Plastics Event to Host 2015 Innovation in Bioplastics Award

SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association and the SPI Bioplastics Council announced that NPE2015, in addition to being the premier event of the entire plastics industry, will also host, for the first time, the winner of the 2015 Innovation in Bioplastics Award.

SPI and its Bioplastics Council have been receiving submissions for the 2015 Innovation in Bioplastics Award since officially opening the competition earlier in September. Announcing next year’s winner at NPE2015 gives the award an additional layer of prestige and signifies the important role that the bioplastics sector will play in the future of the plastics industry as a whole.

“Bioplastics is just one of several innovative industry segments that offer the entire plastics industry the opportunity to position itself as the material of choice for the next several decades,” said SPI president and CEO William Carteaux. “Between the thousands of green jobs that bioplastics supports and continues to create and the day-to-day ingenuity displayed by bioplastics companies and their employees, this is an industry sector with its finger on the pulse of the plastics supply chain, and it makes sense to honor its finest contributions at next year’s convention.”

Past winners of the Innovation in Bioplastics Award include Avantium, which won the first award in 2013 for its development of polyethylene furanoate (PEF), a packaging material with superior barrier qualities that offered new opportunities to beverage makers. Teknor Apex won the 2014 Award for the development of Terraloy PLA compounds that exhibit both high-impact and heat-resistant properties. Entries to the contest are judged on innovation, sustainability measures as well as marketplace impact.

“Growth in the bioplastics industry over the last decade has been exponential, and the industry’s continuous innovation along with its unique position among policymakers and consumers ensure that this will be the case for some time,” said Gene Sanders, SPI’s senior vice president of trade shows and conferences. “As the industry comes into its own, the Innovation in Bioplastics Award continues to honor the best and the brightest that bioplastics has to offer, and we’re honored to be able to introduce this year’s winner at NPE2015.”

Companies can submit multiple entries for different bioplastics materials, products or processes, provided that they complete and submit a separate entry form for each innovation they submit. The award application can be found on the SPI Bioplastics Council’s website and entries will be accepted until Nov. 14, 2014.

Launched in 2008, the Bioplastics Council was created to provide a forum for the full bioplastics value chain to promote the development and growth of the bioplastics industry. Membership has grown steadily to comprise 16 of the nation’s largest bioplastics firms.