Plastics from the bread basket

Biodegradable plastic clamshell food containers and compostable utensils already fill picnic baskets, and some furniture cushions contain foam partially made with soybean oil. These new plastics, which rely increasingly on corn and soy instead of petroleum for their material feedstocks, are often labeled as "green". That tag, as well as increasingly competitive costs in comparison with petroleum-based plastics, has drawn big names such as agriculture giant Cargill and Dow Chemical Co. to the bioplastics table.

Last year, U.S. domestic production of plastic resins—used for goods such as vinyl siding for houses and furniture foam—amounted to more than 113 billion pounds (lb). About 7% of a barrel of crude oil (the U.S. imports approximately 20,000 barrels a day) becomes plastic or other products. But processing that petroleum to make plastics takes more energy than processing vegetable oil, says Steve Robb, executive director of the Business and Technology Institute at Pittsburg State University (PSU), which is in Kansas. And vegetable oils, unlike petroleum, are a renewable resource.

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