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Conference on PLA covers issues from 'resin to retailer'

At NatureWorks LLC’s April Innovation Takes Root 2010 (ITR) conference, the message was clear: Biopolymer’s time has come, and innovation and collaboration are the keys to continuing its forward momentum.

Pw 3709 2010 Itr Logo Final

As NatureWorks president and CEO Marc Verbruggen told the 320 to 350 attendees at the Dallas event, “Biopolymers are here to stay. They meet a strategic need to shed our oil addiction, they meet a strategic need to lower our carbon footprint, and they meet global consumer expectations for sustainability without sacrifice.”

Originally launched in 2008 as a users’ group of sorts, focused on technology, this second staging of the event sought to cover a broader range of issues, “from resin to retailer,” explained Steve Davies, NatureWorks director of marketing and public affairs. In this spirit, it offered eight tracks and 40 presenters, speaking on a myriad of topics, including commercial applications, technology innovations, regulations and standards, sustainability marketing, and the green consumer profile.

Evident was the engagement and collaboration that has moved the market for polylactic acid forward. Said Verbruggen, “When it comes to new applications, it’s not just NatureWorks making changes and innovations, it’s additive suppliers and converters making changes to enhance the properties [of Ingeo].”

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