Mainstreaming Biobased Plastics

Chemical and industrial biotech company researchers at the BioPlastek Forum in Arlington, Va., last month heard many reasons why demand for biobased plastics—made in whole or part from plant-based materials—is likely to grow significantly in the next few years. Two reasons stood out. First, biobased feedstocks for traditional plastics are increasingly available. And second, major consumer product organizations such as Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, and H.J. Heinz are pushing hard for biobased beverage, shampoo, and condiment bottles as part of their sustainability initiatives. Not all of the 170 conference attendees bought into the growth scenario. One skeptic was meeting organizer Ronald S. Schotland, who heads an eponymous plastics and packaging conference management firm. “Sustainability is like motherhood; every­body is for it,” he remarked as he opened the conference. Companies may have any number of reasons for taking up the cause, Schotland observed. But he raised questions about the seriousness of ...