A biodegradable corn-based ID card?

http://www.dailybreeze.com/business/ci_9668495 

After 9-11, the Federal
Aviation Administration sent out an order requiring several high
profile airports including LAX to rebadge all of their employees with
new identification cards.

For LAX, this meant quickly rebadging nearly 45,000 workers.

The
airport called upon Advantidge Inc., an El Segundo-based reseller of
security and identification cards and related solutions, to help with
this seemingly unwieldy feat.

With Advantidge-supplied printers running around the clock,
in less than two weeks LAX reached its goal and met the FAA's new
standards.

Advantidge's accomplishment was notable especially since the company was only a few months old at the time.

CEO Lawrence Grafstein founded Advantidge in May 2001, only four months before LAX's rebadging.

Advantidge's
core product is the identification system, which includes
identification cards, printers, software and other support equipment.

The company offers several types of identification cards,
including student ID cards, hotel key cards, hospital identification
cards, security clearance cards, gift cards and more.

Advantidge buys equipment from manufacturers, such as Fargo
Electronics Inc., HID Corp. and Zebra Technologies Corp., and resells
directly to end users or in some cases through an integrator.

"In many cases we are providing hardware, software, equipment and support," Grafstein said.

The firm of six employees works within several industries, including education, health, transportation, security and law enforcement.

In
the greater Los Angeles area alone, Advantidge works with more than 50
different law enforcement agencies, including the Torrance Police
Department, Grafstein said.

Industrywide, the majority of identification cards are printed on a petroleum-based plastic called polyvinyl chloride, or PVC.

Advantidge
offers four types of PVC identification cards: blank or basic PVC
cards, magnetic stripe cards, proximity cards and smart cards.

The most common and cheapest card in the industry is the
basic PVC card, Grafstein said. Basic PVC cards are typically used for
photo identification but can also be used as membership cards, gift
cards, and visitor passes.

"Second to that would be magnetic stripe cards, where you start having some functionality," Grafstein said.

Most
universities today use magnetic stripe cards, he said. A magnetic
stripe card, similar to a credit card or driver's license, has a fixed
number stored on the card and when swiped, pulls up the identification
number and matches it against an account number in the system.

Advantidge's customers include Cal State and UC campuses, Grafstein said.

Newer
identification applications require technology cards. Smart cards have
chips embedded in the surface of each card and have the ability to
store multiple areas of information.

For example, smart cards can store a biometric template, such as a fingerprint.

"In
addition to presenting the card for access, you would also place your
fingerprint as a form of additional verification," Grafstein said.
"Instead of pulling that information from a central database where you
have to have a massive software and server infrastructure in place -
the information is stored there right on the card."

All of these identification cards, however, are made with
PVC plastic, which can be dangerous to human health and the
environment.

Advantidge, though, has begun its own eco-friendly campaign.

In
April, it began offering clients the option to purchase recycled PVC
cards, which are more durable than the industry's standard PVC card.

It also began selling the corn card, an eco-friendly card
made from a special type of corn that does not affect human corn
supply. Unlike PVC cards, corn cards are 100 percent biodegradable, and
no toxins are released when the cards are properly disposed.

The company offers the corn card and the recycled PVC card only in the basic and magnetic stripe identification cards.

Advantidge
officials said some organizations have already ordered thousands of the
new corn cards and recycled PVC cards, including California State
University Long Beach, which plans to use recycled PVC cards beginning
this fall for its gift cards from the campus book store.

Grafstein admits, though, that the introduction of the corn
card and recycled PVC cards into the market is relatively small at this
point, but he hopes to play a role in helping educate the market about
the new eco-friendly cards.

"Most people wouldn't even think ... that there would be an alternative to a standard card," Grafstein said.

Advantidge
also introduced lanyards made out of bamboo rather than nylon or other
materials stemming from PVC that the market often uses to display
identification cards.

Grafstein said he recently spoke with a customer from a movie studio in Los Angeles who asked for some of the bamboo samples.

"Somebody caught her in the office rubbing the fabric lanyard up against her face because it was so soft," he laughed.

For
now, though, Advantidge plans to target companies who go through the
largest volume of cards and who internally are more likely to have some
type of socially responsible purchasing mandate, such as prominent
institutions funded by tax dollars, Grafstein said.

"The green campaign is an example of the proactive efforts
that we are making to grow as a company and hopefully to be able to
play a role in changing the industry," Grafstein said. 

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