Eastern Iowa companies partner to make 'greener' products

Two Eastern Iowa companies are working together to manufacture and market products made from biomass, such as  corn cobs and peanut shells, and recycled plastic.

MCG BioComposites of Cedar Rapids develops alternatives to "virgin" plastic made from petrochemicals. The material is injection molded to produce plant makers at Anova Inc. in Dubuque.

Sam McCord, founder and chief executive officer of MCG Biocomposites, said the company was awarded an Iowa Demonstration Fund grant in May 2012 to develop new tooling, design and build a new web site for its BioMarkers. The latter are plant markers used to identify what is growing in specific areas of a garden.

"The original 9-inch marker has been improved by increasing the width of the stem and face plate," McCord said. "We developed an all new 13-inch marker with a 30-degree-angled face plate for ease of view.

"The markers are available in a variety of colors and can be reused from season to season."

The plant markers are made from MCG Biocomposites' proprietary blend of corn cob fiber and post-consumer recycled or post-industrial recycled plastics. McCord said the corn cobs are supplied by seed corn companies, reducing the need to send them to a landfill.

"The recycled plastic is mixed with roughly 20 percent to 25 percent of the corn cob mass and then it is compounded to produce pellets," he said. "The pellets are melted and used to manufacture our plant markers and other products."

MCG Biocomposites markets the plant markers through distributors that sell to the lawn and garden industry throughout the United States and Canada. Direct marketing also is used to sell the plant markers.

MCG Biocomposites owns the tooling used to manufacture the plant markers.  The tooling is manufactured by a company in Ladora to McCord's specifications.

"We wanted to have everything done here in Iowa," McCord said. "Quite frankly, we could have gone to China for everything, but we felt we can do it here and do it cost effectively."

MCG Biocomposites has sold about 30,000 of the plant markers, which are available at Cedar River Garden Center in Palo. The company also is preparing to ship them to the Greater Des Moines Botantical Center and expects Hy-Vee to carry them next year in their lawn and garden section.

MCG Biocomposites  has been developing its compounds since August 2007. McCord said the company's use of biomass like corn cobs and peanut shells reduces the amount of energy required to make injection-molded plastic products.

"Our ideal customers are companies who are committed to greater environmental sustainability and those willing to adopt new materials to reach those goals and market their value," McCord said.

Anova is owned by Ryan Burk, a second generation plastic injection molder that grew up in his father's plastic molding facilities. Burk said Anova works with customers in agriculture, sporting goods, pet, food service, retail, hand tool, housing, lawn and garden, and other industries.

"We are hired guns," Burk said. "We don't own the molds or the research and development. We don't actually take on any risk.

"When a customer comes to us, they want us to use their tooling  to make a specific product. Our specialty is big thick polyolefin parts and hard to process molds."

Anova makes shipping pallets from recycled plastic or MCG Biocomposites' blend of corn cob biomass and recycled plastic. The pallets are purchased by companies who use them for export or in situations where they do not  expect to have them returned.