Scientists Create New Bio-Plastics from Food Waste

It turns out that the food you waste could one day create plastic. Scientists have created a novel process which could help the world deal with its agricultural and plastic waste problems while at the same time relieving the burden placed on petroleum for plastic products.

Plastic's popularity is constantly growing. Chairs, synthetic rugs, plastic bags, tables and other products are all made out of plastic. In fact, in 2012 its production reached 288 million tons worldwide. Yet plastics aren't necessarily environmentally friendly; synthetic plastics can persist for hundreds or thousands of years while releasing toxic components that could potentially harm ecosystems and human health. Add that to the fact that plastics are made from a nonrenewable resource, petroleum, and you're dealing with quite the problem.

Fortunately, there may be a solution. Environmentally friendly bioplastics could potentially offer a solution. So far, though, these bioplastics have been challenging and expensive to create. Now, though, scientists have taken a closer look at constructing bioplastics in orders to overcome these obstacles.

The researchers turned to an organic acid that also occurs naturally and can process cellulose, which is the main building component of plants and also the most abundant polymer in nature. The researchers mixed this acid with parsley and spinach stems, and also with husks from rice and cocoa pods. Then they poured these solutions into lab dishes. In the end, the scientists created films that showed a promising range of traits for bioplastics.

"This opens up possibilities for replacing some of the non-degrading polymers with the present bioplastics obtained from agro-waste," write the researchers in a news release.

The findings reveal a possible way to replace plastics, which could be a huge step forward in terms of helping both our environment and relieving the burden on petroleum. That said, more research will need to be conducted before scientists manage to make these bioplastics replacements for petroleum-based plastics.

The findings are published in the journal Macromolecules.