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NatureWorks Partners with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to Support the Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Initiative

In the run up to the 2017 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, NatureWorks became a three-year partner of the Foundation’s initiative – a comprehensive strategy for creating a global plastics system based on circular economy principles. NatureWorks has worked with the foundation on the initiative since 2015.

MINNETONKA, Minn., (February 1, 2017) — NatureWorks has formalized its engagement with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy initiative by finalizing a three-year partnership agreement.

The foundation’s initiative, which was first elucidated last year in a joint report with the World Economic Forum and analytical support from McKinsey & Company, The New Plastics Economy – Rethinking the Future of Plastics, brings together key stakeholders to rethink and redesign the global plastics system, starting with packaging. The chief tenets of the plan call for decoupling plastics from fossil feedstocks by exploring and adopting renewably sourced feedstocks and drastically reducing leakage of plastics into natural systems, all amidst the broader context of creating an effective after-use plastics economy by improving the economics and uptake of recycling, reuse, and controlled biodegradation for appropriate targeted applications. NatureWorks has engaged with the foundation since 2015 in the development of these concepts and the report.

At the just concluded World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, a new report, The New Plastics Economy – Catalyzing Action, provides a transition strategy for achieving the goals of the New Plastics Economy initiative. The strategy includes guidelines for new types of packaging, improved technology and processes for reuse, and innovations in material types and characteristics. The goals and strategies outlined in the new report are endorsed by more than 40 leading organizations representing the entire global plastics industry, from chemical manufacturers to consumer goods producers, retailers, city authorities, and recyclers.

“We welcome the partnership of biopolymers producers such as NatureWorks to our New Plastics Economy initiative,” said Rob Opsomer, lead for the Foundation’s initiative.  “We look forward to working with NatureWorks and all our participants on ways for the global plastics industry to support new materials innovation, design better packaging, increase recovery rates, and introduce new models for making better use of packaging.”

“Last year, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation presented at Davos a report that for the first time outlined a comprehensive, truly global perspective on plastics innovation needs at a societal level and included a vision of the business opportunity for industry,” said Marc Verbruggen, President and CEO of NatureWorks. “After working with the foundation for several years and as a technology and market leader in the bioplastics industry, we felt that stepping up to a three-year partnership was essential to support and provide input into the foundation’s game changing vision of the future.”

For more information on NatureWorks and Ingeo, visit www.natureworksllc.com. Follow NatureWorks on Twitter (@natureworks) for the latest updates. Information on the New Plastics Economy initiative and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation can be found at www.newplasticseconomy.org and www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org.

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About NatureWorks

NatureWorks LLC is a company dedicated to meeting the world’s needs today without compromising the earth’s ability to meet the needs of tomorrow. Today, NatureWorks is a world leading biopolymers supplier and innovator with its Ingeo portfolio of naturally advanced materials made from renewable, abundant feedstocks with performance and economics that compete with oil-based intermediates, plastics, and fibers, and provide brand owners new cradle-to-cradle options after the use of their products. NatureWorks is jointly owned by Thailand’s largest chemical producer, PTT Global Chemical, and Cargill, which provides food, agriculture, financial and industrial products and services to the world. For general information on NatureWorks and Ingeo, visit www.natureworksllc.com | @natureworks

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation was created in 2010 to accelerate the transition to a circular economy. The Foundation works across five areas: insight and analysis, business and government, education and training, systemic initiatives, and communication. With its Knowledge Partners (Arup, IDEO, McKinsey & Co., and SYSTEMIQ), and supported by Core Philanthropic Funder (SUN), the Foundation works to quantify the economic opportunity of a more circular model and to develop approaches for capturing its value. The Foundation collaborates with its Global Partners (Cisco, Danone, Google, H&M, Intesa Sanpaolo, NIKE, Inc., Philips, Renault, Unilever), and its CE100 network (businesses, universities, emerging innovators, governments, cities and affiliate organisations), to build capacity, explore collaboration opportunities and to develop circular business initiatives. The Foundation has created global teaching, learning and training platforms on the circular economy, encompassing work with leading universities, schools and colleges, and online events such as the Disruptive Innovation Festival. By establishing platforms such as the New Plastics Economy initiative, the Foundation works to transform key material flows, applying a global, cross-sectoral, cross value chain approach that aims to effect systems change. The Foundation promotes the idea of a circular economy via research reports, case studies and books series, using multiple channels, web and social media platforms, including circulatenews.org which provides a leading online source for circular economy news and insight. Further information: ellenmacarthurfoundation.org | @circulareconomy