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A number of organizations have banded together to address recycling opportunities with bioplastics. Called the Bioplastics Recycling Consortium, the group’s mission is to develop end markets for post-consumer bioplastic materials along with an efficient and economical recovery system.

The consortium’s members hope that in doing so, they will help ensure that bioplastics fulfill their promise of being a fully renewable and truly sustainable material. “Packaging born of renewable material, then recycled and reused for new packaging is the ultimate definition of sustainability,” said Tim Ronan, vice president of marketing for consortium member Primo to Go. “The Bioplastics Recycling Consortium has great potential because it’s the first dedicated effort to bring together multiple links in the value chain to talk specifically about bioplastics life cycle.”

Participants in the Consortium’s first meeting represented the waste and recycling industry, brand owners, retailers, academic and research institutions, and NGOs, an intentional effort to bring together an eclectic group that will provide a 360-degree perspective on bioplastics in the waste stream.

Consortium member Primo Water recently introduced the first nationally distributed single serve bottled water whose bottle is made from plant based Ingeo natural resin, not crude oil like other water bottles.

According to a study by the Freedonia Group, demand for bioplastics in the U.S. is expected to increase 20 percent per year through 2010. The study also projects that the greatest growth potential for bioplastics is in applications such as films, bottles and food service products.

The participants in the first consortium meeting included the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers, Climate Neutral, NatureWorks LLC, Porter Novelli, Primo Water Corporation, U.S. EPA Office of Solid Waste, University of Florida Bill Hinkley Center for Solid and Hazardous Waste Management, and the Yale Office of Sustainability.

The Bioplastics Recycling Consortium is currently scheduling its next meeting to take place in Fall 2008.

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