Could Montana Watermelons Become Biodegradable Plastics?

Let's face it. With Montana's shorter growing seasons, watermelons are not exactly in our wheelhouse.

But it can be and is being done. And maybe with the help of some high-tech horticulture happenings these days, there could be a little added incentive to do the Watermelon Crawl (thank you, country singer Tracy Byrd).

Montana's Northern Ag News Network tells us that a startup company in Indiana is looking to revolutionize sustainable manufacturing. AgroRenew has its sights set on the plastics industry by turning watermelon waste into biodegradable plastics. AgroRenew just took a giant leap forward, with the groundbreaking of its new $83 million facility in southern Indiana, bringing them closer to full-scale production.

The facility, spanning 196,000 square feet across more than 20 acres, will be looking to fill over 250 jobs at the new plant. And beyond the watermelon waste, there are plans to utilize cantaloupes and pumpkins as feed stock for their bioplastics, implementing a wide range of agricultural waste.

AgroRenew told the Northern Ag Net that they will be testing products during the first quarter of 2025. Product demand is so high right now that customers have said that they are willing to buy test products.

WHAT PLANTED THE WATERMELON THOUGHT SEED?

In partnership with local farmers, AgroRenew worked off of the discovery of significant watermelon waste. Experimentation revealed that there are chemical properties in the watermelon that can be used as one of the ingredients to make 100-percent biodegradable plastic. Food scientists and chemical engineers were able to work together and come up with biodegradable plastics.

As the project progresses, the company anticipates a transformative impact on both the local economy and global sustainability efforts.

Who knows, maybe your humble watermelon patch could be part of the sustainability future? You can find out more about AgroRenew here.