NatureWorks

What began in 1989 as a Cargill research project looking for innovative uses of carbohydrates from plants as feedstock for more sustainable plastics, quickly matured into the innovative materials for which they are known today.

NatureWorks is now a world-leading biopolymers supplier and innovator with its Ingeo portfolio of naturally advanced materials made from renewable, abundant feedstocks with performance and economics that compete with oil-based intermediates, plastics, and fibers. These materials also provide brand owners new cradle-to-cradle options after the use of their products.

Their manufacturing facility, located in Blair, Nebraska, USA, has a name plate capacity of 330 million pounds (150,000 metric tons) of Ingeo biopolymer. Their plant came online in 2002. In 2003, they built the world’s largest lactic acid manufacturing facility to feed their polymer plant. Then in 2009 they opened a state-of-the-art applications development facility. Most recently in 2016, they opened a new fermentation laboratory to develop commercial-scale methane to lactic acid fermentation technology.

Today, with representatives in over 10 countries, NatureWorks does business in North America, Europe, Japan and Asia Pacific. They continue to work with converters, brandowners and retailers around the world to help introduce naturally advanced products that span multiple industries and categories, including rigid and flexible packaging solutions; food serviceware; health and personal care; durable products in home, appliance, and electronic categories; and 3D printing filament.