Cereplast makes progress on algae-based plastic

April28-Bioplastics maker Cereplast will commercialise its first grade of algae-based material by the end of the year. The El Segundo, Calif.-based firm also will announce a production deal with a major plastics producer by the end of May, a top Cereplast official said.

Cereplast has injection moulded a test part made from algae-based biomass and polypropylene, chairman and ceo Frederic Scheer said in a 27 April phone interview.

Scheer added that Cereplast has been contacted by several companies including some that injection mould durable goods and bowls and other food service items since announcing their research efforts in algae late last year.

These [algae-based] materials can be used in injection moulding, but we don t have any specific application in mind, he said. It s not a technological issue anymore.

The algae-based bioplastics will be made at the plant that Cereplast opened last year in Seymour, Ind. Scheer said the Seymour plant is operating at full speed and has installed 60 million pounds of annual capacity.

Cereplast currently uses corn, tapioca, wheat and potatoes to make its bioplastics. Using algae would have less potential impact on the food chain and on any food that could be consumed by humans, officials previously had said.

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, Cereplast researcher William Kelly said in a 27 April news release.

The use of algae as a feedstock for plastics allows us to go full circle, he added. The very substance that can absorb and minimize carbon dioxide 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.

Scheer added in the release that Cereplast officials believe that, in the not-so-distant future, algae will become one of the most important 'green' feedstocks in bioplastics as well as biofuels.

Our view is that developing alternative feedstock unrelated to fossil fuels and to the food chain is the next 'frontier' for bioplastics, he said. Cereplast is moving ahead very aggressively on this front.

Cereplast is not alone in doing research in algae-based plastics. Oil conglomerates ExxonMobil and BP each announced algae research projects last year. ExxonMobil, based in Irving, Texas, recently partnered with algae producer Synthetic Genomics Inc. of La Jolla, Calif. London-based BP, meanwhile, invested $10 million in algae supplier Martek Biosciences Corp. of Columbia, Md.

Cereplast s production deal will allow the company to expand production not only beyond Seymour, but to locations outside of North America as well, Scheer explained. He declined to identify the partner before the formal announcement is made.

This will give us the flexibility we need, he said. The 80 million pound maximum capacity of the Seymour plant is a big number for us, but is small in terms of the resin industry.

Cereplast also has been widening its distribution network this year. In March, the firm inked a deal with ATSA Chile SA of Santiago, Chile, to distribute Cereplast product in Chile and Peru. In January, Cereplast expanded its distribution deal with Fairlawn, Ohio-based A Schulman to include the European market. Schulman already had been representing Cereplast material in North America.

In 2009, Cereplast posted sales of $2.75 million, a drop of 40 percent vs. 2008. But the firm s profit increased from $80,000 to almost $340,000 in the same comparison.