As part of the deal, Northern Technologies engineers will help Kolkata, India-based ITC develop new biodegradable and compostable bioplastic packaging for food, personal care products and other consumer goods that could include traditional printed paper packages.

"One of the reasons we partnered with ITC is they do a lot of paper products for the food service and consumer packaging industries and we can combine our biodegradable polymers with the paper products to create a hybrid solution for packaging applications," Vineet Dalal, Northern Technologies vp/director of global marketing, explained in an interview with PrintWeek.

Dalal also stressed that plastic packaging using biodegradable polymers is actually easier for printers to work with than traditional oil-based polyethylene. "When you're printing on traditional polyethylene you have to Corona treat it so the ink can adhere to the surface," he explained. "With compostable biodegradable polymers you don't have to Corona treat it, so it's easier to print on."

Northern Technologies International uses corn-based resins developed by Cargill subsidiary NatureWorks and then adapts it for a variety of packaging needs around the world. Dalal suggested that currently international demand is what's driving Northern Technologies' business, especially in countries such as India that are in the process of banning some forms of non-biodegradable packaging, triggering demand for alternatives that don't have environmental and waste-disposal issues.

"There is some demand in North America, but here the regulatory system is very localized, with places like San Francisco and Portland mandating more biodegradable packaging," he explained. "If you look at other countries, there are more broad based initiatives for compostable packaging in places like Italy and India."