Nature Works doesn't make the plastic products you might use on any given day, it makes the plastic that makes them.
The Minnetonka-based company makes it greener, as well, and it now has the USDA's BioPreferred Program stamp of approval to back that up.
NatureWorks, a 100-employee company owned by Cargill, is the first plastics manufacturer to earn the "certified bio-based" label, and one of only 11 of any kind in the country to receive the new certification. (The BioPreferred program itself was created in 2002.)
NatureWorks received similar certification in Europe last year, says Steve Sterling, president Sterling PR and PR rep for NatureWorks.
The company's Ingeo line of biopolymer is made from industrial-grade corn instead of oil. Its production uses 48 percent less energy than traditional plastics, says Sterling, and produces 60 percent less CO2.
The polymer is used in packaging, electronics, clothing, housewares, health and personal care items, semi-durable products, and the food service industry, according to a press release.
Founded in 2003, the company is growing in double rates in terms of sales, says Sterling. NatureWorks manufactures 70 million pounds of its biopolymer a year--far and away the most of any company doing so, he says.
Sterling notes that the certification puts products made with 100 percent Ingeo on the government's preferred purchasing list of bio-based products. The Secretary of Agriculture has designated 5,100 bio-based products; the USDA estimates there are as many as 20,000 currently being manufactured in the United States, according to the press release.
Source: Steve Sterling for NatureWorks
Writer: Jeremy Stratton