Technical and Economic Impacts
One of the key technical accomplishments of NIST's Advanced Technology
Pogram project was that Cargill was able to develop technology to improve
control of the key properties of PLA in the manufacturing process. This
helped Cargill partner with Dow Chemical to form a 50-50
joint venture to continue development of the processes commercially
toward the end of the ATP project in 1997. As the new Cargill Dow LLC
venture, their achievements for this project have won numerous awards
and have been lauded as an environmental paragon:
The technical success of
the ATP-funded project has translated into business success.
According to Dr. Pat Gruber, Vice President Technology Development
and Operations, Cargill Dow:
"The
successes of this program have greatly enhanced the business
prospects of Cargill Dow. The ATP program resulted in a very
sound understanding of crystalline control in a wide range
of processing conditions that include fiber spinning and
drawing, film orientation, injection molding and thermoforming.”1
The economic impacts of
this project have been significant. Cargill Dow LLC opened
the world’s
first plant on April 2, 2002 that produces biodegradable
polymers from renewable resources. The facility in
Blair, Nebraska has the capacity to annually produce 140,000
metric tons of polylactide polymer (PLA), a polymer
resin that is derived from natural plant sugars. The plant
employed over 230 full-time employees by the end
of 2004. Produced under the brand name NatureWorks™, the
applications for PLA-based products have been diverse, from
thermoformed food containers, to compostable plastic cups,
to comforters stuffed with PLA-based fibers, to fibers for
non-wovens and textiles. For example:
- Compostable drinking
cups, which are made of Cargill Dow’s
Natures Works™ TM PLA were used by Coca-Cola during the 2002
Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.
- In
February 2004, Fiber Innovation Technology, Inc.
(FIT) of Johnson City, Tennessee, became the first
North American fibers manufacturer to offer Ingeo™ fiber, a
breakthrough material that allows man-made fibers to
be derived from 100 percent annually renewable resources.
The large societal benefits of
this ATP-funded technology were recognized by R. James Woolsey,
former director of the CIA:
“Cargill Dow breaks new
ground in helping lead the United States and the rest of
the country away from oil dependence”2
This
is because NatureWorks® PLA-based products degrade more
easily, use 50% less fossil fuel than conventional
plastics (which includes the cost and energy of growing
and harvesting the corn), and are derived from renewable,
domestic agricultural feedstocks.
Despite these applications
and broad national benefits, as an indication of how difficult
it is to incorporate sustainable technology in the market,
in January 2005, Cargill announced that it agreed to buy
out Dow Chemical’s 50% interest in
the Cargill Dow joint venture. Dow’s president and CEO
stated, “Customers are not willing to pay a premium for
environmentally friendly polymers.”3 However, Cargill has
maintained interest, and is now running the venture as a
wholly-owned subsidiary, NatureWorks™ LLC. Despite slow market
adoption, NatureWorks™ executives are committed to the corn-derived
PLA. The market consists mainly of “early
adopters and innovators”, says Kathleen Bader, an executive
at NatureWorks™.4 But over time, the company hopes to expand the
market. As the price of oil increases, PLA closes the price gap
with other plastics. Further, NatureWorks™ continues to lower
costs and improve properties, and take advantage of its better
compatibility with fibers.5 |
