Plastic fantastic: Green, strong and edible

Researchers have created a biodegradable composite material that might help battle the global plastic-waste crisis

04-Dec-2024 - Billions of tons of plastic waste clutter our world. Most of it has accumulated on the ground and in the oceans or disintegrated into tiny particles known as microplastics that pollute the air and the water, penetrating vegetation and the bloodstreams of humans and other animals. The scope of the ...

Fight against microplastics: Groundbreaking invention in the field of packaging materials

Environmentally friendly coating could replace plastic packaging

19-May-2023 - Research is being conducted on biodegradable polymers at the University of Bayreuth. Now an environmentally friendly coating has been developed that could be a full-fledged replacement for the millions of plastic packaging materials used worldwide. The Collaborative Research Centre (SFB) 1357 ...

Chemists redesign biological PHAs, ‘dream’ biodegradable plastics

17-Apr-2023 - They’ve been called “dream” plastics: polyhydroxyalkanoates, or PHAs. Already the basis of afledgling industry, they’re a class of polymers naturally created by living microorganisms, or synthetically produced from biorenewable feedstocks. They’re biodegradable in the ambient environment, ...

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 ...

Accurately tracking how plastic biodegrades

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed an approach to accurately record and fully track the biodegradation of plastics in soils

14-Oct-2022 - Modern agriculture uses a lot of plastic, especially in the form of mulch film that farmers use to cover field soils. This keeps the soils moist for crops, suppresses weeds and promotes crop growth. However, it is usually very time-​consuming and costly for farmers to collect and dispose of ...

Biopolymers Are Flourishing: Ceresana Examines the Global Market for Bioplastics

Highest Growth Rate for Polylactic Acids and Starch

07-Oct-2022 - For some time now, bioplastics have been used for more than just garbage bags or mulch films: Biopolymers are increasingly found in durable high-performance products, for example in demanding automotive applications, casings for the electronics industry or materials for the construction industry. ...

Biodegradable plastic particles in finished compost

Fertilisers from composting plants contain large quantities of biodegradable plastics

01-Jul-2022 - Composting plants process biowaste into finished compost, which ends up as fertiliser in the soils of fields. A study by the University of Bayreuth shows that finished compost from composting plants in Germany contains a large number of biodegradable plastic particles. Applicable legal and ...

New PET-like plastic made directly from waste biomass

“We essentially just ‘cook’ wood or other non-edible plant material, such as agricultural wastes, in inexpensive chemicals to produce the plastic precursor in one step”

28-Jun-2022 - It is becoming increasingly obvious that moving away from fossil fuels and avoiding the accumulation of plastics in the environment are key to addressing the challenge of climate change. In that vein, there are considerable efforts to develop degradable or recyclable polymers made from non-edible ...

A previously unknown bacterial enzyme makes new type of biodegradable polymer

18-Mar-2022 - Strings of sugars called polysaccharides are the most abundant biopolymers on Earth. Because of their versatile and environmentally friendly properties, these molecules could eventually replace some plastics. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have identified a previously unknown ...

Edible, biodegradable, anti-microbial plastic boasts higher tensile strength than petroleum-based plastic

The material is produced from gelatin, clay and a nanoemulsion of black pepper essential oil

11-Mar-2022 - Disposal of food packaging is a major cause of environmental pollution worldwide. More than 350 million metric tons of plastic are produced every year, and 85% of the garbage dumped in the oceans is plastic, according to estimates. Brazil is the fourth-largest producer, accounting for some 11 ...