THESE are, without a doubt, excit-ing times for companies in thecompostable products industry —from the manufacturers of resinsto the distributors of the end prod-ucts. After close to 20 years of

product and market development, a num-ber of factors are converging to create de-mand for compostable bags, foodserviceware, packaging films and containers.These include retailer demand for sustain-able packaging, rising cost of petrochemi-cals, expansion of food residuals compost-ing and zero waste initiatives, and, mostrecently, passage of an ordinance in SanFrancisco to ban large grocery stores andpharmacies from giving out traditionalplastic shopping bags, which is expected tocatch on in other communities. Added tothose factors are the well-established cer-tification programs for resins and com-postable products, which have boosted reg-ulatory and consumer confidence that theproducts perform as advertised.

While interviewing various resin andproduct manufacturers for this article, weasked if anyone was observing a “criticalmass” of interest and demand that will leadto rapid growth of the use of compostable

products over the next few years. “So manyfactors are influencing the direction of bio-materials,” says Bob Findlen, Vice-Presi-dent of Sales and Marketing of the NaturalPlastics polymer brand from Metabolix, Inc.“There is the concern around sustainabilityand the demand and activity that compa-nies like Wal-Mart are bringing to the mar-ketplace. There is the biodegradability partof the market to address issues like litterfrom traditional plastic bags. Environmen-tal issues are another driving factor, e.g.,carbon balance, along with the unsustain-ability of our thirst for oil. All these thingsare happening, all at the same time. Buthave we reached a critical mass? If that isdefined as starting to have an effect on theuse of petroleum, we are not there yet. Butcompostable products are on the shelves to-day and we do have sponsorship from majorbrand owners to use these materials. So weare definitely past the phase of not wanting

Demand for sustainable packaging, established standardsfor compostability and biodegradability, and increasing

number of organics diversion programs are driving demandfor compostable products.

Nora Goldstein and Cristina Olivares

Compostable,Biodegradable Update

BAGS, FOODSERVICE WARE, PACKAGING FILMS

WHAT’S WHAT AND WHO’S WHO

IN COMPOSTABLE PRODUCTS

38 BIOCYCLE JULY 2007

San Francisco’s ordinance to ban largegrocery stores and pharmacies from givingout traditional plastic shopping bags opensup market opportunities for compostablebags such as the one manufactured withNovamont’s Mater-Bi resin (resin pellets inbottom photo).

to be the first to use the products.” Jeff Cole with Genpak — one of the ma-

jor foodservice supplier “brands” usingbiodegradable and compostable resins forits Harvest Collection line — also believesconsiderable progress has been made in theindustry, but still sees challenges in themarketplace. “Genpak is one of the biggestproviders of quality single use products inthe industry,” he says. “I would guess that40 to 50 percent of the inquiries we get viaour website these days are related to ourHarvest Collection line. People want tolearn more about these products, e.g., whattheir properties are. But the key question toask — despite this tremendous interest —is ‘If traditional plastics went away today,are alternatives ready to step in?’ The an-swer is no. There are not enough suppliersto fill that demand, but it is growing.”

The price gap between single-use itemsthat are compostable and those that are notis still significant, he adds. “Typically food-service operators want something that is

BIOCYCLE JULY 2007 39

BioBag manufactures a full range of bagsfor food waste and yard trimmingscollection, as well as makes shopping bagsfor retail stores. An extruder in the BioBagproduction facility is shown above.

Cortec markets its compostablebags under the EcoWorks andEcoFilm brands. The companyuses a corn-based resinblended with polyesters.

Table 1. Compostable bags only (all BPI 1 certified)

Resin(s) Company Brand Products Used

Al-Pack Al-Pack Retail food and yard waste Co-polyester bags, shopping bags compostable resins

Alte-Rego Corp. Compost-A-Bag Retail bags, commercial n/asize food waste bags

BioBag USA BioBag Retail and commercial food Novamont’s Mater-Biand yard waste bags, commercial shopping bags

BioBag Canada, Inc. BioBag Retail food and yard waste bags, Novamont’s Mater-Bicommercial food waste bags, commercial yard waste bags

Cortec EcoWorks, EcoFilm Commercial food waste bags, Corn-based resin withretail food waste bags in some polyestersmarkets, cyrogenic bags forcommercial use

Farnell Packaging, Ltd. BioTrue 2, 30, 32, 45, 90 gallon bags BASF Ecoflex

Fortune Plastics Comp-Lete Bags for retail, commercial, Novamont’s Mater-Biinstitutional use

Heritage Bag Co. BioTuf Bags for commercial, institutional, HB956 from industrial use Heritage Plastics, Inc.

