NatureWorks launches platform technology for faster composting PLA grades

NatureWorks has expanded its Ingeo biopolymer product line with the launch of the Ingeo Extend platform, enhancing the material’s performance and application range.

According to the company, its Ingeo Extend platform is a new advancement in its biopolymer portfolio designed to accelerate biodegradation and disintegration while enhancing productivity for commercial-scale applications of biobased Ingeo PLA.

The new Ingeo Extend grades offer up to eight times faster compostability than existing PLA formulations and can be blended with other Ingeo PLA grades to improve biodegradation and disintegration rates.

PLA polymer

The first grade in the platform, Ingeo Extend 4950D, is a PLA polymer engineered to boost the production efficiency of biaxially oriented polylactic acid (BOPLA) films while lowering manufacturing costs. It enables a stretch ratio of up to seven times in the transverse direction and can be used with other Ingeo PLA grades to optimize film production on equipment typically designed for biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP).

Oriented film producers and brand owners can leverage Ingeo Extend 4950D to reduce BOPLA production costs. Additionally, biaxial films incorporating this material degrade more rapidly than unmodified Ingeo PLA, depending on the blend ratio. The polymer enhances sealing performance, particularly in coextruded film structures where it is used in sealing layers at up to 15%. Films made with Ingeo Extend 4950D offer high heat resistance (130–140°C), excellent clarity, and strong mechanical properties, including low shrinkage.

Roger Tambay, chief growth officer for NatureWorks, said brand owners and film producers often request lower cost biaxial films for compostable food packaging, and Ingeo Extend 4950D biaxial films are ideal to replace small-format food packaging made from polymers such as polypropylene.

“These packages are difficult to recycle due to challenges in sortation, or the inaccessibility of end-use markets for recyclates,” Tambay said. “Naturally, small-format packaging films are a better fit for composting, not recycling, and this new platform and the Ingeo Extend 4950D grade, we can meet this demand beyond niche applications or a single product line, achieving production at a scale that makes replacing fossil-based persistent plastics with compostable bio-based materials more feasible than ever.”

Extended producer responsibility legislation

According to the company, the rise of extended producer responsibility (EPR) legislation in the US and the European Union’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) has intensified demand for compostable flexible films and food packaging to meet diversion targets. The company noted its Ingeo Extend platform aims to expand the production of cost-effective, high-performance compostable packaging for hard-to-recycle items with food residue, such as condiment packets, snack and candy wrappers, salad bags, and lidding for creamer containers, coffee pods, and sauce cups.

Moreover, the company noted compostable packaging plays a role in diverting food waste from landfills, reducing environmental impact. By replacing fossil-based plastics, the company said its biopolymers lower the carbon footprint of packaging by an average of 73%. Additionally, food waste in landfills is the third-largest source of methane emissions globally. It also noted that diverting these scraps to composting facilities mitigates methane release while producing nutrient-rich soil amendments that improve soil structure and enable carbon sequestration.

Further supporting its environmental benefits, the company pointed to a study by Hydra Marine Sciences it said confirms that Ingeo PLA does not contribute to persistent microplastic pollution in the environment

source:plasticstoday.com