NATCHEZ &045; A ground-breaking partnership between Mississippi River Corporation of Natchez and Starbucks Coffee of Seattle has led to the first-ever U.S. Food & Drug Administration-approved beverage cups made partially of recycled materials.

George Matthews, executive vice president of MRC, said the process of getting FDA approval &uot;took several years and rigorous testing.&uot; The FDA approval has exciting implications for the company.

&uot;This is the future of our company, to extend our product line and our customer base,&uot; Matthews said. &uot;It is a major accomplishment that a company our size has achieved this level of acceptance, and we believe it has tremendous possibilities for the future.&uot;

Starbucks, known for its coffee houses, has more than 8,700 retail locations in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific Rim. Jim Donald, Starbucks CEO-designate, said in a Wednesday press release the new cups, containing 10 percent recycled materials, are in keeping with his company’s commitment to the environment.

&uot;Beginning to use recycled content hot beverage cups is an important milestone for Starbucks in addressing the environmental impact associated with our paper-buying practices,&uot; Donald said.

&uot;With the addition of this FDA approved hot beverage cup, 100 percent of all Starbucks-branded paper goods used in our U.S. retail stores will contain recycled fiber.&uot;

Yolanda Holtzee, a private money manager based in Seattle, said Starbucks is known for its environmentally friendly policies, for treating employees fairly and for fair practices with purchasing coffee. She was not surprised that Starbucks took the lead in using the first cups with recycled content.

&uot;I had never heard of MRC,&uot; she said by phone Wednesday. &uot;I did a little research. This is good news for MRC and for the people working there, their families as well as the rest of the community.&uot;

The new cups will cut the company’s dependence on tree fiber by more than five million pounds a year.

The partnership chain from MRC to Starbucks begins with the pulp produced in Natchez from recycled paper, which goes to a Mead-Westvaco plant in Evadale, Texas, where the paper board is made. The paper board goes to Solo Cup Company, where the beverage cups are manufactured for Starbucks.

The cups will contain 10 percent of recycled material from MRC and 90 percent will be new material, Matthews said.

Process engineer Tanya Richardson steered the MRC project through the FDA requirements, Matthews said. &uot;The process took several years and rigorous testing. Tanya had to figure out a way, working with outside independent labs that had the right equipment, to do tests the FDA would find acceptable,&uot; Matthews said. &uot;She had to figure it all out. It’s new ground.&uot;

The FDA reviewed &uot;a tremendous amount of data, test results and calculations to ensure themselves and to ensure customers the product is acceptable and safe for food contact.,&uot; Matthews said. &uot;We are the first and only company to be certified under the new FDA guidelines.&uot;

The FDA approval came in late September, Matthews said. &uot;We were committed to Starbucks not to make any announcement prior to their announcement.&uot;

Starbucks was &uot;extremely excited about this and they were very instrumental during the FDA process. It’s a tribute to their environmental awareness and commitment,&uot; Matthews said.

The specific part of the process that is involved in manufacturing the food-grade pulp has a patent pending, he said.

As word of the FDA approval spreads, orders for the food-grade recycled material could increase at MRC. &uot;Typically, companies in a given industry are very aware of what their competitors are doing,&uot; Matthews said. &uot;Obviously, though, we are not going to sit around waiting for industries to call us but will aggressively market this product.&uot;

Mississippi River Corporation is a privately owned company. Starbucks is publicly traded on the Nasdaq. Starbucks shares rose 59 cents to $55.23 on Wednesday.