With compostability in
packaging sometimes amounting to an empty term, a new technology merger
involving brand owner Naturally Iowa
could provide one closed-loop solution to a difficult issue.
That solution starts with Clarinda, IA-based Naturally
Iowa, a pioneering maker of bottled water and dairy products produced entirely
from corn-based polylactic acid (PLA) material. On Aug. 3, the company acquired
Totally Green, a technology provider
that converts PLA-based bottles (and other non-petroleum-based plastic
packages) to a liquid effluent that is basically a non-toxic, nutrient-rich
water source.
Totally Green, Marietta, GA,
has commercialized a closed-loop system called Orca Green that works as a rapid composter for natural materials,
said Ryan Casey, newly appointed vp of sales and marketing for the Orca Green
Machine division of Naturally Iowa.
According to Casey, the machine is nothing more than a
tiller with a biochip inside that breaks down natural material. The chips --
essentially polyethylene and nylon pellets -- harbor a microorganism that
naturally degrades the used bottles and turns them to a liquid matter added to
the water steam. The matter can be pumped into a community’s sewer line as gray
water, he said.
The high-speed composting machines can handle 600, 1,200,
or 2,400 pounds of food at a time (depending on equipment size) and composts
the material within 48 hours. The technology, originally invented in South Korea, has already been used by U.S. universities, government buildings, and
corporate office centers, including Morgan
Stanley in Manhattan,
Casey said. “It goes well with foodservice applications and is used anywhere a
company can visualize large waste,” he added.
Naturally Iowa
first started working with NatureWorks
LLC and its PLA material
-- now branded as Ingeo -- in 2003 and is widely considered the first company to
mass-produce a PLA-derived, blow molded bottle. The bottle maker has more
recently been reinvigorated by new outside investment and its move in 2007 to the
public markets.
Composting is another debate that is reaching more of a
fever pitch. While PLA material breaks down in an industrial compost, its
degradability is less proven in a backyard compost environment that does not
possess perfect composting conditions. And while few industrial composts exist
outside of certain regional pockets in the United States, PLA has also been
criticized for fouling the recycling stream when bottles are mixed with those
from plastic-based materials.
Casey claimed that the closed-loop system would not only
fend off those concerns but that the equipment would pay for itself quickly by
eliminating the costs to haul used bottles to the landfill or an industrial
composting facility. “The costs to haul are staggering,” he said.
The General
Services Administration (GSA) become one of the system’s largest users of the system in May, buying a machine for its
regional office building cafeteria that is expected to save about 290,000 pound
of waste annually when used with Naturally Iowa’s packaging.
