The four-year-old company launched its business around thermoformed packaging for chocolates and cookies and now counts major confectioners like Cadbury, Nestle and Lindt among its customers. But since introduction of its environmentally friendly packaging material, it has also identified a number of other properties, including its water-solubility and barrier action, which have opened up new applications.
"We're working on a barrier that would easily wash off blow-moulded bottles when they are being ground up in the recycling process," chief executive Grant Dow told AP-Foodtechnology.com. "By the middle of next year we hope to have an application on the market."
He said the firm has found that its natural polymer is as efficient a barrier as materials like EVOH and MXD6, chemicals known to be harmful for the environment. The firm can also now control how quickly the material degrades or dissolves in water.
A corn starch barrier would be particularly suited for bottles containing sports drinks, teas or sauces, prone to oxidation, as well as small-serve carbonated beverages, believes Dow.
"The volume-to-surface area is large in those small-serve bottles so they usually have a short shelf-life because the economics of using barriers in those applications are not great," he said.
But with the increasing centralization of large companies' food chains, and longer transport distances, shelf-life will become increasingly important to the food and beverage industry, according to Dow.
"That's why we're very excited about the new barrier application," he said.
Most of Plantic's customers are currently in Europe, where the regulatory environment has pushed food and beverage makers to source biodegradable packaging. But Dow says a new barrier for bottles could also see strong interest from China, where the government is seeking to reduce the multiple reuse of glass bottles. The fast-growing beverage sector is also keen to switch from glass to lightweight materials to lower freight costs.
Plantic says its corn-based material is 'very competitive' compared to plastics.
About 90 per cent of the raw material is starch extracted from high amylose corn, which is then compounded into granules and processed in the same way as traditional plastics. Plantic says it is the only producer of biodegradable packaging using a naturally occurring polymer and no chemical processing.
The company is also exploring potential for films made from the natural polymer with Australian group Amcor. These are likely to be available next year.
Recently doubled capacity at its plant outside Melbourne gives it plenty of room for expansion. Europe will be a key driver of growth but there are also signs of increasing interest from the US where major retailer Wal-Mart has warned of greater demands on suppliers in terms of environmental impact.