Northern Technologies Natur-Tec Bags; films available to converters Proprietary blend

Plastics Solutions EcoSafe 6400 Commercial and retail food waste bags Proprietary blendCompostable Bags and bin liners, commercial and retail

yard waste bags, specialty bags for trade shows, store use and packaging

Poly-America L.P. Husky Eco-Guard Full line of lawn and leaf Starch-basedLawn & Leaf and food waste bags resin

W. Ralston Bag and BioSak Compostable Kitchen curbside (incl. organics bin Novamont’s Mater-BiFilm Manufacturer Brown Bag liners), yard waste bags in various

sizes for retail, ICI use

1BPI=Biodegradable Products Institute (www.bpiworld.org); all BPI-certified bags meet ASTM 6400 standard.

functional but won’t drive up the price oftheir supplies. The charge for a hamburgerwith a bag of potato chips and a drink maybe $5. We want to be sure the packaging isnot a significant portion of that $5 bill. Thetrick is to find customers willing to go theextra step to have that zero waste ability —to bring in products that do what they aresupposed to do, e.g., not melt, and thenhave the internal capability to capture thatwaste stream and bring it to a compostingfacility that will take care of it.”

Cole sees two types of customers in thisparticular market — one that has done alltheir homework and has figured out how tocompletely close the loop and not have itcost them more, and the other that wantsto buy the Harvest line — with or withoutthe ability to close the loop — because itmakes them feel better about their pur-chasing decisions.

Frederic Sheer of Cereplast, which for-mulates resins used to make a range ofcompostable products, has been in thecompostable and biodegradable plasticsindustry for many years. He believes thekey factor to achieve a critical mass is to beable to deliver a large quantity of resinwith consistent quality at competitive pric-ing with traditional petroleum-basedresins. “At Cereplast, we primarily focuson resins that can compete with theirpetroleum counterparts,” he explains. “Forexample, we are focusing on injectionmolding and thermoforming resins that weoffer at pricing as low as $0.65/lb. In termsof production, we have increased our ca-pacity from 14 million pounds to 55 millionpounds in 2007, and we anticipate in-creasing it again.”

A BIT ‘O HISTORYBioCycle has been reporting on alterna-

tives to traditional petroleum-based plas-tics for about 20 years. In the late 1980s, asgrowing numbers of municipalities beganto roll out curbside collection and compost-ing programs for yard trimmings, it quick-ly became evident that plastic bags com-peted with odors as Enemy #1 at thecomposting sites. They became entwined inthe turning equipment and when shred-ded, were both a source of litter and an endproduct contaminant. The early genera-tions of “compostable” plastics were essen-tially a blend of polyethylene and starchand/or other additives. Questions and con-cerns arose about the biodegradability ofthese products — primarily bags. A num-ber of companies came and went duringthis time period, and it soon was recognizedthat in order for this market to develop,standards had to be established to verifythe biodegradability and compostability ofthe resins and fibers and products beingmarketed.

A November 1995 article in BioCycle, “Un-raveling The Biodegradable Plastics Maze,”provides a valuable snapshot of where theindustry had evolved to, and where it need-

ed to go. By this point, the resins used tomake biodegradable bags fell into two gen-eral categories — natural and synthetic.Stated the article, “Natural (or biopoly-mers) are based largely on renewable re-sources and include polylactic acid (PLA),cellulosics and starches, and polyhdrox-yalkanoates. Synthetic polymers are madefrom petroleum-based feedstocks and in-clude polyester and polyethylene polymers.An example of a biodegradable, syntheticpolymer is polycaprolactone, a thermoplas-tic polyester resin. Most biodegradableplastic bags are made from a blend of natu-ral and synthetic polymers.” This catego-rization still holds true 12 years later.

