Daniels Midland (ADM), is to construct a 110 million pounds a year polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) factory. This factory, to be constructed at an investment of US$200 mln in Iowa, expected to begin in 2008, will meet rising demand for biodegradable packaging. PHA is produced from a fermentation process using starch derived from potatoes, wheat or corn, as an alternative to petrochemical-based plastics. Metabolix brands its version of PHA as Natural Plastic. Natural Plastic biodegrades in hot, cold and marine environments as against the currently available products which decompose in hot industrial environments. Natural Plastics product can be used for coated paper, film or bags, and thermoformed and molded packaging. Metabolix currently operates a pilot PHA manufacturing plant with ADM to produce pre-commercial quantities of the material in a bid to develop applications with selected customers.
The sharp rise in feedstock prices of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and other packaging plastics has made bioplastics a competitive alternative. A combination of pricing and retail uptake has led more and more processors to look at biodegradable natural polymer products as an alternative to PET.
09-Jan-07 
