WEB EXCLUSIVE: A proprietary PLA-based bioplastic from Cereplast, Inc., El Segundo, Calif., is being used in new compostable drinking straws sold under the Cello-Green Bio Straws brand by Cell-O-Core Co., Wadsworth, Ohio.

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Algaeplast is a new wholly-owned subsidiary of Cereplast, Inc., El Segundo, Calif., a maker of compostable and other biobased compounds.

Algae and plastics do mix—that’s the message to be delivered at the upcoming Pack Expo, Oct. 28-31 at Chicago’s McCormick Place.

In the continuing search for renewable raw materials to replace petroleum feedstocks in plastics, the newest candidate is … seaweed.

WEB EXCLUSIVE Two producers of thermoplastic molding and extrusion materials are shifting from in-house compounding to outside toll producers.

Injection MoldingHybrid Press Has Electric ClampNew injection presses that combine servo-electric and hydraulic movements to achieve high performance with energy efficiency will be discussed by Arburg Inc., Newington, Conn.

U.S. injection molders are still pretty green when it comes to processing the new crop of renewably sourced biopolymers. These biologically derived polymers made from PLA, PHA and starch-based resins are attracting growing market interest as materials with no ties to petrochemical-based thermoplastics.

Reynolds Packaging KAMA, the sheet extrusion division of Reynolds Food Packaging, Hazleton, Pa., will produce thermoformable sheet made of Cereplast Inc.’s starch-based biodegradable resins.

Bioplastics were initially created for single-use applications like packaging and hotel key and gift cards.

Plastics are going “green,” but they will need some help to get there. Biodegradable polymers derived from renewable resources are attracting lots of interest and publicity, but that enthusiasm is counterbalanced by persistent questions of availability, cost, performance, and processability. All these issues are inter-related: Increasing demand will lead to more capacity, which will presumably lead to lower prices. But the foundation is market demand, which ultimately depends on whether biopolymers will have the performance properties and processability to compete with existing non-renewable plastics.

WEB EXCLUSIVE.

Major chemical companies are investing big bucks in new plants and technologies to produce plastics from annually renewable sources, not from petrochemicals.

Cereplast Inc., Hawthorne, Calif., announced big plans to ramp up its starch-based resins production by 500 million lb by spring of 2010.

Foamed food trays made of polylactic acid (PLA) resin, the corn-based biopolymer, have a commercial toehold in Europe and are undergoing market tests here.

Two new families of starch-based bioplastics are coming to the U.S. market.

Plastics made from renewable carbon chains, not fossil carbon from oil or gas, are suddenly a solid commercial reality. The draw isn’t just “green” marketing, but the “green” of stable prices not linked to petrochemicals.

A new thermoformable sheet made from bio-based resin has been introduced by Alcoa Kama, the sheet extrusion division of Reynolds Food Packaging in Hazelton, Pa.