The Future of Plastics

More than 40 years after the well-known one-liner, “Just One Word: Plastics” from Mike Nichols’ classic movie The Graduate, the presence of plastics in society has evolved from a manufacturing wonder material to a hazardous consumer concern.

Petroleum is in almost every product that we use in our daily lives. In fact, plastics use as much of the imported petroleum as the jet fuel industry does (approximately 8 percent each). It takes about 100 millions years for the earth to produce just one drop of oil, but it takes most people about 45 minutes to use a disposable cup, only to be sent off to a landfill for 500 years.

Cereplast, Inc., a pioneering renewable plastics company, designs and manufactures proprietary bio-based, sustainable plastics created from their cutting-edge breakthrough technology. This technology produces bio-based resins used to replace a significant portion of the petroleum-based additives in plastics by using natural material from starches such as tapioca, corn, wheat and potatoes.

For example, Safety 1st-Nature Next, is using Cereplast resins in their new line of bio-plastic products including the 3-in1 potty, booster seats, bathtubs and stools.

Mr. Frederic Scheer, founder and CEO of Cereplast and an 18-year veteran of the bio-plastics industry is spoke to The Green Dove about bio-plastics and how his company is busy making the resins for products ranging from plastic cutlery (they provided plastic foodservice items at the Salt Lake City Olympics), to product packaging and household items.

What do most people not know about traditional plastics that wrap much of their supermarket-purchased food?
90% of all wrappers used to wrap the fruits and vegetables in supermarkets are made in Asia, meaning that the life cycle assessment does not show such products as environmental-friendly. The safety might be also questionable, especially from plastics made in certain Asian countries that  do not have the same stringent regulations on toxicity and health concerns.

How does the wrapping affect/contaminate our food?
Toxic chemicals, such as BPA, may be found in some plastics. Those chemicals then can leech out into the food and other plastic container and therefore contaminate it. Now so far science is very divided and no-one can confirm that it is dangerous. But in such a doubt Cereplast policy is to say let’s abstain. Cereplast’s resins contain no BPA.

Do you believe our throw-away culture will ever end?
I do believe that this culture will eventually phase out.  I think it is important to remember that we live in a fast-paced world, so disposable products not only appeal to us because they are easy and require little to no effort, but they are also a quick solution. I am confident that the world is moving toward sustainability.  It is a very slow process.  But, we are using reusable shopping bags now and starting to bring lunch in the same container to work each day.  The desire to become more eco-friendly is definitely there, it is just a question as to when this plan of action will actually start taking action, and I believe that it already has.  Cereplast is informing consumers of the importance of taking responsibility for their products and methods of disposal.  We are moving forward and rewriting the definition of “plastic.”

What is your background in the plastics industry?
Oh, I’ve been in the biodegradable plastics industry for more than two decades.  In 1994 I became involved in the industry through Montedison SpA, a large chemical conglomerate operating Novamont SpA, an Italian resin manufacturer and research company.  I could see even then, that the demand for biodegradable products would expand rapidly by the end of the decade, so I secured the exclusive distribution rights in North America for Mater-Bi™ resins.  After that, I began North American distribution of Mater-Bi, a 100% biodegradable resin patented by Novamont.

After that, I created the “Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI), a non-profit organization with over 80 members including BASF, DuPont, GeorgiaPacific, NatureWorks, Dow and Eastman.   This has become the largest biodegradable association in the world and aims to educate manufacturers, legislators, and consumers about the importance of scientifically based standards for biodegradable materials and the importance of composting.

In 2000, I won the exclusive distributorship for plastic ware and waste bags for the Sydney 2000 Olympics and was crowned by Greenpeace because of my participation in the “Greenest Games Ever”.  It was an absolute honor and an achievement that I am very proud of.

In 2001, I created Cereplast, Inc.  because bioplastics are obviously my personal passion.  I think that all products should make sense socially and Cereplast can transform that idea to a reality.  It is my hope that the world will one day realize that oil is a limited natural resource and it makes sense to consider using different feed stocks in plastic production.  As we move forward in this industry, I plan on continuing to actively work to commercialize bioresins and spread the word on the need for sustainable plastics.

Why is Cereplast different to traditional plastics companies?
Cereplast is different regarding three main issues:
1- The feed stocks that we use come from nature, these raw agricultural materials are substantially better in terms of carbon footprint.
2- Bioplastics do not create any greenhouse gases in their production process, no toxic emissions are given off.
3- These bioplastic resins require significantly less energy during production, as opposed to traditional resins.

What are some of the products you supply?
We do not supply finished products. We just have a small division supplying Nat-Ur® bio-based products including, food plastic ware such as utensils, plates, and cups. All Nat-Ur products are made by ou converters that are purchasing our resins.

What companies use/sell your products?
Cereplast provides environmentally-neutral resins to all the major converters (plastic fabricators) in the Country, Solo Cup, Georgia Pacific, Innoware, Genpak, Alcoa Reynolds, etc. offering cups, forks, knives, spoons, straws, etc. using renewable feed stocks (replacing petroleum-based plastics).

Abroad our larger success is Bunge. Bunge Alimentos, a Brazil-based food-packaging company produces food containers using Cereplast Compostables®.  In fact, the World Packaging Organisation just honored Bunge Alimentos with the WorldStar Packaging Award for its biodegradable margarine packaging that uses Cereplast Compostables® this year.  CSI/Cosmolab also uses Cereplast Hybrid Resins® in their sustainable cosmetic packaging.

Finally for our Hybrid resins, one of Cereplast’s clients is a Dorel Juvenile, Inc., who have introduced a line of infant products made from Cereplast’s resins, that are available at large retailers around the country under the brand Safety First-Nature next, who are using Cereplast resins in their new line of bio-plastic products including the 3-in1 potty, booster seats, bathtubs and stools.

How are your products made?

We use a process similar to traditional fossil fuels resin except that the feedstock comes from nature we received starches under different form, native starch or already industrial starch such as PLA (poly Lactic Acid), we blend it with other material that are all from organic origin and we polymerize the mixture in our equipment.

How long do they take to break down, once discarded?

Products made with Cereplast resins, naturally biodegrade within 180 days in a compost site. That is not to say that all of our products take the full 180-day time period to biodegrade, the time that products take to break down varies on the type of product. Bags will go faster and hard parts will take up to 180 days. Now the biodegradation occurs only in compost site. It may happen in nature but it is not a controlled environment and we cannot share any data for it. We try to explain to consumers that our products re behaving like banana peels, they biodegrade but throwing them by the window is littering.

What can people do to lessen their environmental impact this Christmas and holiday season?
It is important to lessen your environmental impact throughout the entire year, but specifically on Christmas, it’s about being smart.  Use products that are made with bio-plastics instead of oil-based products., use less packaging and use reusable bags

Do you export your products outside of the US, if so, to what countries?
We do.  We export to Brazil and South America; we have a European operation, and an Asian operation.  Our sales in the United States are currently 80%.