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October 28, 2007
Bioplastics makers seek market
BY MARK JEWELL
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Target Corp. offers shoppers an unusual message about its gift cards at some stores, advising that they are biodegradable. “Just make sure you spend them first,” the displays conclude.
Plastics made from corn and other plants are carving a tiny niche from the market for conventional petroleumbased plastics. They’re being touted as “green” alternatives for everything from bulk food containers to lipstick tubes and clothing fiber — as well as gift cards.
So-called “bioplastics” offer the world another tool to lessen reliance on oil, and most biodegrade to varying degrees. But their makers’ green argument is complex, and environmentalists are cautious in their support.
Manufacturing bioplastics produces carbon dioxide, which many scientists have concluded contributes to global warming when released into the atmosphere. The materials are made from crops — corn, switchgrass, sugar cane, even sweet potatoes — that require land and water to grow, resources that could be used to produce food for consumption instead. Some sound alarms because genetically modified organisms are used to spur the fermentation that creates them.
Bioplastics also can cost three times more than conventional plastics, which gives businesses pause about adopting them. Many observers say it will be a rough road if bioplastics are to expand beyond their current tiny fraction of the overall plastics market.
Tamara Nameroff, acting director of the American Chemical Society’s Green Chemistry Institute, said being as good as the product it replaces is not good enough for any green product, “even if you’ve proved you can make it environmentally friendly.”
“You have to show a cost advantage to what it’s replacing,” Nameroff said. “The idea that people just want to purchase environmentally friendly products has been demonstrated in some markets, but not universally.” The American Chemical Society promotes advancement through chemistry and its green institute specializes in implementation of green chemistry principles into all aspects of chemical enterprise.
Bioplastics’ main benefit would be to reduce the 10 percent share of U. S. petroleum consumption that goes into plastic. The types that are biodegradable also could give recycling a boost — only about 6 percent of plastic made in the U. S. was recycled in 2005, according to the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Bioplastics also lack substances like polyvinyl chloride that have raised health concerns and led California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this month to sign legislation banning chemicals called phthalates from toys and baby products.
“This is a promising new technology that faces some challenges,” said Mike Schade of the Center for Health, Environment & Justice, a Falls Church, Va.-based nonprofit environmental advocacy group. “But we don’t view them as insurmountable, if the industry is willing to face them head-on.”
The market’s newest entrant is Mirel, from Cambridge, Mass.-based Metabolix Inc. It biodegrades more easily than rival materials and, unlike others, its maker says the material can break down in a backyard compost bin. Its first consumer application came in July when Target began using it in gift cards at 129 stores. Metabolix is talking with potential clients about dozens more applications for Mirel, from razor blade handles to a coating for disposable coffee cups.
Agricultural processor Archer Daniels Midland Co. provides corn feedstock for making Mirel, which requires genetically engineered bacteria to aid in fermentation.
The most widely used bioplastic, NatureWorks — also corn-based and biodegradable — is a product of a Minnesotabased subsidiary Cargill Inc. It is made without genetically modified bacteria, though some of the corn that goes into it is modified. It already is used in dozens of products, including water bottles — an application unsuited to Mirel, which isn’t transparent.
Other bioplastics that biodegrade to some degree include Ecoflex, from German chemical company BASF AG; Mater-Bi, from Italy’s Novamont S. P. A.; and Cereplast, from a Hawthorne, Calif.-based company by the same name.
Two major conventional plastics makers — DuPont Co. and Brazilian chemical company Braskem SA — make recyclable bioplastic that isn’t biodegradable, the first from corn and the second from sugar cane.
No figures are available on overall bioplastics production, but bioplastics makers acknowledge the products occupy a tiny niche in the global plastics market, which totals $ 250 billion and produces 360 billion pounds a year. That means the 300 million-pound capacity of NatureWorks’ Nebraska production plant is less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the plastics market total.
An industrial compost plant is considered the best place to begin recycling most biodegradable bioplastics, but such facilities are few and far between. Metabolix says Mirel will decompose in a backyard compost within two months and about twice as slowly in soil, rivers, lakes or the ocean. But very few Americans compost, and those who do generally don’t include even paper products, let alone unfamiliar bioplastics.
“There’s a lot more to it than saying it’s scientifically and technologically possible to compost these materials,” said Betty McLaughlin of the Container Recycling Institute, a nonprofit that encourages greater materials recovery and recycling.
“The sustainability concept is taking hold broadly, including in the corporate sector,” McLaughlin said. “But these materials face a long road gaining acceptance.”
David Cornell of the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers said that just as different types of petroleum-base plastic can’t be mixed in recycling, bioplastics should not be mixed with any conventional plastic because even tiny quantities can irreparably contaminate some melted petroleumbased plastics that have higher melting points.
Industry leaders say expanding the market for bioplastics is key to bringing down their price. NatureWorks says its production costs are just 10 to 20 percent above those of conventional plastics.
However, manufacturing each pound of Mirel now costs about $ 2. 50, compared with 70 cents to 90 cents for petroleumbased resin, although the difference is expected to shrink as quantities grow and oil prices rise.
Though most consumers lack the patience to sort out all the arguments, environmental friendliness can sell. Ralph Di-Matteo, 48, of Painesville Township, Ohio, said after learning Sam’s Club gift cards are made of NatureWorks plastic that he would buy them as holiday gifts.
“I don’t spend a lot of time researching these kinds of things, but if something is presented to me properly to show how my effort can make a difference for the environment, I’m willing to pay a couple extra cents,” DiMatteo said.
For now, Metabolix is banking on that kind of attitude, said co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer Oliver Peoples.
“We believe that there is a segment of the population that is willing to pay to basically feel better about using plastics,” Peoples said.
“And if a company decided it wanted to go in that direction of charging $ 2. 03 for a cup of coffee rather than $ 2. 00, our view is that we’re adding something to their brand.”
http://www.nwarktimes.com/adg/Business/205321/
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