Manufacture of Compostable Plant Containers Utilizing Anaerobic Digester Fibers in Standard Molding Processes

: The Green Horticulture Industry contributed $150.0 billion (2004 dollars) to the nation's economy in 2002 and employed ~ 2 million people. Nearly every floral crop and many nursery crops are grown in plastic containers. Consumer demand for product-stewardship or environmentally conscious products is rapidly rising; but what is the best way to market alternative containers or recycling programs for plant containers Nationally, manufacturing nursery pots, flats and packs uses 320 million pounds of plastic annually. The problem can be addressed by redesigning horticultural plant packaging. There are a variety of bio-containers which allow material decomposition of the packaging products ( pots and trays). None of the current offerings of packaging products meet functional, decomposition and cost expectation of commercial horticultural growers.