Packing materials

    **** Moderator's comments:   New DistList participants may wonder
    what this item has to with conservation.  Last year, there was an
    interesting discussion about popcorn being used as a packing
    material for shipments of new books.  If this new product is
    successful, we will probably see it popping up in libraries before
    very long.

Bifpak, a biodegradable loose packing material made from "prepared
sorghum meal," has been developed by Biofoam Products, Inc., a Tempe,
Arizona company.  It is intended to compete with styrofoam peanuts and
with cornstarch-based substitutes like EcoFoam (made by American
Excelsior Co. in Arlington, Texas).  Bifpak is a "100 percent grain
product," according to Biofoam, whereas Eco-Foam contains a small amount
of "synthetic material." At present, the puffy, V-shaped Bifpak bits are
being used primarily to pack aircraft components and electronics for
shipping.  A photo of Bifpak shows the nuggets to be light orange in
color.

"This started out to be a non-fat cookie," said one of the inventors.
"But then we realized, 'We don't have a cookie.  We have a packing
material.'"   (Don't tell the bugs.)
(Source: The Arizona Republic, 1/19/93, D1, D7)

Elizabeth C. Welsh

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 6:39
                Distributed: Saturday, January 23, 1993
                        Message Id: cdl-6-39-003
                                  ***