An ASTM (American Society for Testingand Materials) standard had been updatedin 1994 (ASTM D-5488-94d) to establishterminology for compostable andbiodegradable packaging. Eventually, theASTM standards were refined into the cur-rent and widely accepted specifications —ASTM D6400 “Specifications for Com-postable Plastics” and ASTM D6868 “Spec-ification for Biodegradable Plastic Coat-ings on Paper and other CompostableSubstrates.” The test methods and specifi-cations found in ASTM D6400 and D6868mimic what takes place in well-run munic-ipal or commercial composting facilities.There are three key tests involved. All arereferenced in the ASTM D6400 and D6868standards. The first measures the ability ofthe product or material to be converted tocarbon dioxide by the organisms found in acompost pile at an acceptable rate. The sec-ond test measures the ability of the mate-rials to fragment, so that products do notclog the screening equipment or detractfrom the value of the finished compost. Thethird test measures the ability of the re-sulting compost to support plant growthand insure that the product does not con-tain high levels of regulated metals.

In 1999, the Biodegradable Products In-stitute and the U.S. Composting Councilestablished a certification program forcompostable products. Today, the BPI web-site (www.bpiworld.org) lists approvedproducts in four categories: Resins (10 ap-proved); Compostable bags (15 approved);Foodservice (7 approved); Packaging (4 ap-proved). “From a product certification per-spective, manufacturers need to meet theASTM standard appropriate to the appli-cation,” explains Steve Mojo, BPI’s Execu-

40 BIOCYCLE JULY 2007

The Natur-Tec brand of lawn and leaf bagsis made by Northern Technologies, whichuses its proprietary blend of resins andadditives.

Farnell Packaging Ltd. usesBASF’s EcoFlex resin to makeits line of BioTrue bags, whichrange in size from 2- to 90-gallons.

There are a handfulof companies thatblend resin pelletswith other additivesto give the endproducts thenecessaryproperties.

tive Director. “ASTM D6400 is for productsthat are made only of plastic, such as bagsand cutlery. ASTM D6868 is for productsthat combine plastic with paper, cardboard,bagasse or some other fiber. We also useD6868 to approve products that do not con-tain plastic at all, e.g., the Chinet brand, toensure that they disintegrate and don’t con-tain metals or other contaminants. Bothspecifications have the same requirementsfor disintegration, biodegradation, metalsand plant growth.”

In Europe, the equivalent standard isEN 13432, the European Union standardfor compostable and biodegradable packag-ing. The United Kingdom adopted the stan-dards as well (BS EN13432). There are anumber of certification bodies across theEuropean Union, including The Compost-

ing Association in the United Kingdom,which operates a certification programwith the German certifier, Din Certco.

A number of composting facilities in theU.S. accept BPI-approved compostableproducts (see BioCycle’s www.findacom-poster .com). Cedar Grove Composting,based in Seattle, Washington, requiresthat all products claiming compostabilitybe tested in its composting process prior toaccepting that material in compost feed-stocks (see “Biodegradable Plastics MakeMarket Inroads,” May 2006). Cedar Groveuses the GORE cover composting system.To date, only compostable bags have beenapproved. Accepted brands includeBioBag, Biosak, BioTuf, Cereplast, Comp-Lete, EcoFilm/EcoWorks and MarshallPlastic Film (all referenced in Table 1). To

BIOCYCLE JULY 2007 41

Al-Pak, based in Canada,makes food, yard waste andshopping bags.

Table 2. Compostable serviceware, films and bags

Resin(s)/ Company Brand Products1 Raw Materials Certification2

Biocorp, Inc. Biocorp Food serviceware, e.g., Biograde 300A; DIN-Certo plates, cups, deli containers, fibers; sugar cane for cutlerystraws, cutlery

Biosphere Biosphere Various plates, trays, Starch-based BPIIndustries, LLC bowls, and other dishes Biosphere's PPM100

Cereplast Nat-Ur Cups, cutlery, straws, Proprietary blend; ASTM 6400,food containers use NatureWorks PLA 6868; BPI

Earthcycle Earthcycle Fresh produce, nuts Palm fiber ASTM 6400,Packaging Ltd. packaging; plates, food trays 6868; BPI

Fabri-Kal Corp. Greenware Retail and commercial cups NatureWorks PLA BPIand lids for cold drinks

Genpak LLC The Harvest Plates, cups, and bowls, and a Cereplast ASTM 6400,Collection medium hinged container in both 6868; BPI

one and three compartments

Huhtamaki Chinet, Serviceware, Chinet molded fiber plates, Recycled paper ASTM 6868; Strongholder bowls, platters, and school fibers and renewable BPI

lunch trays; Serviceware resourcesmolded fiber trays; Strong- holder cup carriers and trays

