In 2001, a joint venture between Cargill and the Dow Chemical Company was formed under the name Cargill Dow LLC and in 2005, Cargill bought out Dow’s interest in the venture. In 2002, a manufacturing facility in Blair, Nebraska began operations. It is the world's first and largest PLA facility and it supplies NatureWorks' Ingeo biopolymer. The Blair facility slated to increase its Ingeo nameplate capacity to 150,000 metric tons in the first quarter of 2013.[2]
In 2007 Cargill, the parent company, entered into a joint venture with Japan's Teijin, which acquired a 50% stake in NatureWorks.[3][4][5] The partnership was dissolved in July 2009 when Teijin faced corporate restructuring in the wake of the Great Recession.[6]
NatureWorks hosts a conference called "Innovation takes Root",[11] which brings together Ingeo Polymer users.
Recycling
Ingeo biopolymer bears the resin identification code 7 and can be chemically recycled,[12]composted[13] or landfilled.[14] Ordinary home composts cannot break down the polymer, although high-temperature commercial composting systems can.[15]
NatureWorks integrated NatureWorks PLA into the recycling system in the United States according to guidelines published by the Association of Plastic Recyclers. It commissioned an independent third party to study PLA's environmental impact, which indicated that PLA was a "neutral contributor in the existing recycling stream and can be effectively sorted using available detection technology".[16]
