Polymer exec backs bio-based products at hearing
July 14, 2011 | 07:40 PM
Bio-based products are competitive with petroleum-based products at current petroleum price levels, a key polymer executive told the Senate Agriculture Committee today.
Mark Verbruggen, president and CEO of NatureWorks LLC, said there is demand from packaging manufacturers in Ohio for corn-based low-carbon footprint packaging and from auto manufacturers in Michigan for products such as soy-based polyurethene foams.
Verbruggen testified at a hearing on rural job growth through bio-based manufacturing and energy efficiency. His company is a Minneapolis subsidiary of Cargill with a manufacturing plant in Blair, Neb.
The combination of agricultural productivity and innovation in bio-polymer technology uniquely qualifies the United States to benefit from the bio-polymer industry, Verbruggen told Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. But he said government policy needs to focus on bringing the innovations to scale through competitive research grants and tax policy on manufacturing.
Mark Verbruggen, president and CEO of NatureWorks LLC, said there is demand from packaging manufacturers in Ohio for corn-based low-carbon footprint packaging and from auto manufacturers in Michigan for products such as soy-based polyurethene foams.
Verbruggen testified at a hearing on rural job growth through bio-based manufacturing and energy efficiency. His company is a Minneapolis subsidiary of Cargill with a manufacturing plant in Blair, Neb.
The combination of agricultural productivity and innovation in bio-polymer technology uniquely qualifies the United States to benefit from the bio-polymer industry, Verbruggen told Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. But he said government policy needs to focus on bringing the innovations to scale through competitive research grants and tax policy on manufacturing.
