Turning bacteria into bioplastic factories

Biologists find new ways to encourage the plastic-producing power of purple microbes

28-Aug-2024 - In a world overrun by petroleum-based plastics, scientists are searching for alternatives that are more sustainable, more biodegradable and far less toxic to the environment. Two new studies by biologists at Washington University in St. Louis highlight one potential source of game-changing ...

Researchers work to create biodegradable bioplastics from food waste

Use of microorganisms to convert food waste into fats, which are then processed into bioplastics

16-Jul-2024 - Extraordinary amounts of energy, water, and capital are put into food systems. However, anywhere from 30 to 40 percent of the food that is produced ends up in landfills in the United States. What if there was a way to convert it into something we use every day? Researchers in Virginia Tech's ...

Synthetic leather made from recyclable and bio-based PBS

11-Jun-2024 - A new type of pure synthetic leather meets the high requirements of the European Ecodesign Regulation. Made from a bio-based plastic, it is biodegradable and meets the requirements for a closed recycling process. Many synthetic leathers consist of a textile substrate to which a polymer layer is ...

traceless materials secures €36.6 Million Series A to build first industry plant for bio-circular alternative to plastic

Change-enabler for driving the green transformation of the industry

26-Sep-2023 - Bioeconomy startup traceless, which produces a natural biomaterial as an alternative to plastic, announces the completion of a €36.6 million funding round. The Series A funding round is led by private equity fund UB Forest Industry Green Growth Fund (“UB FIGG”), which invests in sustainable and ...

Self-healing plastic becomes biodegradable

Greater environmental compatibility thanks to new basic building block that can be produced with the help of microorganisms and is completely biodegradable

01-Aug-2023 - Konstanz chemists develop mineral plastics with numerous positive properties from sustainable basic building blocks and, together with biologists, demonstrate the material's excellent microbiological degradability. Imagine a plastic like this: harder than common plastics, non-flammable, and even ...

BluCon Biotech and LG Chem enter into unique investment agreement

BluCon Biotech's technology has the potential to be a disruptive game changer in the world's plastics market

16-Mar-2023 - BluCon Biotech, a German biotech company, and LG Chem,a Korean chemical company, have entered into an investment agreement to scale up and commercialize BluCon Biotech’s proprietary technology to supplement LG Chem´s bio-economy portfolio BluCon Biotech’s technology has the potential to be a ...

New starchy bioplastic could make soggy paper straws a thing of the past

08-Mar-2023 - In the fight against pollution, several regions in the U.S. have banned the use of plastic straws. Alternative materials exist, but most options are either too expensive to scale up, go limp in drinks or taste bad. But now, a team reporting in ACS Omega has developed a new type of bioplastic film ...

Carrots: Good for your eyes … and for degradable polymers

Researchers have incorporated a compound derived from β-carotene into a polymer that’s fully degradable

23-Feb-2023 - Carrots come in a rainbow of bright colors — red, orange, yellow and purplish black — because of compounds called carotenoids. They help support eye health by reacting with potentially harmful UV light. Interestingly, the molecular structures of carotenoids, such as β-carotene, are similar to the ...

Strong and biodegradable

A polyester plastic of great mechanical stability, which is also easily recyclable and even compostable

23-Dec-2022 - How can plastics be designed so they retain their desirable properties but at the same time can be more effectively recycled? This and other questions concerning the eco-friendliness of plastics are the focus of chemist Stefan Mecking and his research group at the University of Konstanz. In their ...

Biodegradable microplastics in soils cause CO₂ emissions to rise

The increase in CO₂ emissions goes hand in hand with the increase in microbial biomass

11-Nov-2022 - Biodegradable microplastic particles in soils can lead to an increased rise in CO₂ emissions to the Earth's atmosphere. This is shown by an interdisciplinary study published in "Applied Soil Ecology" by the Collaborative Research Centre 1357 "Microplastics" at the University of Bayreuth. In this ...