Nature Works
Nature Works
🏭 US (Nebraska)
What we like about Nature Works: Natureworks makes Ingeo, a PLA sourced from corn, cassava, beets, and sugar cane. The material is available in pellets, sheets for thermoforming, and heat sealable films.
Note: PLA is indsutrially compostable, but not home compostable. The entire life cycle of a design should be properly studied before switching out a fossil fuel based plastic for PLA.
PLA Pellets
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PLA looks and feels like a traditional thermoplastic.
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This would not be our first choice for a material. While PLA is technically industrially compostable, the majority of US households do not have access to curbside composting that accepts these types of materials.
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PLA is industrially compostable.
GreenBlue’s urban compost map is a helpful resource to see if industrial composting makes sense for your use case.
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Since bioplastics look and feel like traditional plastic, proper disposal information should be an important part of the design so that they don't end up in the wrong waste stream. Let customers know if they should recycle or compost the plastic. If composting is the best case scenario, it's good to let customers know that if they can't compost it, that it's best if the plastic is reused or thrown in with the trash. Tossing bioplastic in with recycling just adds an extra step on the way to landfill.
You could consider a takeback program. If you can work with an industrial composter that accepts bioplastic, you can bulk compost your packaging on behalf of customers.
Raw Materials
Poly Bags & Films
Trays & Inserts
Paper Mailers
Cushioning
Jars & Bottles
Corrugated
Folding Cartons
Food Service
Inks & Coatings
Labels
Specialty Papers
