175 



AARC 



Alternative Agricultural Research & Commercialization Center 



»--• :'Bi»«*. rva*^*»*w.-* 



Kansas Wheat to Feed America 

 in a New Way 



With S 5 billion pounds of petrole- 

 um-based plastics produced each 

 year in the United States — and 

 22 billion pounds discarded each year, filling 

 up the landfills — the public demand for 

 alternatives is escalating. 



One answer being pursued by Midwest 

 Grain Products of Atchison, Kansas, is to 

 manufacture a fully biodegradable plastic 

 made not from imported, non-renewable 

 petroleum but from domestically grown 

 wheat. As the \<orld's largest producer 

 of the gluten and starch separated from 

 the wheat kernel. Midwest Grain is com- 

 mitted to developing a new generation 

 of wheat-based products — plastics that 

 are "environmentally friendly" all the 

 way from growing the annually renewable 

 grain to disposing of the biodegradable plas- 

 tic product. 



In support of the Midwest Grain effort, 

 the Alternative Agricultural Research and 

 Commercialization (AARC) Center, a branch 

 of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is 

 investing S8 1 8,000 to help develop new 

 wheat-based industrial products. Midwest 

 Grain itself will invest 5850,000 in the first 

 step, designed to produce a competitively 

 priced biodegradable polymer for use in 

 adhesives. coatings and films. The new poly- 

 mer would replace petrochemical polymers. 



Because wheat will remain a major food 

 crop, industrial uses have tended to be 

 ignored. Even at times of surplus, the feeling 

 has been that it is better to stockpile a food 

 crop than to develop industrial markets for a 

 crop that might be in short supply in the 

 future. Toda)-, however, persistent wheat sur- 

 pluses and wheat's unique properties have 

 triggered research into new industrial uses. 

 As one of the world's oldest and best- 

 researched crops, wheat is produced with model efficiency around the world. With new varieties and new, 

 genetically engineered answers to pest problems, wheat yields should continue their steady increase. As a 

 result, there is no doubt that enough wheat will be produced to meet whatever market demand is created 

 by new industrial uses developed by Midwest Grain and other companies. 



Illustration Dy Ed CourrMf 



Midwest Grain Products Inc., KS 



Sponsor's Contact; Rangan Chinnaswamy, 

 (913)367-1480 

 Wheat 



Adhesives. Films, Coatings 

 & Food Service 



Raw Material 

 Product: 



AARC: 



Cooperators Contributions (est.): 



$818,000 

 $850,000 



USOA-AARC CENTER • 12th & C St. S.W. • Washington, DC 20250 

 Telephone: (202) 401-4860 • Fax: (202) 401-6068 



Pnnied on rccyded paper using soybean-btised ink. 



