Ottawa—As the debate heats up in the agrifood sector about the federal plan to ban the use of plastic wrapping and containers for food, a U.S. company has developed a compostable alternative.

PlantSwitch was launched in 2020 and has raised US$19.5 million from a U.S. government grant, venture capital and private equity funding. It has acquired a 52,000 square foot former petroleum plastic manufacturing facility in North Carolina where it plans to produce 50 million pounds of compostable bioplastic material by the end of March.

PlantSwitch says it is leading the sustainable plastic alternative race because its product is cheaper to produce, performs better and is more sustainable than any other plastic alternative previously offered.

It is an advanced agricultural plant-based resin that can be converted into raw plastic material that can be molded into any single use plastic product. The process creates a healthier, zero-waste plastic that leaves no microplastics in the air, water and food.

PlantSwitch CEO Dillon Baxter says, “We believe that plastic is a great material that is just made from the wrong resources. We have developed a better, more sustainable way.” He hopes it will convert the U.S. to plant-based compostable bioplastics by 2050.

Until now, bioplastic was considered too expensive to compete with traditional petroleum-based plastic.

“Our feedstocks are agricultural byproducts, so we have a much lower raw material cost than any other bioplastic, and we are also giving waste streams a second life,” Baxter said. “Additionally, a lot of the previous plant-based materials weren’t compatible with existing plastics machinery, they weren’t drop-in solutions and they required companies to purchase specialized equipment to use them.

“Companies don’t want to have to replace their expensive equipment. Our material is a true drop-in solution because it is fully compatible with current plastic machinery. PlantSwitch offers a tactile and performance match to traditional plastic. It feels like plastic, looks like plastic, and performs like plastic, with the same bend, flex and strength.”

Another advantage is that previous bioplastics were only able to be composted in an industrial facility. PlantSwitch products easily and quickly break down in common backyard composting bins and countertop composters leaving behind no toxic chemicals or microplastics.”

While petroleum-based plastic takes over 1,000 years to break down in a landfill, PlantSwitch bioplastic is nontoxic and breaks down completely in just a few months in a home or industrial compost environment.

PlantSwitch bioplastic is truly sustainable in that it really just goes away, Baxter said. “It’s priced right, and it’s a drop-in solution for current plastic processing machinery. That is how you solve the plastic problem. Our material is the answer to plastic that the world has been looking for.”

This news report was prepared for National Newswatch.