Innovia Films NatureFlex Films mainly used for Proprietary ASTM 6400;wrapping produce, etc blend BPI

Innoware, Inc. Return To Nature Thermoformed to-go containers Cereplast BPI

International Paper ecotainer Commercial hot cups and Modified NatureWorks ASTM 6400;food containers; developing PLA functionalized by EN 13432; cold cups and lids DaniMer Scientific BPI

Nature Friendly Nature Friendly Over 160 different types of table Tableware items are ASTMProducts products, such as plates, cups, manufactured in China compliant3

bowls, trays, carryout boxes, with sugar cane trash bags, cutlery (bagasse); Cutlery

made w/version of PLA

Penley Corp Full Circle Cutlery 24-count cutlery Cereplast ASTM 6400; BPI

1Compostable products in Table 2 include foodserviceware, e.g., hot and cold cups, plates, cutlery; carryout (“to-go”)containers; and packaging films. Some companies also market compostable bags. 2Certification programs includeBiodegradable Products Institute (BPI), EN13432—European Union regulation for compostable and biodegradablepackaging (also adopted by the UK as (BS) EN 13432), and DIN-Certco (German standard); 3Company states products meetASTM D6400 and D6868. Company applying for BPI certification.

be tested, compostable products needto be BPI-certified or pass the ASTMD6400 test. Foodservice ware andother items can be tested in additionto bags (details on the testing proto-cols can be found at www.cedar-grove.com).

WHAT’S WHAT, WHO’S WHOAll companies listed in the accom-

panying tables were contacted forthis article andasked to review

the information provid-ed. Table 1 lists compa-nies marketing onlycompostable bags. Notlisted in the table aremanufacturers of kraftpaper bags still used bysome municipal pro-grams for yard trim-mings collection (e.g.,Duro Bag, ResourcesfulBag and Tag and Smur-fit-Stone ContainerCorp.). Table 2 listscompanies that makeother compostableproducts; several com-panies in Table 2 alsoinclude bags in theirproduct lines. The accompanying directoryincludes contact information and websitesfor all the companies listed in the tables.

BASF with its EcoFlex resins, Nova-mont, which makes the Mater-Bi resin,and NatureWorks PLA are the resin sup-pliers with the longest history in the mar-ket. Metabolix, Inc. is expected to startmarketing its resin on a wide-scale basisby the end of 2008. In addition to the resinmanufacturers, there are a handful ofcompanies that blend the resin pelletswith other additives to give the end prod-ucts necessary properties. Blenders in-clude Cereplast and Heritage Plastic. The“resins used” columns in Tables 1 and 2indicate the resins and blends used tomake the compostable products listed. Acompany such as Cereplast makes bothblends for other companies and its ownproducts. It takes one or more raw mate-rials and extrudes them into new pelletsthat are used to make the finished prod-ucts. Several companies make film coat-

ings that are adhered to paperboard,which then is used to make compostableproducts such as cups and plates. An ac-companying article in this special report,“Paper Company And Coffee RoasterLaunch New Product,” describes a hot cupmanufactured by International Paperthat uses a formulation that includes Na-tureWorks PLA.

Genpak is using Cereplast’s PLA-basedresin to make its Harvest Collection line.

“Cereplast has modifiedour resin so that it hasbetter thermal proper-ties,” explains Jeff Cole.“It can handle foods upto 130°F, which is proba-bly its biggest limitationfor foodservice single useitems. That is good butnot the brass ring. Har-vest Collection is de-signed for cold and warmfood applications only atthis point. In general, Ithink all the resin sup-pliers are working fever-ishly to come up withbetter products for com-panies like Genpak touse. That is what the

consumer wants — a product that worksjust like traditional plastics. They don’twant to lose anything.”

Novamont, which makes the Mater-Biresin, is headquartered in Italy. The com-pany’s primary market is compostable bagsthat service source separated organics col-lection programs in Europe. Organics recy-cling is the market it also focuses on inNorth America. “Bags make the process ofsource separation in households and busi-

42 BIOCYCLE JULY 2007

The HarvestCollection fromGenpak istargeted to thefood serviceindustry. TheCereplast PLA-based resinused in theproduct line hasbeen modifiedto handle foodsup to 130°F.

