2021 showing off a portfolio of 3D printing filament products including those made with Ingeo, as well as printed parts and case studies collected from Polymaker’s global customers. Polymaker also recently launched PolyTerra™ PLA made with Ingeo and they will be showcasing a variety of products made with PolyTerra™ as well as other Ingeo-based filaments like PolyLite™ PLA and PolyMax™ PLA. Find them at TCT Asia 2021, Hall 7.1, Booth F44


Organizations

The New US Composting Infrastructure Coalition
Stakeholders from the organics recycling and sustainable materials communities launched the U.S. Composting Infrastructure Coalition to support innovative and responsible waste reduction and recovery solutions, like composting. The Coalition advocates for policies, legislation, and other measures to expand composting programs and increase access to robust programs that divert food waste, yard trimmings, and certified compostable packaging.

As members of the Plant Based Products Council and the U.S. Composting Council, NatureWorks is proud to see these organizations come together in such a worthy Coalition. Read more.


Green Sports Alliance Virtual Summit Recap & Playing for the Next Generation
As the Green Sports Alliance gears up for their 2021 Virtual Summit, they released this great recap of last year’s highlights including a clip of NatureWorks’ CEO & President, Rich Altice talking about how the pandemic has affected climate change and waste and how that has impacted our communities.

The Green Sports Alliance Summit 2021 takes place June 22-23 and is the largest and most influential gathering for the sports community to unite around sustainability. We’re proud to be a 2021 Summit Sponsor. Learn more about the Summit here.


NATUREWORKS & INDUSTRY NEWS

UPCOMING EVENTS

ACS Great Lakes Regional Meeting 2021 | June 6 - 9, 2021 | Virtual
NatureWorks’ Lead Scientist and Admin Lead, Joshua Weed, will join this virtual event and present, “Designing Coffee Pods for Performance and Compostability with Ingeo Biopolymer”.

Rethinking Materials | May 19 - 20, 2021 | Virtual Summit
NatureWorks President and CEO, Rich Altice, will join the panel, “Moving the Needle: Integrating Bio-Based Materials into Existing Supply Chains” on May 19th.


We're Growing!

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Available Job Opportunities:

Scientist | Minnetonka, MN
Responsible for independently evaluating, selecting, and applying standardized scientific or engineering procedures and techniques. Serve as a team member on R&D projects by assisting with experimental designs, performing experiments and materials characterization, and/or analyzing data using theoretical or empirical models to meet project objectives. Candidate is responsible for supporting the Technology team by using laboratory procedures, equipment and analytical instruments and functional strategies and applies these techniques to solve R&D, production and customer problems by performing and/or coordinating experiments and analyzing data.

Human Resources Coordinator | Minnetonka, MN
The Human Resources Coordinator is responsible for supporting the HR function in order to support our employees through identifying and hiring the people we need; engaging the people we have; and building a culture that defines and differentiates NatureWorks.


Keep up with ALL of our available job opportunities on our Careers page.