Alcoa KAMA plans to start producing plastic sheeting using starch-based, biodegradable resins from Cereplast, (OTCBB: CERP), a producer of proprietary bio resins.

The extruded sheet in rollstock form will have applications in food service packaging and other uses.

The deal comes at a time of increasing sensitivity on the part of municipalities, food service businesses and consumers to the environmental effects of non-biodegradable plastics. Cities such as Santa Monica, Oakland and Baltimore have moved to ban polystyrene products, and food service suppliers have been looking for alternative packaging to meet increasing consumer demand.

Alcoa KAMA will make extruded plastic sheet available to select converters followed by a roll-out to major brand clients. The Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) has granted Alcoa KAMA and Cereplast use of the BPI logo on the new product. Products bearing the BPI logo meet ASTM D6400 and are designed to biodegrade quickly, completely and safely, without leaving any plastic residue in commercial and municipal composting facilities.

Cereplast resins are formulated from a patented and proprietary manufacturing process that incorporates starch and other biodegradable components, including PLA from NatureWorks, Llc. Cereplast resins are 100 percent compostable and can be substituted for petroleum-based resins in a wide variety of processes, including injection molding, extrusion and thermoforming.

Thermoforming is a common manufacturing process for thermoplastic sheet or film. Sheet or film is heated between infrared, natural gas or other heaters and then stretched over or into a temperature-controlled, single-surface mold.

“We are proud to partner with Alcoa KAMA, a consistent global leader in sustainability and recognized world-wide for their green practices and products. Their new thermoformable sheets made from Cereplast resins will now offer the food service industry and their customers the opportunity to reduce our collective environmental footprint, and our reliance on fossil fuels,” said Frederic Scheer, president and CEO of Cereplast.

Alcoa KAMA is the world’s largest producer of light gauge material for the plastic thermoforming industry.