Growing Global
Plantic Technologies was incorporated in Victoria, Australia in 2001 for the purpose of acquiring, developing and commercialising intellectual property developed by an Australian Federal Government funded research group: the Cooperative Research Centre for International Food Manufacture and Packaging Science ('CRC').
The CRC identified that a range of corn starch based formulations could be used to manufacture a flat sheet bioplastic, which then could be thermoformed to produce biodegradable trays. This discovery led to the lodgement of a provisional patent in 1999.
In 2002, Plantic was granted ownership of all the intellectual property by the CRC. By July 2003, Plantic had established supply to Cadbury Schweppes (Australia) and Kenman Kandy, a division of Mars/Masterfoods.
The company officially launched its Plantic® material and its presence to the packaging industry in August 2003 at the Auspack Trade Show in Melbourne, Australia and won two packaging awards for its Cadbury Milk Tray chocolate box rigid tray.
Entering the World Market
In 2004, Plantic began operations in Europe, based in Germany, in close proximity to several leaders in the European food and confectionery industry. In 2005 Plantic commenced supply to Nestlé in the United Kingdom for two major confectionary lines. In that same year Plantic entered into development arrangements with Visy Industries in Australia and a major technology partner in the USA to develop barrier resin for rigid injection stretch blow molded (ISBM) containers and bottles which could be manufactured with a layer of Plantic®.
The primary target market for the Plantic® material in ISBM is for use as a barrier layer within a multi-layer PET bottle for products which require protection from oxygen ingress or carbonation loss, as in the case of carbonated beverages and juices. The technology is also targeted for use with other materials such as polyolefins (polypropylene and polyethylene) and polylactic acid (PLA).
In December 2005 the company commenced a development project with Amcor, a leader in the worldwide packaging market, to develop and commercialise an environmentally friendly, high performance film or wrapper (single-layer Plantic®, multi-layer Plantic® and composite multi-layer Plantic® with other materials), which will biodegrade in the normal environment.
Since 2005 the company has moved from strength to strength, establishing distribution agreements with global leaders, while customising our technology to suit an ever broader range of conversion techniques & applications, including thermoforming, injection molding, film extrusion and blow molding, as well as rigid and flexible packaging.
From food and beverage packaging, Plantic is expanding and refining our technology to meet the ever growing global needs for more environmentally and performance efficient plastics.
