Kenny McCabe, a horticulture research associate and graduate student at Iowa State University, Ames, and James Schrader, an assistant scientist in horticulture, are part of a five-year study of the production and performance of different kinds of bioplastic pots. The study is supported by a $1.94 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and led by William Graves, professor of horticulture and associate dean of the graduate college.
The team operates within the Center for Crops Utilization Research and is hoping to build a Center for Bioplastics and Biocomposites (CB²) with grant money from the National Science Foundation. The proposed center has three major goals: to improve the basic understanding of the processing and properties of bioplastics; to provide reliable data about bioplastics for industry; and to support large-scale manufacture and use of biorenewable plastics. The team’s long-term goal is to increase the bioplastics market share by at least 20%.
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