BI PLASTICS
Environmental
Technology
INNOVATORS
Taking care of the environment, one bioplastic at a time
One of the world's leading beverage industry, the Coca Cola company, unveiled the first ever PET plastic bottle made entirely from plant materials at the World Expo - Milan PlantBottle™ on June 3rd, 2015. Rather than just sticking with petroleum, one of the main components in creating conventional plastics, PlantBottle™ uses rich materials from plants to help reduce our impact on the environment.
Other companies such as Dasani, Odwalla, and Heinz began partnerships to share and follow along with the astonishing technology created by Coca Cola in order to cut down up to 270,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. This will accelerate the consumer packaged goods industry away from its dependence on the non-renewable fossil fuels and instead, towards using renewable plant based alternatives in a much more sustainable way. [I.1]
Coca Cola
Doctor Javier Fernadez and Doctor Don Ingber, two scientists at the Harvard Wyss Institute developed a new method to create bioplastics by using shrimp shells and silk protein. Chitosan is a compound that is extracted from the hard shells of shrimps or other crustaceans in order to produce the fully degradable bioplastic.
The process begins by forming a laminate with silk fibroin protein creating a new material, which they call “shrilk”. With this, researchers can further expand and manufacture objects without the environmental threat posed by conventional synthetic plastics. The shrilk material can be very effective towards the creation of implantable foams, films and scaffolds for surgical closure, wound healing, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine applications. [I.16]
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Harvard University
The Center for Bioplastics and Biocomposites located at Iowa State University compiles the production of a variety of products, which arrays from plastics, coatings, adhesives, and composites, using agricultural feedstocks. Researchers at the lab focuses on their establishment of supporting large-scale implementation of renewable materials and becoming one of the first industry and university collective examination centers devoted to the evolution of biologically based plastics.
Michael Kessler, Berry Family Professor and center co-director states that "there are advantages of bioplastics from an environmental, economic, and even performance standpoint, and the field is growing exponentially. I am confident that this center will address many of the critical issues in biobased polymers and composites and will lead to a more sustainable future.” [I.21]
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As a young scientist, Elif Bilgin spent 2 years creating a sample of bioplastics using banana peels at just 16 years of age. Her creation produces non-decaying plastic which can also benefit towards cosmetic prosthetics or be used in electrical insulation of cables.
Bilgin states "my aim was to develop a method for using banana peels in the production of bioplastic as a replacement for the traditional petroleum based plastic. The bio-plastic is a material which has the potential of causing a biological reform by means of reducing the amount of pollution caused by other plastic materials which contain petroleum derivatives."
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Alexander Parkes (1813-1890) was one of the first to create one of the world's first type of plastics by dissolving cellulose nitrate in alcohol and camphor that contains ether in order to produce a transparent substance that can be molded. He released his man-made, synthetic plastic creation also known as Parkesine at the Great International Exhibition in London.
Because of his notable work, he was given a medal in honor of his man-made creation which in fact became the first created bioplastic in history. Later on, Parkes opened up his own company called The Parkesine Company which unfortunately did not last very long as it was forced to liquidate in the year 1868. [I.12]
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Alexander Parkes
A European association located in Berlin, Germany called European Bioplastics is an executive board consisting of a team of 7 main members that shares the key value and knowledge of the benefits that bioplastics can bring into the environment through the media and even by holding worldwide events and conferences. European Bioplastics promotes their coherent standards, from its materials, technology, feedstock, environments and guidelines for transparent claims about bioplastics.
Their mission is to provide comprehensive information towards businesses, brands, consumers, policy makers, and the media regarding how bioplastics can become a step closer in improving many lives. [I.11]
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European Biopalstics
A company located only in the UK called Biome Bioplastics has been researching and experimenting with bioplastics for over 20 years. Biome produces bioplastics to overcome oil-based polymers, and ultimately replacing them completely. From flexible films, and even cords, Biome provides biodegradbale and compostable products by using renewable and natural resources.
In the year 2014, Biome effectively incorporated a biodegrabale plastic from plant starches for the use of 3D printing to reduce transport emissions from lighter materials. This speeds up the printing process as well as increasing its flexibility leading to its successful manufacturing. This leaves off less damage of the product, the reduction of brittleness, and minimal shrinkage during the procedure. [I.6]
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Biome Bioplastics
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Following along Coca Cola's invention of Plantbottle, Ford announced the cooperation with spirits brand, Jose Cuervo in creating bioplastics form agave biowaste leftover from tequila-making processes.
They begin to incorporate recycled and bio-based plastic materials in order to produce cars that happen to be more sustainable for the environment. Because cars have a typical combustion engine that burns fuel for energy, it results in the production of a wide variety of harmful chemicals like carbon dioxide, circling the environment for generations. Now with the modern technology and by using renewable feedstock to produce bioplastics, it saves fuel and provide an additional means to reduce the harmful carbon emissions. [I.5]