ASTM D6868is used toapprovecompostableproductsthat do notcontain

plastic at all, such as the Chinetbrand of foodservice items,e.g., divided single use platesand drink holders.

The Fabri-Kal Greenware cupmade for cold drinks is shownin various stages ofdecomposition duringcomposting — from left toright, Day 1, 35 and 50.

nesses more acceptable,”says Tony Gioffre, who worksin Novamont’s office inRidgefield, Connecticut.“Bags address the yuck factorthat people have when sepa-rating wet food waste.”Its market development

strategy has been to findpartners to work with to make the end products, such asBioBag in Canada and the U.S., as well as W. Ralston in Cana-da. “We seek to identify partners that have Novamont’s vision,which is to replace fossil fuels with renewables,” adds Gioffre.“That has been the driving force of our company since it start-ed.” He believes that the key to building markets for com-postable products is having the proper infrastructure estab-lished to receive the products. “If communities have organicscollection programs, then it makes sense to use the bags. If acompany is making a compostable bottle, it is more likely itwill end up at a recycled plastics processing facility versus acomposting site, which can cause problems for the recycler. In-troducing products prematurely gets more forces against theirproper development and distribution.”

PLANT-FIBER ORIGINSA fairly new company in the compostable products industry

is Nature Friendly Products (NFP), based in Beachwood, Ohio.Started about a year ago, NFP sells about 160 different con-sumer products that include tableware, cold cups and straws,and bags. Cutlery is expected to be introduced fairly soon. BillBiggar, Managing Partner, comes to the compostable productsmarketplace from the frozen food and foodservice industry. “Ispent 21 years with Nestle’s frozen and refrigerated foods divi-sion, and left seven years ago to form a consumer goods busi-ness,” he says. “We learned about a company in China that wasmaking foodservice products out of waste sugar cane fiber pulpthat is pressed into pulpboard. In turn, that is combined withhot water and made into a paste that is then put into molds tomake products such as plates and bowls. Our Chinese partnerssold these products mostly in Asia and Australia. We becamethe exclusive marketing rep for the manufacturer in NorthAmerica.”

NFP sells to foodservice distributors that supply colleges, uni-versities, hospitals, restaurants, etc. The products have met theASTM D6868 standards, and the company is going through thecertification process with the Biodegradable Products Institute,adds Biggar. “Our whole product line is designed to replace Sty-rofoam, plastics and coated paper that isn’t compostable. Wehave put our products through all the standardized testing andcomply.” Bags sold by NFP use a polyester-based proprietary

BIOCYCLE JULY 2007 43

Innovia Filmsintroduced ametallizedbiodegradablefilm (left) forcandy and snackmanufacturers.Innovia’s 120NVS film is usedwith EarthcyclePackaging Ltd.’spalm fiber traysto provideproducepackaging formajor retailerslike Wal-Mart(below).

The Proof is in the LABEL!The Biodegradable Products Institute awards thissymbol only to items that meet stringent scientificstandards and will biodegrade swiftly and safely inmunicipal or commercial facilities.Today, bags andfood service items carrying this symbol are in use incomposting programs from San Francisco,California to Prince Edward Island,Nova Scotia.

Each product is•Tested in pre-approved third party laboratories• Data is verified using independent scientists

Look for the growing list of approved productsand manufacturers on the BPI website:

www.bpiworld.org

SearchableDatabase

of CompostingFacilities in theUnited States...where you can find

sites to process organics,sources of compost and

blended soils,plus more.

resin developedby NorthernTechnologies,Inc. The Natur-Tec bags are

BPI-approved. Innovia Films manufactures NatureFlex,

a line of biodegradable cellulose-basedfilms derived from wood pulp and certifiedto meet ASTM D6400 and EN13432 stan-dards for compostable packaging. The filmsare used in packaging of candy, bakerygoods, produce, household products andpersonal care items. “Our films are stifferand more oriented than many biopolymerscurrently on the market, which makesthem ideal for use in standard flow-wrapand form-fill-seal equipment for confec-tionery packaging,” says Macolm Cohn,Market Manager-Americas, with the Na-ture Flex line. “They are glossy and trans-parent and static-free, making them suit-able for twist wrap applications.” He addstaht the company introduced the first met-allized biodegradable film (it meets ASTMcriteria) on the market, which can be usedby candy and snack manufacturers.

