The Ecoist: Fun with Ingeo™
Posted by Eco-Products on Oct 24th 2012
What exactly is Ingeo™?
We use Ingeo™ brand PLA. Ingeo is a biopolymer made from polylactide (PLA) that can be derived from starchy plants like corn, potatoes, tapioca, sugarcane, and soy protein. In the U.S., Ingeo is typically made from corn kernels that are milled and processed to extract the simple sugar dextrose. The largest producer of PLA today is a company called NatureWorks
According to NatureWorks, right now…
- They use less than 1/20th of 1% (0.05%) of the annual global corn crop today, so there’s little to no impact on food prices or supply.
- The process does not require corn, we only need a sugar source. This could include sugar beets, sugarcane, wheat and more.
Biopolymers like Ingeo perform much like traditional plastics, but are made from annually renewable resources like corn plants. Ingeo offers the cost and performance necessary to compete with traditional petroleum-based materials, but with the crucial benefit of being commercially compostable.
Learn more about our partnership with NatureWorks here
Learn more about Ingeo directly from NatureWorks here
Our very own Sustainability Maven serves up a delicious nugget of green geekery every other week. If this little taste leaves you hungry for more, you can always cruise over to the Greenology and/or Training sections at EcoProducts.com for a full helping. If you have a question you can’t find the answer to you can email her at sustainabilitymaven@ecoproducts.com