Decomposing Cutlery: Biocorp Makes its Mark in Biodegradable Plastics
The history of biodegradable plastics is marked by high expectations and deep disappointments. Since the late 1980s a battalion of bioplastics ventures have been started with much fanfare, only to fold quietly a few years later. Recently, Monsanto halted production of its bioplastic, Biopol. At the end of 1998, the Adolf Coors company pulled the plug on its bioplastics unit, Chronopol.
The bioplastics industry has had to overcome two major obstacles. One is their product’s high cost: two or three times that of petroleum-derived plastics. The marketing hook for bioplastics has been that they are biodegradable. But false claims of biodegradability in the past and a lack of a widely accepted and credible degradability standard have undercut the public’s trust. Still fresh in consumers’ minds are memories of the 1989 fiasco, when Mobil Co. made a line of Hefty bags that it claimed would break down in a landfill. Within months, Mobil was sued by seven states for false advertising. The bags, made of polyethylene with a cornstarch additive, disintegrated into plastic particles in sunlight and did not degrade at all in a landfill. Smaller companies like Indaco, Plastigone, and Ville de Montreal have also made plastics that were labeled biodegradable but which were shown to be otherwise.
But the times may be changing for bioplastics. More and more cities, states and countries are requiring that certain products be biodegradable. Increasingly, compost sites are banning plastic bags because debagging is expensive and at best only removes 75 percent of the bag material, contaminating composted materials with polyethylene residues and greatly reducing if not destroying the value of the composted materials. Often, compost feedstock that is contaminated with polyethylene has to be taken to a landfill, incurring a hefty tipping charge.
A number of European countries have banned all organic matter from landfills, requiring instead that it be composted. Therefore, restaurants have to separate their food wastes from other waste, requiring considerable time and effort. Some companies with locations in these countries, like McDonalds, have started purchasing cutlery made from degradable plastics. In this way they save trash separation time.
In April 1999, the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) issued its first biodegradability standard D6400-99 (Standard Specification for Compostable Plastics). D6400-99 requires the plastic to biodegrade at the same rate and to the same extent as other commonly composted items like yard waste, leaving behind no persistent or toxic residues and providing no hindrance to plant growth (no ecotoxicity). During active composting, it must leave no identifiable residues on composting screens. A certified biodegradable logo system is being developed by the newly formed Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI), which currently consists of Novamont, Cargill Dow Polymers, the U.S. Composting Council, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, ASTM, the city of Montreal, and a three-year-old company named Biocorp.
Frederic Scheer launched Biocorp in 1996. One year later the company acquired exclusive North American rights to Mater-Bi resins, produced by the Italian company Novamont. In October 1998, Biocorp acquired the German company CCotrade, which is now Biocorp-CCotrade. Today Biocorp claims to be the world’s leading seller of biodegradable plastics, and anticipates revenues in the neighborhood of $14 million in 1999.
Biocorp makes ReSourceBagsTM, a line of trash bags and liners, and ReSourceWareTM, a line of biodegradable cutlery, cups and plates. The cutlery is made from cornstarch and cellulose from cotton seed—100 percent plant matter. The bags are about 2/3 cornstarch, 10 percent other natural substances, and less than 30 percent polycaprolactone, a completely degradable petrochemical made by Union Carbide. Dr. Ramani Narayan, chair of the ASTM subcommittee on degradable plastics and a professor of mechanical engineering at Michigan State University, would like to see compostable plastic bags made completely from renewable resources. However, he says, “Current technology does not allow us to make a film (which goes into bag making) completely from starch or other renewable resources. I believe that as we move along this path, it may happen, but if we wait for the all-renewable resource-based technology, then there may not be a market waiting for us.” Narayan is currently involved with Michigan Biotech, one of several companies working to bring 100 percent starch-based degradable plastics to the market.
The cutlery is manufactured in Germany by Biocorp-CCotrade, and the plastic-laminated paper cups and plates are manufactured in Italy by Biocorp’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Biocorp Italy. The bags, for the present, are being produced by a German manufacturer called Wentus GmbH &Co KG, which works exclusively for Biocorp. Biocorp plans for Wentus to move this production to the U.S. in early 2000.
Both the ReSourceWareTM and the ReSourceBagsTM meet the new ASTM standard for biodegradability as well as standards developed by European labs, including the German DIN standard, similar to ASTM D6400-99.
Biocorp bags are 2 to 2.5 times the cost of conventional polyethylene bags. But in places that ban nondegradable bags, they compete not with polyethylene but with kraft paper bags, which are similar to grocery bags but bigger. Biocorp’s bags are competitively priced with kraft bags and boast two advantages. They retain their strength when wet, while kraft bags tend to split after sitting in the rain. And they are transparent, which allows composters to reject unacceptable materials at the curb.
ReSourceBagsTM are currently sold at Target and Wal-Mart and are being used in pilot programs in Upper Arlington and Grove City, Ohio. At the moment Biocorp’s bags are banned at most sites along with bags made of polyethylene because composters cannot quickly tell the difference between a biodegradable plastic bag and a conventional plastic bag at the pick-up site. But with the introduction of a certified biodegradable logo, composters will soon be able to distinguish between the bags.
The Charlottesville, Virginia, school system is using its cutlery and bags. Oberlin College is using its cutlery. McDonalds’ restaurants in Germany, Austria and Sweden are using Biocorp’s ReSourceWareTM.
The products made of Mater-Bi are as strong and flexible as products made of conventional plastics, and have a long shelf-life. In the case of ReSourceWareTM, the cutlery will function in normal use just as a conventional plastic fork or spoon would. A spoon left in a bowl of soup, for example, would need to sit for about 30 days before it would degrade.
The company has begun a five-year contract with the U.S. General Services Administration for cutlery and cups and has a new contract with the U.S. Navy. As of January 1, 1999, it is a felony to discharge nonbiodegradable plastics into high seas or coastal waters.
Biocorp is also currently seeking FDA approval for a line of food packaging, and is creating a line of health care products for the European market.
Contact Allan J. Graf, Biocorp, 2619 Manhattan Beach Blvd., Redondo Beach, CA 90278 (888-206-5658) www.biocorpusa.com.