May 13, 2021 (IEEFA)—In the world of plastics, sometimes one company’s story crystallizes the “life and times” of the industry. Plastics News, an industry weekly, recently covered the CMD Corporation’s efforts to publicize its latest plastic bag manufacturing innovation. The company’s initiative shines a light on industry trends and raises interesting questions for the future of the plastics industry, as well as the oil and gas industries with which it has long been aligned.
CMD, located in Appleton, Wisc., is demonstrating that lower-carbon plastic bags can be produced commercially using a mix of plant-based polymers and traditional linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) fossil fuel plastics resin. Given that the company currently manufactures 90 percent of the world’s drawstring plastic bags, this is a substantial initiative.
CMD’s plan brings a number of critical industry and public policy questions front and center.
The plant content used in the resin mix is developed by Idaho-based BioLogiQ from corn, potatoes and cassava. The mix reduces fossil fuel content by 35 percent. Plastic bags with lower carbon content mix are mandated in Europe and California. CMD is working to deepen its market share in Europe and introduce the new mix more broadly in the United States. CMD sees the future in plastic bags moving toward 100% plant-based resins.
CMD recognizes that the U.S. is not generating much demand for greener trash bags. Tim Lewis, the company’s vice president of global sales and marketing, makes note of the fact that most of the public’s attention is on retail bags, so drawstring trash bags have drawn limited consumer and governmental attention. The company nevertheless says it is ready to lead the industry if the market turns.
If the industry is slow to grow green, then CMD may simply have a stronger, cheaper product to market. The company claims the product is not only environmentally better, but also of higher quality. It asserts that the product is thinner, stronger and cheaper. The new mix, moreover, does not require substantial redesign of the manufacturing system.
CMD’s plan brings a number of critical industry and public policy questions front and center.
On the public policy side of the equation, two more questions emerge:
While not all of CMD’s strategic shift contributes to the broader discussion, the company is making its move against a backdrop in which short- and long-term science, technology, law, finance, business and customer choice changes are afoot.
Tom Sanzillo ([email protected]) is IEEFA director of finance.
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