Corn wet mills have a long history of converting starch to a wide variety of products in addition to or instead of ethanol. As described above in the discussion of wet milling, starch products from wet milling also have many applications beyond the food and beverage industries in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, paper, and packaging industries. Recently, corn wet millers have begun to adopt processes for converting starch into biodegradable polymers. Such products represent a fundamental shift from other nonethanol products, because they directly compete with petroleum-based products and have the potential for virtually unlimited growth. A number of corn processors in the United States have a biopolymer either on the market or under development. Cargill Dow produces PLA (polylac — tide) polymer fiber under the trade name Nature Works, for use in packaging, films, and resins. ADM and Metabolix have formed an alliance to scale-up and commercialize PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate) polymers, for marketing as renew­able alternatives to traditional petrochemical plastics used in making molded goods, films, and coated papers. A joint venture between DuPont and Tate and Lyle was formed to produce 1,3-propanediol (Bio-PDO™) from corn starch as an alternative to petrochemically-derived PDO. Sorona®, a family of polymers made from PDO, is used in fibers and fabrics, films, and resins.