Eight of the world’s leading consumer brand companies and conservation group World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have announced the formation of the Bioplastic Feedstock Alliance (BFA) to support the responsible development of plastics made from plant material. Those companies involved include The Coca-Cola Company, Danone, Ford, H.J. Heinz Co., Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, Nike, and Unilever.
The primary focus of BFA will be on guiding the responsible selection and harvesting of feedstocks—such as sugarcane, corn, bulrush, and switchgrass—used to make plastics from agricultural materials. As the development of these renewable materials has grown, so has the opportunity to address their potential impacts on land use, food security, and biodiversity. BFA intends to bring together leading experts from industry, academia, and civil society to develop and support informed science, collaboration, education, and innovation to help guide the evaluation and sustainable development of bioplastic feedstocks.
According to the BFA, consumers across the world increasingly are looking for more sustainable products, including those made from plant-based plastics. With increasing market demand for food and fiber in the coming decades, responsible sourcing of these materials is the key to enabling sustainable growth, the alliance says.
