Eco-friendly Corn Packaging

AGI/Klearfold, a Mead- Westvaco unit, intro-duced plastic folding car- tons (shown) made from corn, a renewable resource. The company says its Na-tureSource Visual Packaging is North America's first com-mercially viable, high-per-formance, durable plastic carton made from NatureWorks PLA (polylactide), a corn-based polymer.

BI-AX International manufactures the box-grade PLA substrate and AGI/Klearfold converts it into folding car-tons. The packaging is com- patible with any local waste management system, re-ports the company. AGI/Klearfold's goal was to de-velop a PLA sheet that could withstand the rigors of carton manufacturing and decorating. The raw material of the substrate is dextrose, a natural sugar derived from the starch in corn kernels, which is fermented and distilled into lactic acid and transformed into PLA resin pellets. AGI/Klearfold and its partners developed processing techniques to yield a clear, heat-stable PLA sheet suitable for demanding box-grade applications. The cartons can be printed using offset, flexography or screen printed, or any combination of these processes, and embossed and foil stamped (hot or cold) for enhanced brand appeal. www.agiklearfold.com, www.biaxinc.com, www.natureworks pla.com