Algae Bio Plastics

Teregroup in collaboration with Algamoil presents 100% biodegradable plastic made with algae.

Here are some examples:

Everyone born before 1960 remembers the famous line from The Graduate." A well meaning, drunk family friend wanting to give Dustin Hoffman helpful advice about what line of work he should go into, boozily replied "Plastics."

At the time, it was kind of funny because plastic wasn't really taken seriously then. It was for toys and all manner of cheap, low quality, items. No one could have foreseen, except perhaps the drunk friend in the movie, what an important role plastic would end up playing in everyone life. From salad bowls to the space shuttle, plastic is there.

If the movie were made today, the famous line would be "algae bio plastics."

Someone who knows more about the subject than anyone else is Cereplast. Cereplast has been a pioneer in algae-based plastics, helping to bring the first products made from Cereplast Algae Bio plastics to market in 2011, and with the recent commercialization of Biopropylene 109D in December of 2012, which has a 20% post-industrial algae bio matter.

So why are algae bio plastics superior?

• Bio plastics take less time to break down: With some petroleum based plastics taking 1000's of years to breakdown and return to Mother Nature, this means plastic products will no longer clog our land fills for generations to come.
• Bio plastics are renewable: Unlike conventional plastics, bio plastics are made from trees, plants, grass, and lately, algae is showing great promise.
• Bio plastics require less energy to produce:
• Bio plastics are easier to recycle
• Bio plastics are not toxic
• Bio plastics reduce our dependency on foreign oil: Not only does it reduce our dependence on foreign oil but it provides a domestic solution.

In an article published in Popular Mechanics (of all places) Cereplast's CEO Frederic Scheer disclosed that his team had succeeded in replacing up to 35% of the petroleum in traditional plastics with algae. By product launch later this year, he's hoping that figure will be closer to 50%. He's suffering from the same woes as other commercial producers, namely how to get ENOUGH algae for commercial production.