Waste News, Headline News
EPA honors Cargill Dow for corn-plastic manufacturing process

MINNETONKA, MINN. (June 26) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency honored Cargill Dow LLC on June 24 for a process the company developed to make plastic from corn.
Cargill Dow received the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Alternative Reaction Conditions Award, which recognizes companies that find solutions to reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances in the production of chemical products.
Cargill Dow´s NatureWorks PLA is a commercial-grade polymer used in fiber and packaging markets around the world. The production of the polymer requires 50 percent less fossil fuel resources than comparable petroleum-based projects, the company said.
Cargill Dow opened its first manufacturing plant in Omaha, Neb., in April. The plant has the capacity to produce more than 300 million pounds per year of NatureWorks PLA, and to consume more than 40,000 bushels of corn per day as raw material.