Cargill Dow, Minnetonka, mn, is teaming up with Amprica SpA., Castelbelforte, Italy, and Wei Mon Industry, Tapei, Taiwan, to foster packaging use of the company’s NatureWorks pla (polylactic acid) polymer derived from corn.
The polymer is fully compostable and performs like petroleum-based plastics, says Cargill Dow. Amprica, a major European maker of thermoformed packaging for the bakery and convenience food markets, has become a strategic partner of Cargill Dow, and is replacing the plastics it currently uses, including pet, pvc, and polystyrene, with the pla polymer.
Cargill Dow and Wei Mon Industry have struck an exclusive agreement to promote and distribute pla-polymer packaging in Taiwan. WMI is making end-use packaging for the Taiwan market from the polymer, marketed there as Nature Green. The Taiwanese government recently banned petroleum-based shopping bags and disposable tableware.
