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+--- Thread: Why scientists want to turn tree bark and compost into aircraft wings & plastic bags (/thread-10412.html)
Why scientists want to turn tree bark and compost into aircraft wings & plastic bags - C C - Jun 1, 2021
https://horizon.scienceblog.com/1740/why-scientists-want-to-turn-tree-bark-and-compost-into-aircraft-wings-and-plastic-bags/
INTRO: Trees, crops and even organic waste can be transformed into a bewildering array of plastics to use in products ranging from single-use bags to heavy-duty aeroplane wings. These so-called biopolymers could play a vital role in weaning us off petroleum plastics – which will help cut greenhouse gas emissions, and ensure plastics come from a renewable resource.
And in some cases they could help to reduce plastic pollution. One of the major sources of plastic pollution is packaging, which accounted for nearly 40% of the plastic used in the EU in 2019, according to Plastics Europe, a trade association.
Researchers have developed ways to make biodegradable food waste bags and food packaging from municipal food and garden waste. ‘You are transforming organic waste to make a waste bag, which is biodegradable. So you are closing the cycle – you don’t use other materials to make the (plastic) bag,’ said Thomas Dietrich, an engineer in biotechnology at Spain’s TECNALIA, a research and technological development centre.
Dietrich is project manager of a project called VOLATILE, which has developed a technology that can be integrated into existing municipal anaerobic digestion and composting plants. It uses microorganisms to break down organic waste into volatile fatty acids, which are the building blocks of the PHB and PHBV plastics used to make plastic bags and food packaging.
The main by-product is a residue which can be used to make compost. Hydrogen gas is another by-product, and it can be used to make electricity... (MORE - details)