Plastic in the ocean is a big problem; everybody should know this by now. However, that knowledge doesn’t stop the world from using plastic. This has motivated inventors to come up with different ways to make biodegradable plastic, or bioplastic, from natural resources. Listed below are nine various bioplastic innovations that could save the world’s oceans and marine life.
Starch And Cellulose
A team from Japan’s Osaka University developed an alternative type of transparent plastic made from and starch and cellulose nanofibers, both of which were obtained from plants, including corn, tubers, and potatoes. The team, led by Prof. Hiroshi Uyama and Assoc. Prof. Taka-Aki Asoh, used a proprietary production process, resulting in an excellent water-resistant, durable, and very biodegradable plastic.
Banana Waste
Researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), transformed banana Agri-waste from the banana industry into non-toxic, biodegradable, bioplastic.
Jayashree Arcot, from UNSW, explained: “What makes the banana-growing business particularly wasteful compared to other fruit crops is the fact that the plant dies after each harvest. We were particularly interested in the pseudostems – basically the layered, fleshy trunk of the plant which is cut down after each harvest and mostly discarded on the field. Some of it is used for textiles, some as compost, but other than that, it’s a huge waste.”
To bring value to all that waste, the team, led by Prof. Martina Stenzel and Assoc. Prof. Jayashree developed a new kind of recycling process, with successful results. First, the team chopped up the pseudostem into pieces, then dried those pieces in an oven at a low temperature. The baked bits were then crushed into a fine powder and washed via soft chemical treatment. This treatment separates a material called nanocellulose from the rest of the powder. Sheets of plastic are made from that nanocellulose. Read more…
