Culturewav.es: TerraSkin: Paper Made from Rock, August 2009

SOURCE: Culturewav.es
TITLE: TerraSkin: Paper Made from Rock
BY: 2Martens
DATE: August 8, 2009
LINK: http://culturewav.es/public_thought/73977

TEXT:
Used to be bag options at the store were paper or plastic. Now shoppers can choose cloth bags, too. They may have another alternative: rock. Shopping bags and boxes from gift stores at New York's Museum of Modern Art, bags from personal-care company Erno Laszlo, and packaging of consumer products from Burt's Bees look, feel, and fold like paper, but they're made of crushed stone.
www.businessweek.com
The treeless paper, manufactured in Taiwan and sold under the TerraSkin brand, is three parts recycled calcium carbonate—the same mineral in marble and limestone—and one part polyethylene binder. Production requires no water or bleach and only half the energy needed to make traditional paper. The material is durable; tote bags can be used over and over. It is also recyclable. And TerraSkin breaks down into a talcum-like powder if exposed to sunlight and humidity long enough.
www.businessweek.com
Rising sales volume could lower costs, which might attract more customers. "We want to build economies of scale and streamline production process more," says Nicole Smith, environmental director for Design & Source. The company aims to make TerraSkin competitive with paper by 2012. Complicating that task: Coated-paper prices have dipped because of weak demand.
www.businessweek.com
Rock paper has practical advantages, too. Burt's Bees, a subsidiary of Clorox (CLX), uses TerraSkin for soap packaging and was able to save money in the end because it could substitute one layer of TerraSkin for a sheet of wax-coated paper and a printed paper cover.
www.businessweek.com