Biopolymers Event Includes Recycling Session

The Biopolymers Symposium 2010, to be held in Colorado in mid-October, includes a session titled, “Waste Stream, Recycling and End of Life,” which the event’s organizers say will review the “wide range of diverse end-of-life management options” available to products made from biopolymers.

John Williams, who is the polymers and materials manager at the National Non-Food Crops Centre of Canada, based in York, Ontario, moderates the session. Speakers, in addition to Williams, include Paul Comey, vice president of environmental affairs with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters; Michael Niaounakis, a principal examiner with the European Patent Office; Dietmar Offenhuber, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); and Mike Centers, the managing director of BioCor, a California-based company formed to spur the recycling of packaging made from biopolymer polylactic acid (PLA).

The Biopolymers Symposium 2010, organized by Pira International, is Oct. 11-13 at the Westin Tabor Center in Denver. More information is available from the conference website at www.biopolymersummit.com.