Melbourne, Australia — Bioplastic manufacturer Secos Group Ltd. will launch a website to market pet products made from its biohybrid resin in February.
MyEcoPet.com will sell "environmentally friendly pet products powered by Secos's proprietary biohybrid resin to retail and wholesale customers," Chairman Richard Tegoni told the company's annual general meeting in November.
CEO Steve Walters later told Plastics News posts on social media platforms — Instagram, Twitter and Facebook — to support the site are already live.
Secos warehouses in Norfolk, Va., and Blaine, Wash., will stock products. Melbourne-based, publicly listed Secos Group Ltd. was formed though the April 2015 merger of Melbourne-based Cardia Bioplastics Ltd. with Melbourne-based privately held Stellar Films Group Pty. Ltd.
The pet products range includes food bowls and throwing sticks manufactured from Cardia Biohybrid, a mix of renewable thermoplastics, mainly corn starch, and traditional resins.
The pet range also includes training pads, made with Stellar films, and dog waste bags made from Cardia's compostable, biodegradable plastics.
Walters said Secos established a subsidiary, Secos Americas, in October to operate MyEcoPet.com. Secos Americas is based in Texas.
Tegoni said: "Customers will know everything on MyEcoPet is a step in the right direction to help the Earth's plastic pollution problem. Current products in the market are bland and do not catch the eye."
He said the non-food U.S. pet supply market is worth US$15 billion and growing. The United States is Secos's "single biggest commercial opportunity," he said.
Secos has made major changes at its Nanjing plant in China and Tegoni said the plant is "on target for profitable operations" by the end of the first quarter of 2018.
Walters told Plastics News the changes include appointing a new general manager; hiring new factory staff; and lifting operations to 24 hours, five days a week.
Secos is upgrading its Malaysia plant to manufacture resin. Tegoni said the new facility will provide flexible backup to the Nanjing plant.
He said Malaysia has legislation targeting single-use bags, prompting demand for biodegradable resin.
Secos will collaborate with local bag makers to meet Malaysian domestic demand for sustainable products," Tegoni said. The resin manufacturing facility will open in 2018.
The company also may benefit from Australian retailers no longer providing free single-use high density polyethylene bags.
"This should be positive for Secos as retailers look to enhance their environmental and sustainability credentials. Secos sees great scope to meet customer demand for more environmentally friendly bags made using our proprietary resin technology," Tegoni said.
Secos has also signed a deal with clean-room technology manufacturer Purus International Inc., based in Indio, Calif. Purus will manufacture its static pad product from film made in China from Cardia Bioplastics resin.
Walters said the pads sit on the floor at the entrance to work areas and remove dirt from the soles of shoes as people enter.
"Once the top layer of the pad is soiled, the layer of film is peeled off to expose the next clean layer."
Secos's annual production capacity is 7,200 metric tons of bioplastic resins, 15,000 metric tons of cast film; and 2,000 metric tons of blown film and finished products.
