Curiously, however, Cargill Dow seems to want to play down that side of things.

ECONOMIST: Evanescent or evergreen?

That means they can be separated by distillation and Cargill Dow's engineers have worked out how to do this cheaply.

ECONOMIST: Evanescent or evergreen?

But the folk at Cargill Dow still have no room for complacency.

ECONOMIST: Evanescent or evergreen?

If that assessment is correct, Cargill Dow's decision to play down biodegradability may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for biopolymers.

ECONOMIST: Evanescent or evergreen?

Cargill Dow says it can make it for about 70 cents.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The most conventional of these unconventional materials is being developed by Cargill Dow, a collaboration between one of the world's largest agricultural businesses and one of its largest chemical firms.

ECONOMIST: Evanescent or evergreen?

James Stoppert, president of Cargill Dow Polymers, is hoping to build a polylactide plant that will start up in 2002 and produce 135, 000 tonnes a year for the textile and food-packaging markets.

FORBES: Chemical transformation

James Stoppert, president of Cargill Dow Polymers, is hoping to build a polylactide plant that will start up in 2002 and produce 300 million pounds a year for the textile and food-packaging markets.

FORBES: Chemical Transformation

That a heavyweight like Cargill Dow is convinced it can beat conventional plastics on cost and performance alone may be the best reason to think that biopolymers are about to burst out of their mouldy, green niche.

ECONOMIST: Evanescent or evergreen?

After 18 months studying Cargill's PLA, Dow signed on as a 50-50 partner.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The environmentally friendly polymer was developed by a joint venture between Dow and the grain-trading giant Cargill.

FORBES: Chemical Transformation