Biomax Essay
The Lally School of Management & Technology Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rev. June 28, 2006
DuPont’s Biomax®: The Push for Commercial Applications
Biomax®, a polyester material that can be recycled or decomposed, holds up under normal commercial conditions for a time period established in the product specifications. The material itself can be made into fibers, films, or resins and is suitable for countless agricultural, industrial, and consumer products: mulch containers, mulching film, seed mats, plant pots, disposable eating utensils, blister packs, yard waste bags, parts of disposable diapers, blown bottles, injection molded products, coated paper products, and many, many others. In the United State alone, where the average household …show more content…
This exercise determined the rate of disintegration, but never answered the question of biodegradability. Meanwhile, Kilkson found a European company that was actively involved in compost testing. A number of trials with Biomax® samples were conducted; all indicated a favorable rate of biodegradation. However, Kilkson was not satisfied with the validity of these tests. Researchers also struck up a relationship with the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, which had a program for bagging and composing grass, leaves, and other yard wastes. The Charlotte facility used lots of manpower to empty bags of waste into a huge grinder and then transfer the ground waste to a composting pile. If employees could simply toss these bags into the grinder without having to cut them open and dispose of them separately, program managers reasoned that they could save substantially on labor costs. Of course, the ground up remnants of these bags would have to disappear -- and quickly. The DuPont people gave the Charlotte facility a supply of net bags made from Biomax® and enlisted their collaboration in testing biodegradable characteristics. Ideally, all remnants of these bags would be undetectable in less than a year. The bags themselves were made at a DuPont plant in Canada using a process introduced by a research associate in an- other laboratory. Employees in that tab were, like Rollins' people, also searching feverishly for commercially attractive projects that the operating units of the company would support. Results at the Charlotte facility were positive. Not only did the bags decompose quickly, but they degraded biologically as well. The Charlotte experiment gave the Biomax team something to cheer about. The bag-making plant in Canada was also elated; it too was looking for a big market to serve. Things were at last looking
Rev. June 28, 2006
DuPont’s Biomax®: The Push for Commercial Applications
Biomax®, a polyester material that can be recycled or decomposed, holds up under normal commercial conditions for a time period established in the product specifications. The material itself can be made into fibers, films, or resins and is suitable for countless agricultural, industrial, and consumer products: mulch containers, mulching film, seed mats, plant pots, disposable eating utensils, blister packs, yard waste bags, parts of disposable diapers, blown bottles, injection molded products, coated paper products, and many, many others. In the United State alone, where the average household …show more content…
This exercise determined the rate of disintegration, but never answered the question of biodegradability. Meanwhile, Kilkson found a European company that was actively involved in compost testing. A number of trials with Biomax® samples were conducted; all indicated a favorable rate of biodegradation. However, Kilkson was not satisfied with the validity of these tests. Researchers also struck up a relationship with the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, which had a program for bagging and composing grass, leaves, and other yard wastes. The Charlotte facility used lots of manpower to empty bags of waste into a huge grinder and then transfer the ground waste to a composting pile. If employees could simply toss these bags into the grinder without having to cut them open and dispose of them separately, program managers reasoned that they could save substantially on labor costs. Of course, the ground up remnants of these bags would have to disappear -- and quickly. The DuPont people gave the Charlotte facility a supply of net bags made from Biomax® and enlisted their collaboration in testing biodegradable characteristics. Ideally, all remnants of these bags would be undetectable in less than a year. The bags themselves were made at a DuPont plant in Canada using a process introduced by a research associate in an- other laboratory. Employees in that tab were, like Rollins' people, also searching feverishly for commercially attractive projects that the operating units of the company would support. Results at the Charlotte facility were positive. Not only did the bags decompose quickly, but they degraded biologically as well. The Charlotte experiment gave the Biomax team something to cheer about. The bag-making plant in Canada was also elated; it too was looking for a big market to serve. Things were at last looking