Interface, which makes carpeting and upholstery fabrics, received a grant last year from the Maine Technology Institute to evaluate the possible use of Maine potatoes in place of corn. That grant helped fund the UMaine study.
Wendy Porter, Interface's director of environmental management, estimated the cost of a bioplastics plant at $50 million and said the next step is to work out technical details of the operation and identify a location.
Other companies that have expressed interest in using potato-based plastics include Toms of Maine, Correct Building Products and Sagoma Technologies, a Biddeford firm that makes compact disc cases from corn-based plastics.
Because biobased plastics are made from starch, they are toxic-free, recyclable and often biodegradable in industrial composting facilities.
The economic and environmental advantages of potato-based plastics were cited by Michael Belliveau, executive director of the Environmental Health Strategy Center, a nonprofit group that promotes clean industries.
"We are here today because we imagine a future when plastics are made from sustainably grown Maine potatoes instead of toxic petrochemicals," Belliveau said. "This represents green chemistry in action."
