US sustainable plastics manufacturer Cereplast (El Segundo, California; www.cereplast.com) is continuing its aggressive growth strategy in Europe. After signing deals with distributors tending to the markets in, among others, Turkey, Croatia, Romania, Italy and Poland since the beginning of this year, the US group on 23 August 2011 announced that it had inked yet another distribution agreement, this time to cover the Scandinavian market.

Under the terms of the agreement with Sweden’s Mastercolor AB (Uppsala; www.mastercolor.se), Cereplast is to provide the Swedish company with at least four containers of Cereplast resin until the end of 2011, which Mastercolor will supply to product and package manufacturers throughout Scandinavia, especially Sweden, Denmark and Norway. The contingent is set to grow in 2012.

Commenting on the agreement, Cereplast chairman Frederic Scheer said: “This marks our seventh distribution agreement in Europe since the start of 2011 and reflects our aggressive growth strategy and continued commitment to expanding Cereplast's distribution with local partners throughout the European continent.” According to a recent study by industry association European Bioplastics (Berlin / Germany; www.european-bioplastics.org), global bioplastics production will more than double in the period 2010-2015, reaching more than 1.7m t (see Plasteurope.com of 26.05.2011).

Scheer explained that “the surge in demand for bioplastic materials in Europe has been fueled by new governmental policies, which started with restrictions on the use of traditional plastic bags and is now moving toward changes of the legislative landscape in the use of flexible and rigid packaging.” The EU is currently mulling whether to implement a union-wide ban on plastic bags – see Plasteurope.com of 23.08.2011. If the prohibition passes, Cereplast could see a real surge in demand for its biobased, compostable and sustainable plastics.