Corn-Based Plastic from Bacteria

Iowa is the nation's leader in corn production and a company called Archer Daniels Midland Co. has a wet corn milling plant there, which they have used to develop a "greener" method of making plastic. The article on this can be found at: http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070218/BUSINESS01/702180325/1001/NEWS
and it discusses a problem in the production of plastic using petroleum. This process is the source of significant amounts of greenhouse gas emission. Thus, a method must be created to produce plastics without using petroleum in order to decrease the pollution.

Making plastic using corn has many benefits including the creation of 114 jobs, which will pay $21.60 per hour. This caught my eye because in a previous post about garbage disposal, job loss was a concern for me. Metabolix, a company working with ADM, uses the ADM plant's processed corn starch sugar as feedstock for the bacteria used to make biodegradable plastic. The corn plant's stalk and leaves will supply the power and energy for the plant and this whole process will make the plant in Clinton, Iowa, set to be built within 18 months, a green factory. Petroleum will only be used to grow and transport the corn and its use will therefore be reduced by 80%. The natural products have yet another benefit, they decompose in the environment, particularly in water. The plastic completes a cycle as it is made from the environment and returns to the environment.

Metabolix uses a polymer, PHA, which is a polyester found in suits, to make this product. PHA can be made in three ways:
1) Mixing bacteria and sugar and then extracting PHA from bacteria.
2) Insert genetic information that produces PHA into the plant and extract the PHA,
3) Feeding synthesis gas, created by heating the corn stover, to the bacteria, and
One final point remains, money, and the vice president and chief brand officer of Metabolix states that they know this process can be done economically.