Obama’s green message boosts biopolymer profile

Listen to an audio clip from the interview with Marc Verbruggen

President Obama’s green message is helping to boost biopolymers demand in the US

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama’s focus on curbing greenhouse gas emissions is raising the profile of polymers based on renewable resources. The president’s proposed new energy and environment bill is alerting consumers and retailers to the importance of cutting carbon emissions, says Marc Verbruggen, chief executive of US-based biopolymer producer NatureWorks.

“Even throughout these bad economic conditions, a lot of customers keep buying environmentally friendly products,” he remarks.

The proposed new energy and environment bill, which is expected to include either cap-and-trade regulations or carbon taxes, is “reminding people how important the environment is,” explains Verbruggen. “The average consumer, as well as retailers and brand owners, is now convinced that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is going to be a very important part of what the US government is trying to do. That will put biopolymers in a favorable light compared with traditional plastics.”

NatureWorks produces polylactic acid (PLA) based on corn in Blair, Nebraska, mainly for use in packaging applications. The company, which is now fully owned by US agriculture giant Cargill, has just doubled its production capacity of PLA, branded Ingeo, to 140,000 tonnes/year.

PLA has the advantage over traditional plastics that its production results in less greenhouse gas emissions and requires less fossil fuel, Verbruggen says. In addition, PLA has interesting end-of-life options, including chemical recycling and composting.

Ingeo sales were affected by the recession at the end of last year, but have been recovering over the past few months, Verbruggen says. Sales were hardest hit in December and January, when “customers had a tough time getting credit, plus demand was collapsing and oil prices were collapsing,” he notes.

Since January, sales have climbed back to the 5,000-6,000 tonne/month level witnessed in the summer of 2008. The company also managed to increase its sales in the fiscal year ending May 2009, Verbruggen continues.

Sales were boosted during the summer of 2008 by high oil prices, which meant PLA prices were similar to those of traditional plastics, he says. Ingeo sales were growing by 20-30% during that period, and the company predicts that growth rates could return to these levels in North America in 2010. If Ingeo sales growth did return to 20-30% in 2010, it would take about three years to sell out the new capacity that just came on stream, calculates Verbruggen. “This means that by 2013 or 2014 we would need a second plant.”

SECOND LOCATION
NatureWorks intends to locate its second PLA plant in Europe or Asia. The location will depend on several factors, including customer base, feedstock costs, raw material availability and government incentives, says Verbruggen. The company could select the host country for the project by the end of this year and make a final decision on the project by the end of next year, he suggests.

NatureWorks is also exploring the production of biopolymers produced from non-food biomass feedstocks, and announced in July a cooperation agreement with Avantium to develop next-generation biopolymers.Netherlands-based Avantium develops bio-based fuels and plastics, and was founded in 2000 as a spin-off from global energy company Shell.

Meanwhile, last month, Cargill announced that it was taking full ownership of NatureWorks by purchasing the 50% stake held by Teijin.

The Japanese company has held the NatureWorks stake since 2007, when Cargill’s former joint venture partner, Dow Chemical, left the business.

Teijin, which is restructuring its product portfolio, intends to focus on developing its proprietary heat-resistant PLA, for use in its core automotive and electronics markets, Verbruggen says. The ownership transfer is not expected to affect day-to-day operations at NatureWorks, he adds.

Both Cargill and Teijin said the joint venture was dissolved “in a friendly manner”, and that the companies intended to maintain close relations.

OXO-BIODEGRADABLES NEED TO SHOW PROOF OF CLAIMS
By Doris de Guzman/New York

Oxo-biodegradable plastics, which are defined as petroleum-based plastics containing degradable additives, is creating a stir in the global plastic sector, as several producers recently entered the market.

NatureWorks CEO Marc Verbruggen noted the need for third-party verification before he believes any claims on degradability and safety made by oxo-biodegradable plastic producers.

“Any bioplastic out there, whether it’s oxo-biodegradable or otherwise, will have to go through the same exercise as we did on our Ingeo bioplastic,” Verbruggen said on the sidelines of the annual BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing conference in Montreal, Canada.

“All our published claims and data are checked and verified by third parties. It is a little bit frustrating to see some of those oxo-biodegradables make claims where we haven’t seen the supporting data yet,” he added.

This echoes the European Bioplastics association’s position of distancing itself from the oxo-biodegradable industry.

Read Doris de Guzman’s Green Chemicals blog