- [Narrator] This all looks like boxes and pallets filled with plastic forks and knives and spoons.

But the utensils aren't made of plastic.

[machines thudding] - Now there's finally a viable alternative to plastic.

We're really excited to take this technology to market and for the everyday consumer to start seeing this in their, you know, restaurants that they eat at every day.

- [Narrator] The spoon is made from a bioplastic resin.

It looks like plastic, bends like it also, and the ultimate test?

- All right.

- This is focus group of one.

Here's one of your forks.

- Put it to the test and see how it works.

- Just off the line.

- Yep.

What do you think?

- I like it, I like it.

- All right, love it.

- [Narrator] Yep, it works, just like plastic, but the utensils are biodegradable.

They're made from plants.

[machine thudding and whirring] - Plastic pollution is a massive issue.

[taut mellow music] Everyone knows about the environmental impacts of it for the most part, but a lot of people don't realize some of the health issues that are arising from microplastic pollution.

And that's something that really struck a chord with me and was a big reason that we wanted to find a solution.

And then when we looked at the alternative landscape, there just weren't really any alternatives that were actually a viable substitute for plastic, right?

So it makes sense why all these companies still use forks, knives, spoons that are made from plastic.

There's just not anything out there that's, you know, the same cost, the same quality, and is truly sustainable.

And so, we wanted to solve those three problems with our technology, and I believe that's what we've done.

- [Narrator] Using plants to make plastic isn't a new idea, but it hasn't caught on because the finished product wasn't as durable or flexible as plastic.

It also required a completely new manufacturing process, which was too expensive.

PlantSwitch found a way to make products using bioplastics with the same process used to make plastic products.

- I think if you're going to replace plastic, you know, you need to have something that can used by people that are already making the products.

It's great to have a different material, but if then every fork manufacturer in the world has to go launch a new facility in order to make it, that's gonna make it a lot harder.

And so our technology was designed to be compatible with the existing plastic supply chains.

And that's something that's really resonated with our customers, with other manufacturers.

- [Narrator] That new technology is spread out across the Sanford warehouse.

PlantSwitch believes its processes can replace petroleum-based plastic with plant-based plastic.

- This, I think, really has a chance to move the needle in terms of converting plastic that's gonna be around for a thousand plus years to something that's gonna be around for the order of months.

We're looking at a lot of applications, like cups and disposable coffee capsules, and these are things that a lot of our potential customers are looking at as well.

So, there's a very kind of wide array of different final articles that could be made from this material.

[bright music] - [Narrator] Bioplastic items are made from the unwanted and unused leftovers from food production, like corn and soybean stalks and wheat straw.

Those agricultural byproducts are ground up into a super fine powder, and then put into a compounding process.

- Our compounding process is taking the cellulosic agricultural residues, and then we combine them with other natural bio-based polymers.

And what that does is it creates a raw material, which is this right here.

This is strands of plasticized material essentially, where again, we've taken these agricultural residues, combined it with some other bio-based polymers that anything on its own wouldn't work well, but when we blend it together through our proprietary process, it gives it the strength and the physical performance characteristics that are needed to make a good plastic part.

This is called extrusion.

So this is done in traditional plastics for, you know, traditional plastic materials.

And we're using it with bio-based materials.

So you get these long strands that go through this, and then it goes into a pelletizer where it's chopped up into the small little pellets.

[pellets thudding] And then they go to a mold where they're melted down.

So they're melted down, they become liquid, they get shot into a mold.

[machine thudding] So if you have a fork, then it'll be a fork mold.

It fills it, presses it together, hardens it, and then out pops a piece.

[soft mellow music] - [Narrator] The products are all compostable and will biodegrade in a few months.

- But you know, the unfortunate thing about eco-friendly products is there's always been that almost negative connotation of, "Well, this can't be as good as the original, right?"

And so that's something that we're fighting, is saying, "No, like we have designed this to be as good as the original, but this is truly sustainable."

This is truly something that is compostable, biodegradable in all natural environments, right?

So, it's an opportunity because once people try it, they realize that this is, you know, the same quality, but it is, you have to get past that first initial reaction of, "Oh, you know, this is not gonna be as good."

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