Between 70 and 80 billion pounds of plastics are produced each year in the United States, mostly from "hydrocarbon" or petroleum-based feedstocks. We have the ability to produce much of that using renewable, carbohydrate-based feedstocks, such as corn in the form of polylactic acid. To do so would represent a significant market for U.S. corn and a significant benefit to U.S. consumers in reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil and the environmental impact of using petroleum-feedstocks in plastics production.

Last Updated March 13, 2002