Sep 28 2007
DuPont and Plantic Technologies Limited, an Australian company specializing in starch-based biopolymers, today announced plans to collaborate in the development and sale of renewably sourced polymers made from Plantic(R) technology.
Plans include the collaborative development of new, renewably sourced resins and sheet materials based on high-amylose corn starch as the renewable feedstock for applications including cosmetics, personal care and food packaging trays, caps and containers. In addition to co-developing these new materials, DuPont will market and distribute Plantic's starch-based resins and sheet products under the DuPont(TM) Biomax(R) family of products.
"Putting DuPont's polymer science and biotechnology together with Plantic's leading-edge starch-based technology helps both companies broaden the performance of this class of polymers, while accelerating the availability of more options to replace the use of nonrenewable feedstocks," Shanna Moore, DuPont global business director for sustainable packaging materials, said. "This is part of the company's overall strategy to nearly double revenues from non-depletable resources to $8 billion by 2015 through a combination of DuPont R&D and targeted strategic partnerships."
Under the agreement, DuPont will market Plantic's starch-based sheet materials for trays and rigid packaging applications in North America, extending Plantic's existing markets for these materials, which previously had been limited to Europe and Australia. DuPont also will brand and sell starch- based injection molding resins made with Plantic technology in all markets except Australia and New Zealand, using the DuPont(TM) Biomax(R) brand.
"This agreement with DuPont helps Plantic expand the reach of its renewably sourced polymer technology around the world, and significantly enhances the opportunities for product development for this technology by tapping into one of the world's leading science companies," Plantic CEO Grant Dow said.
DuPont's unique breadth of biology, chemistry and materials science, ranging from better seeds to value-added end-use products, has enabled the creation of DuPont(TM) Renewably Sourced Materials, where each product contains a minimum of 20 percent renewable content by weight. These high- performance products are sourced to a significant extent from renewable, sustainable agricultural feedstocks, rather than petroleum. Renewably Sourced Materials from DuPont help reduce the environmental footprint, promote rural development and larger markets for farmers around the world, and help reduce dependence on petrochemicals for everyday products. Plantic-based products will be part of a growing suite of products being marketed under the DuPont(TM) Renewably Sourced Materials initiative (http://www.renewable.dupont.com/).
Plantic's novel polymer manufacturing technology is based on the use of high-amylose corn starch, a material derived from annual harvesting of specialized (hybrid) corn. The unique chemical and film-forming properties of this type of corn starch allow for development of a range of applications across conventional plastics markets. In addition to being renewably sourced, users can take advantage of excellent end-of-life properties such as biodegradability and compostability.
Plantic Technologies Limited has emerged as a world leading bioplastics innovator. The Australia-based company has won numerous international awards for achievement in science and has built an international network of major corporate customers, distributors and research and development partners.