Issue 03/2016
bioplasticsMAGAZINE_1603
bioplasticsMAGAZINE_1603
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Events<br />
By<br />
Karen Laird<br />
markets, but also the product mix. “We<br />
looking beyond just PLA for packaging,”<br />
he said. “We’re rethinking the business<br />
we’re in. We’re getting into compounding<br />
and again, are specifically targeting ABS<br />
with new Ingeo formulations that can not<br />
only replace, but outperform ABS,” said<br />
Verbruggen. Another project in the pipeline<br />
concerns the development of wipes and<br />
diapers.<br />
Marc Verbruggen<br />
NatureWorks has also moved into<br />
performance chemicals, using lactidebased<br />
building blocks to develop functional<br />
initiators and phase III copolymers, to name<br />
but a few. “We’re developing a portfolio<br />
of tunable performance products,” he<br />
explained. “We realized: why not look at the<br />
monomer? We can formulate – so why let<br />
others do it?”<br />
Looking ahead, he pointed out that it<br />
took NatureWorks 15 years to get to where<br />
the company is now – “a positive EBIDTA<br />
for the past 23 consecutive months “ – and<br />
that in another 20 years, looking back at<br />
the high growth today, it will be clear that<br />
this was just the introductory stage. “What<br />
is important is that bioplastics are now in<br />
the game,” said Verbruggen. “It takes time<br />
to get to scale. The growth is ahead of us.”<br />
He continued: “The next decade,<br />
we’ll see how technological investment<br />
translates into next generation capacity<br />
(…) and if it works, no one will ever build<br />
a plant based on sugar ever again. Until<br />
we’re there, we’ll be expanding the Blair<br />
corn-based facilities, as a bridge. We need<br />
to have capacity.”<br />
Karen Laird (left), Jen Owen<br />
Concluding on an optimistic note, he<br />
declared that the mindset is changing.<br />
“And that’s how we can get on that growth<br />
curve. Brand owners are willing to make<br />
that investment in people and capital. And,<br />
as early adapters who’ve done the heavy<br />
lifting, we’re finally moving towards more<br />
competitors - which is what we want. We<br />
need competitors! Customers don’t want<br />
to be fully dependent on us as a single<br />
supplier. We welcome competitors, so we<br />
can get up that growth curve together.”<br />
www.innovationtakesroot.com<br />
bioplastics MAGAZINE [<strong>03</strong>/16] Vol. 11 13
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