Innovia Films works with EarthcyclePackaging Ltd. in British Columbia to pro-vide produce packaging for Wild Oats andWal-Mart. The company’s 120 NVS film isused to wrap produce in Earthcycle’s palmfiber trays. Both are BPI-approved.

Earthcycle’s product line, which includespackaging for produce and nuts, plates andfood trays, is manufactured in Malaysia atan integrated facility that includes a palmplantation, fiber and pulp production andfinal manufacturing of the packaging. Thecompany is the exclusive North Americandistributor. Other major retailers using thepalm fiber packaging include Trader Joe’s,Whole Foods, Safeway and Publix.

Shannon Boase, President of Earthcy-cle, has learned quite a bit over the pastfew years in terms of promoting composta-bility as part of the packaging’s attributes.“Initially, we felt that the key benefit toour products was the ease, or as we say ‘re-sponsible’ disposal of them,” she recalls.“We emphasized the compostable angle.We had POP (point of purchase) stickersthat many of our clients applied to thepackage, which read, ‘Earthcycle Packag-ing: Backyard Compostable.’ Then we didsome focus group work with one of ourlarge clients. The overwhelming responsefrom the consumer — aside from the factthat they loved the look and feel of theproduct — was that they would buy it sim-

ply because it is a renewable resource. Thecompostable angle was only marginally in-teresting. So we redid our label to now in-clude, ‘Renewable Resource, BackyardCompostable.’”

WHAT’S NEXT?Demand is expected to continue to grow

for compostable products and the raw ma-terials from which they are made. “Rightnow we see more demand than we haveproduct available,” says Glenn Johnston,Global Regulatory Manager for Nature-Works LLC, a stand-alone company ownedby Cargill that manufactures a polylactidepolymer processed from plant sugars.“There is a definite pull from the industryto drive more volume.” An article in theWall Street Journal last April reported thatCargill’s $1 billion complex in Blair, Ne-braska employs 530 people and is “theworld’s biggest maker of renewable plas-tics.” The Journal noted that production isnearly 150 million pounds annually.

Companies interviewed for this articleanticipate that the start-up of Telles’ Natu-ral Plastics resin production facility in Clin-ton, Iowa in late 2008 will accelerate theability to manufacture more compostableproducts. Telles is a joint venture betweenMetabolix, Inc., a bioscience company basedin Cambridge, Massachusetts, and ArcherDaniels Midland (ADM), an agribusiness gi-ant. The Iowa facility will start with capac-ity to produce 110 million pounds of NaturalPlastics annually. Metabolix developed a“microbial fermentation platform” that ge-netically modified a “corn-eating strain of E.coli bacteria to make the polymer, PHA,” ex-plains the same Journal article. ADM will

supply the corn using the Metabolix fer-mentation process.

Telles is operating a pilot plant that isproducing 25,000 lbs/month of the raw ma-terial. It is used for product developmentpurposes, and to work with customers ondevelopment of applications, says BobFindlen of Metabolix. “Our strategy is towork with brand owners who will put prod-ucts and packaging made from these mate-rials on the shelves.”

There is consensus among companies in-volved in compostable plastic products —

44 BIOCYCLE JULY 2007

Nature FriendlyProducts sells afull line offoodserviceware that ismanufacturedfrom a fiberpulp made outof waste sugarcane.

Four companies listed in Table 2 offer cutlery(sample above) for the foodservice market,including zero waste special events.

“From a productcertificationperspective,manufacturers needto meet the ASTMstandardappropriate to theapplication,” saysSteve Mojo of BPI.

BIOCYCLE JULY 2007 45

Al-Pack180 Henri Dunant St.Moncton, NB E1E 1E6 Canada506-852-4262www.mycompost.com

Alte-Rego Corporation36 Tidemore Ave.Toronto, ON M9W 5H4Canada416-740-3397www.alte-rego.com

BioBag Canada, Inc.#103-1687 W. BroadwayVancouver, BC V6J 1X2Canada604-876-5100www.biobag.ca

BioBag/BioGroupUSAP.O. Box 369Palm Harbor, FL 34682727-789-1646www.biobagusa.com

Biocorp, Inc.15301 140th Ave.Becker, MN 55308866-348-8348www.biocorpaavc.com

Biosphere Industries LLC1025 Cindy Ln.Carpinteria, CA 93013805-566-6563www.biospherecorp.com

