Cereplast, Inc. announced that its plan to develop a new family of algae-based resins is progressing well and that the Company expects to offer the first grade of Cereplast Algae Plastics® for commercial use by the end of the year.

According to the company, Cereplast algae-based resins have the potential to replace 50% or more of the petroleum content used in traditional plastic resins. Currently, Cereplast is using renewable material such as starches from corn, tapioca, wheat and potatoes in the manufacture of bio-based resins. Algae-based resins, which are revolutionary in the industry, will complement the Company’s existing line of Compostables® and Hybrid® resins.

“Algae-based resins represent the latest advancement in bioplastics technology and our product development efforts over the last several months has yielded very encouraging results,” said Frederic Scheer, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Cereplast, Inc. “The properties of hybrid materials that we have developed with algae are now very close to meeting our expectations, and are on target to introduce a new family algae-based plastics by the end of the year. In the not so distant future, we believe that algae will become one of the most important 'green' feedstocks in bioplastics as well as biofuels.” Added Mr. Scheer, “Our view is that developing alternative feedstock unrelated to fossil fuels and to the food chain is the next 'frontier' for bioplastics and Cereplast is moving ahead very aggressively on this front.”

Cereplast is currently in contact with several companies that plan to use algae to minimize the carbon dioxide and nitrous gases from polluting smoke-stack environments. Algae from a typical photo-bioreactor is harvested daily and may be treated as biomass, which can be used as biofuel or as a raw material source for biopolymer feed stock. The Company is also in direct communication with potential chemical conversion companies that could convert the algae biomass into viable monomers for further conversion into potential biopolymers.

“Commercial algae resins represent a significant breakthrough in the greening of the plastics industry, a transformation that we believe is critical to helping ensure the long-term sustainability of the planet,” commented William Kelly who is leading Cereplast’s algae to plastics development efforts. “There are already a number of big players entering the commercial-scale algae production business, and the use of algae as a feedstock for plastics allows us to go full circle: the very substance that can absorb and minimize CO2 and polluting gases from the industrial process can also be turned into sustainable, renewable plastic products and biofuels while reducing our use of fossil fuels.”

SOURCE: Cereplast, Inc.

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