Note 12 - Geographic And Segment Information (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 31, 2013

Note 12 - Geographic And Segment Information (Tables) [Line Items]

Schedule of Revenue from External Customers Attributed to Foreign Countries by Geographic Area [Table Text Block]

	Fiscal Year Ended August 31,
	2013			2012
Inside the U.S.A. to unaffiliated customers		70.7	%		64.0	%
Outside the U.S.A. to:
Joint ventures in which the Company is a shareholder directly and indirectly		13.4	%		12.1	%
Unaffiliated customers		15.9	%		23.9	%
		100.0	%		100.0	%

Reconciliation of Revenue from Segments to Consolidated [Table Text Block]

	Fiscal 2013		Fiscal 2012		$ Change			%  Change
ZERUST® net sales	$	20,457,198	$	20,971,275	$	(514,077	)		(2.5	)%
Natur-Tec® net sales		2,044,666		1,810,378		234,288			12.9	%
	$	22,501,864	$	22,781,653	$	(279,789	)		(1.2	)%

	Fiscal 2013		% of Product Sales*			Fiscal 2012		% of Product Sales*
Direct cost of goods sold
ZERUST®	$	11,408,604		55.8	%	$	10,748,865		51.3	%
Natur-Tec®		1,731,398		84.7	%		1,585,731		87.6	%
Indirect cost of goods sold		2,333,210		—			2,194,190		—
	$	15,473,212		68.8	%	$	14,528,785		63.8	%

Schedule of Revenue from External Customers and Long-Lived Assets, by Geographical Areas [Table Text Block]

	At August 31, 2013		At August 31, 2012
Brazil	$	1,419,543	$	1,610,389
North America	$	47,634,406	$	40,267,238
Total assets	$	49,053,949	$	41,877,627

Schedule of Segment Reporting Information, by Segment [Table Text Block]

	At August 31, 2013		At August 31, 2012
Brazil	$	2,394,486	$	4,543,982
North America		20,107,378		18,237,671
Total net sales	$	22,501,864	$	22,781,653

	At August 31, 2013			At August 31, 2012
Brazil	$	(273,246	)	$	1,513,891
North America		5,238,222			3,055,878
Total operating income	$	4,964,976		$	4,569,769

Fees For Services Provided to Joint Ventures [Member]

Note 12 - Geographic And Segment Information (Tables) [Line Items]

Reconciliation of Revenue from Segments to Consolidated [Table Text Block]

	Fiscal 2013		% of Total Fees for Services Provided to Joint Ventures in Fiscal 2013			Fiscal 2012			% of Total Fees for Services Provided to Joint Ventures in Fiscal 2012
China*	$	2,063,369		28.1	%	$	—			0.0	%
Germany		1,004,958		13.7	%		994,347			21.5	%
Japan		723,977		9.8	%		1,022,386			22.1	%
Thailand		621,807		8.4	%		—			0.0	%
Poland		525,282		7.1	%		456,837			9.9	%
France		496,897		6.8	%		517,708			11.2	%
Sweden		415,547		5.7	%		587,069			12.7	%
Korea**		393,307		5.3	%		—			0.0	%
Finland		321,256		4.4	%		491,988			10.6	%
United Kingdom		236,125		3.2	%		309,938			6.7	%
India		—		0.0	%		(192,758	)		(4.1	)%
Other		550,455		7.5	%		435,398			9.4	%
	$	7,352,980		100.0	%	$	4,622,912			100.0	%