Emerging Issues and Technology Projects

Spotlight on: Biodegradable Plant Containers

Imagine growing nursery and floricultural crops in biodegradable pots made from chicken feathers? The idea is not that far fetched. There are over 5 billion pounds of feather waste generated by the U.S. poultry industry each year. Alternatives to land-filling the waste or making it into animal feed include cleaning the feather waste to obtain a clean source of the protein keratin. The feather keratin can be formed into value-added products such as mats, filters, composites, and polymers.

Keratin obtained from poultry feather waste has several advantages. First, it can be the feedstock for manufacture of items including nursery pots, automobile parts or construction materials must be lightweight and durable. Second, materials derived from an agricultural source like feathers are considered sustainable, while the more common materials derived from petroleum processing are not. As petroleum stocks deplete and prices begin to rise, the role of agricultural feedstock in the materials industry will become increasingly important.

Recognizing the potential application that this new technology has for the nursery industry, the Horticultural Research Institute (HRI) recently signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Environmental Quality Laboratory at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, in Beltsville, Maryland to explore the use of biodegradable animal and plant by-products for the production of biodegradable nursery containers. The initial research effort will concentrate on the use of feather-derived plastics from the waste stream of the poultry industry. For a detailed outline of the research click here (PDF of USDA-ARS info). The CRADA was signed by HRI's Director of Research & Regulatory Affairs, K. Marc Teffeau and Associate Administrator of the USDA-ARS, Antoinette A. Betschart, on Wednesday, April, 19, 2006, at an outdoor reception.

Working with ARS scientist Dr. Walter F. Schmidt and others, HRI has initially invested $100,000 for 3 years to support this research effort. The three year CRADA focuses on development of the technology and manufacturing process to develop biodegradable nursery pots that can be recycled or composted after the plants have been put in the ground. According to HRI's research director Teffeau, this effort is a "win-win" situation all around. The resulting products will reduce the land-filling needs required for both the feather waste from poultry processing and the plastic pots after landscape installation of the plant material. It will also help to improve the profit margin for growers by giving them a viable alternative to the escalating cost of pots made from petroleum resins. ANLA's grower community is committed to producing ornamental plant material in an environmentally- sustainable fashion that both beautifies and enhances our natural environment. Growing plants in biodegradable containers that can be composted by the end user or at landfill sites is a logical extension of our sustainable emphasis. This is a new, exciting endeavor that takes HRI one step closer to its mission of being the research and development leader of the green industry.

The USDA-ARS/HRI CRADA also gives HRI the option to negotiate an exclusive license on behalf of the nursery industry for the commercial production of products developed from this research effort. Currently HRI is looking for interested horticulture industry companies to support this activity as partner/investors through HRI's "Emerging Issues and Technologies Projects Fund" and serve as an industry advisory group to HRI/USDA-ARS as the research project goes forward.