Will green plastics go mainstream?

The most widely used bioplastic, NatureWorks — also corn-based and biodegradable — is a product of a Minnesota-based subsidiary Cargill Inc. It is made without genetically modified bacteria. Some of the corn that goes into it is modified, raising environmental concerns on the sourcing end, but the company notes that protein from the corn is destroyed in processing. NatureWorks already is used in dozens of products, including water bottles — an application unsuited to Mirel, which isn’t transparent.

Other bioplastics that biodegrade to some degree include Ecoflex, from German chemical company BASF AG; Mater-Bi, from Italy’s Novamont S.P.A.; Cereplast, from a Hawthorne, Calif.-based company by the same name. And two major conventional plastics makers — DuPont Co. and Brazilian chemical company Braskem SA — make recyclable bioplastic that isn’t biodegradable, the first from corn and the second from sugar cane.

No figures are available on overall bioplastics production, but bioplastics makers acknowledge the products occupy a tiny niche in the global plastics market, which totals $250 billion and produces 360 billion pounds a year. By comparison, the 300 million-pound capacity of NatureWorks’ Nebraska production plant is less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the market total.

For most biodegradable bioplastics, including NatureWorks, an industrial compost plant is recommended — facilities that are few and far between. The products are stable in places where microbes and moisture are minimal, as on a kitchen shelf. Metabolix says Mirel will decompose in a backyard compost within two months and about twice as slowly in soil, rivers, lakes or the ocean. But very few Americans compost, and most who do try not to include even paper products, let alone unfamiliar bioplastics.

“There’s a lot more to it than saying it’s scientifically and technologically possible to compost these materials,” said Betty McLaughlin of the Container Recycling Institute, a nonprofit encouraging greater materials recovery and recycling.

And, just as different types of petroleum-base plastic can’t be mixed in recycling, bioplastics should not be mixed with any conventional plastic because even tiny quantities can irreparably contaminate some melted petroleum-based plastics that have higher melting points, Cornell said.

“The sustainability concept is taking hold broadly, including in the corporate sector,” said McLaughlin. “But these materials face a long road gaining acceptance.”

A major bump on that road will be their cost. But, in another chicken-and-egg paradox, growing the market for bioplastics is key to bringing down their price, industry leaders said. NatureWorks says its production costs are just 10 to 20 percent above those of conventional plastics. Manufacturing each pound of Mirel now costs about $2.50, however, compared with 70 cents to 90 cents for petroleum-based resin, although the difference is expected to shrink as quantities grow and oil prices rise.

Tamara Nameroff, acting director of the American Chemical Society’s Green Chemistry Institute, said being as good as the product it replaces is not good enough for any green product, “even if you’ve proved you can make it environmentally friendly.”

“You have to show a cost advantage to what it’s replacing,” she said. “The idea that people just want to purchase environmentally friendly products has been demonstrated in some markets, but not universally.”

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Though most consumers lack the patience to sort out all the arguments, environmental friendliness can sell. Ralph DiMatteo, 48, of Painesville Township, Ohio, said after learning Sam’s Club gift cards are made of NatureWorks plastic that he would buy them as holiday gifts.

“I don’t spend a lot of time researching these kinds of things, but if something is presented to me properly to show how my effort can make a difference for the environment, I’m willing to pay a couple extra cents,” DiMatteo said.

For now, Metabolix is banking on that kind of attitude, said co-founder and chief scientific officer Oliver Peoples.

“We believe that there is a segment of the population that is willing to pay to basically feel better about using plastics,” Peoples said. “And if a company decided it wanted to go in that direction of charging $2.03 for a cup of coffee rather than $2.00, our view is that we’re adding something to their brand.”

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