Plant-based products at UN climate summit

Fossil-fuel consumption releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the environment, and NatureWorks LLC, a Minneapolis, Minn., company making Ingeo™ plant-based fibers and bioplastics, showcased its renewable products to the world in December 2009. The United Nations Conference on Climate Change drew world leaders and environmental activists to Copenhagen, Denmark, for an intensive discussion about reducing manmade impacts on the global climate. Where better to display consumer products including carpeting, packaging, clothing, bedding and baby care items made from innovative plant-based materials?

Ingeo was used in 215,000 square feet of carpet in the conference center’s public space; sustainable fashions at a Nordic Fashion Industry runway show; and plates, cups and cutlery serving delegates at several venues. NatureWorks partnered with Belgium-based Galactic Worldwide, which used a proprietary process to recycle the mass of carpet and tableware into lactic acid—a feedstock for Ingeo biopolymer.