Cereplast, Inc.3421 W. El Segundo Blvd.Hawthorne, CA 90250310-676-5000www.cereplast.com

Cortec Corporation4119 White Bear ParkwaySt. Paul, MN 55110800-426-7832www.cortecvci.com

Earthcycle Packaging Ltd.Suite 1100 –1166 Alberni St.Vancouver, BC V6E 3X3Canada604-899-0928www.earthcycle.com

Fabri-Kal Corp.600 Plastics Pl.Kalamazoo, MI 49001800-888-5054www.f-k.com

Farnell Packaging Ltd.30 Ilsley Ave.Dartmouth, NS B3B 1L3Canada 902-468-9378www.farnell.ns.ca

Fortune Plastics, Inc.P. O. Box 637, Williams Ln.Old Saybrook, CT 06475(860) 388-3426www.fortuneplastics.com

Genpak LLCPO Box 727Glens Falls, NY 12801518-798-9511www.harvestcollection.genpak.com

Heritage Bag Co.1648 Diplomat Dr.Carrollton, TX 75006800-527-2247www.heritage-bag.com

Huhtamaki - Chinet608 Mathis Mill Rd.Albertville , AL 35950256-894-1100www.us.huhtamaki.com

Innovia Films, Inc.290 Interstate North Circle,Suite 100Atlanta, GA 30339770-970-8598www.innoviafilms.com

InnoWare, Inc.225 Peachtree St.,Suite 400Atlanta, GA 30303800-237-8270www.innowareinc.com

International Paper6400 Poplar Ave.Memphis, TN 38197901-419-9000www.internationalpaper.com

Nature Friendly Products24050 Commerce ParkSuite 101Beachwood, OH 44122216-464-5490 ext. 105www.nfpco.com

Northern Technologies4201 Woodland RoadP.O. Box 69Circle Pines, MN 55014763-225-6600www.ntic.com

Penley Corporation West Paris, ME 04289985-624-4003www.thepenleycorp.com

Plastics Solutions, Inc.476 - 7231 120th St.Delta, BC V4C 6P5Canada604-597-7063www.degradableplastics.com

Poly-America L.P.2000 West Marshall Dr.Grand Prairie, TX 75051972-337-7585www.poly-america.com

W. Ralston Canada455 Cote Vertu Rd.Montreal, PQ H4N 1E8Canada 800-334-1567www.cttgroup.com

COMPOSTABLE BAGS, FOOD SERVICE WAREAND PACKAGING DIRECTORY

YES, please enter my subscription to BioCycle,The Magazine For Advancing Composting, OrganicsRecycling & Renewable Energy at the specialintroductory rate for the term checked on right.

□ One Year (12 issues) $45A savings of $29

□ Two Years (24 issues) $90 A savings of $30Canada and Foreign — please add $20 per year for postage;Checks payable to BioCycle in U.S. Funds only.

□ Payment enclosed □ Send Invoice □ Visa/Mastercard □ American Express

Card No. Expires

Your Satisfaction Guaranteed: If you ever decide BioCycle isn’t helping you duringthe term of your subscription, we’ll mail your money back in full.

419 STATE AVENUE, EMMAUS, PA 18049Phone: (610) 967-4135 • Fax: (610) 967-1345

Name

Affiliation

Address

City State

Zip

SubscribeToday andSave!

BC INTRO PDF0708

Get The Most Valuable Resource On Composting,Organics Recycling & Renewable Energy

Subscribe online: http://www.biocycle.net or email biocycle@jgpress.com

from the resin manufacturers to the majorbrand foodservice suppliers — that con-sumer education and a widespread com-posting infrastructure to process the endproducts are the keys to reaching a criticalmass in the marketplace. “Bioplasticshave a different reality than traditionalpetroleum-based plastics and need to be

looked at differently and understood dif-ferently,” says Frederic Sheer of Cere-plast. “This is a different message to passalong and it is not easy. Another challengeis to make sure that consumers and con-verters understand what compostablemeans and why it is important to useASTM standards.” �

46 BIOCYCLE JULY 2007

ADVANCING COMPOSTING, ORGANICS RECYCLINGAND RENEWABLE ENERGY

419 State Avenue, Emmaus, PA 18049-3097610-967-4135 • www.biocycle.net

Reprinted From:July, 2007

Consumereducation and awidespreadcompostinginfrastructure arekeys to reaching acritical mass in themarketplace.