Companies like US based NatureWorks and UK based Sanelco produce polylactide (PLA). They cultivate the carbon from corn, which plants remove from the air during photosynthesis and store in grain starches. This is achieved by breaking down the starches into natural plant sugars. The carbon and other elements in these natural sugars are then converted into a plastic, called polylactide (PLA), through a simple process of fermentation, separation and polymerisation. Packaging made from PLA is therefore 100% nature-based. Growing environmental awareness and consumer power coupled with the rise in pre-packaged disposable meals has increasingly targeted food manufacturers and packagers to improve their environmental performances. Besides environmental issues, the sharp rise in oil and feedstock prices of PET and other polymers has made PLA a competitive alternative.
Initiatives taken by PLA producers, equipment manufacturers, packaging producers as well as super markets have gone a long way in popularising PLA and making its use wide spread.

BASF, Cargill Dow, Novamont and Rodenburg Polymers, representing over 90% of the European market for biodegradeable plastics, have agreed to a number of measures designed to benefit both the environment and the growing biodegradable packaging sector. They have agreed to submit their packaging materials and products for certification by an independent certification body and label their packaging products with a specific symbol to inform consumers and retailers. The terms biodegradability and compostability have been adopted as recommended by the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive.
Following analysis and testing carried out by the Packaging International Research Association (PIRA International), Stanelco's Starpol 2000 PLA has been approved for all food contact in the EU. Food contact approval has also been granted for Starpol 2000 for fruit and vegetables in the US, with tests continuing for contact with all other food types to meet Food and Drug Administration standards. Starpol 2000 is a PLA available in both flexible and rigid forms.

Husky, a very well-known perform equipment supplier along with Cargill, the supplier of biodegradable Nature Works polymer have developed a compostable container on Sig blow moulding machine. Husky along with SIG Corpoplast has developed a fully compostable bottle that is compatible with all municipal/industrial composting facilities.
One of the world's largest manufacturers of PET bottles, Amcor is investigating the potential for a new line of biodegradable bottles for the European markets, to be made using PLA. Amcor PET Packaging has already designed and produced preforms and bottles made out of the renewable material PLA in conjunction with Canada-based Husky Injection Molding Systems. The capital costs of a PLA system compared to a PET system are very similar. The main cost component is resin, and the cost of PLA is comparable to that of PET, and is suitable for injection stretch blow molding. PLA can be used for non-carbonated beverages such as water, juices, milk, as well as edible oil products. Biodegradable polylactide (PLA) bottles can be easily segregated from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles in the waste stream.
Wal Mart has decided to switch from petroleum-based plastics to corn-based. Cargill-owned NatureWorks will initially supply 114 million packages a year of its environmentally friendly containers for fresh strawberries, brussels sprouts, cut fruit and herbs to Wal-Mart. Plastic gift cards, salad boxes, deli trays, tomato packages, plastic film on donut boxes, and other applications will follow. Wal-Mart and NatureWorks have spent about a year extensively testing packages made from the plastic known as PLA, or polylactic acid. NatureWorks plastic has already been adopted by grocery chains in Europe, and can be found in 7,300 grocery stores worldwide.