Danone packaging made with NatureWorks' Ingeo biopolymer and sold in Germany is first to receive sustainability certification from both the ISCC Association and U.S.-based IATP

Philip Goldsmith

MINNETONKA, Minnesota , May 30, 2012 (press release) – NatureWorks announced today that packaging made from Ingeo™ biopolymer and sold in Germany by Danone is the first to achieve certification from both the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) Association and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), a U.S. based Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). Ingeo fibers and plastics are made from plants, not oil, and these world-class, complementary certifications help demonstrate and verify the sustainability of Ingeo feedstock production based on sustainable agricultural practices.

The German ISSC PLUS certification and the American Working Landscapes Certificate from IATP require compliance with criteria such as no artificial irrigation in drought-prone areas, strict requirements for pesticide use, and no genetically modified plants. As Martina Fleckenstein, agricultural expert at WWF Germany, states: “There must be mandatory sustainability criteria for the production of bio-based plastics. This means that the raw materials must be grown in a way that addresses environmental and social concerns.”

Marc Verbruggen, NatureWorks president and chief executive officer, added, “Addressing concerns over feedstock sustainability is important for the future because renewably sourced materials will be the only alternative to fossil-based materials for plastics production. While fossil-based energy for transportation and electricity can be replaced with renewable energy produced directly from solar, wind, or hydroelectric power sources, this is not possible for bioplastics materials production. Therefore, assuring sustainable land use is a fundamental requirement for this new technology.”

ISCC PLUS – a new certification

ISCC PLUS is a new certification system for applications in the technical-chemical fields such as bioplastics. ISCC PLUS is based on the ISCC certification system, which has been used successfully for biofuels for more than two years. More than 1,200 original ISCC certifications have been issued and the certificate is acknowledged by the European Commission. ISCC-certified biomass cannot be sourced from land with high biodiversity value (such as primary forest, areas designated for the protection of endangered species, or highly bio diverse grassland), nor from land with high carbon stock (such as wetlands and continuously forested areas), or peat lands. The biomass must be produced in an environmentally responsible manner; this includes the protection of soil, water, air, and the application of good agricultural practice. The observance of human rights, labor laws, and good land use practice must be guaranteed. Independent auditors working in cooperation with ISCC provided a thorough assessment before the certificate was issued to Ingeo products sold in Germany.

“ISCC is a multi-stakeholder certification system which ensures that biomass is produced according to ecological, economic, and social sustainability criteria and that it is traceable along the entire value-added chain,” says Andreas Feige of the ISCC System GmbH.

Working Landscapes Certificate

The Working Landscapes Certificates program allows end users of commodity crops to encourage sustainable crop production by providing additional income to farmers for the environmental benefits understood to be associated with more sustainable farming practices. Participating farmers agree to raise crops according to more sustainable agricultural production criteria. The farmer then has two products to sell: the crop itself and the quantified ecological benefits associated with the more sustainable production practices – termed the Working Landscapes Certificate.

ISCC PLUS and the Working Landscapes Certificate are complementary in terms of their criteria. The farmers growing corn associated with Ingeo for Danone products destined in Germany received both the ISCC PLUS Certificate and the Working Landscapes Certificate. Requirements for earning the Working Landscapes Certificate include not using genetically engineered plant varieties or carcinogenic chemicals and following sustainable agricultural practices to protect and enhance soil, water, air, and biodiversity.

Corn farmers in Nebraska and Iowa, near the biorefinery, are participating in the program. In 2011, Working Landscapes Certificate non-genetically modified corn was grown in an area of approximately 1,360 acres. Farmers in the Working Landscapes Certificate program deliver their corn directly to the biorefinery that supplies feedstock for Ingeo production, while receiving a separate payment from the bioplastic user for following program criteria.

The biorefinery, however, delivers the vast majority of the products produced from the corn it processes to other industries. Due to the low-volume material stream for the bioplastics industry, it is impossible to segregate certified corn from uncertified corn. However, what is crucial is that for every ton of Ingeo produced for Danone in Germany, the corresponding acreage of corn is grown according to the Working Landscapes Certificate criteria in the same region. Jim Kleinschmit, IATP’s rural communities program director, said, “This dual certification approach – which reaches from farm to factory – provides a credible and transparent mechanism to connect Danone’s bioplastics use directly to more sustainable corn production in the U.S.”

Additional sources of plant-based raw materials

Germany has one of the most developed waste recovery systems in the world, with nationwide collection of post consumer packaging materials. RE|PLA Cycle GmbH, owned by the company RECLAY, is a licensed waste disposal management provider in Germany. Since the beginning of the year, RE|PLA has begun collecting post-industrial manufacturing Ingeo scrap, closed loop event cups, and increasingly Ingeo and other PLA-based bioplastics packaging from the German Green Dot consumer waste recovery system. RE|PLA directs the collected waste towards re-processors and NatureWorks channels the rPLA to interested end-user markets. Over the medium and long term, this practice of collection and reuse is expected to further improve the carbon footprint of bioplastics products and reduce the pressure on land use.

Products made from Ingeo span multiple industries and categories, including packaging, electronics, clothing, house wares, health and personal care, semi-durable products, and the foodservice industry. View this special edition Ingeo LookBook for a sampling of the latest Ingeo innovations. The LookBook tells a compelling story of how far fibers and plastics made from plants, not oil, have come in the past decade. And to learn more about Ingeo and about NatureWorks, visit www.natureworksllc.com. Follow NatureWorks on Twitter (@natureworksllc) for the latest updates.

About NatureWorks

NatureWorks LLC is a company dedicated to meeting the world’s needs today without compromising the earth’s ability to meet the needs of tomorrow. NatureWorks LLC is the first company to offer a family of commercially available, low-carbon-footprint Ingeo™ biopolymers derived from 100 percent annually renewable resources with performance and economics that compete with oil-based plastics and fibers, and provide brand owners’ new cradle-to-cradle options after the use of their products. In October 2011, Thailand’s largest chemical producer, PTT Global Chemicals, entered into an agreement to make a $150 million equity investment in NatureWorks. The transaction remains subject to regulatory clearances. For more information on NatureWorks and Ingeo™, visit www.natureworksllc.com.

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