Finding viable alternatives to traditional petroleum-based plastics and microplastics has never been more important. New research from scientists at UC San Diego and Algenesis shows that their plant-based polymers biodegrade — even at the microplastic level — in under seven months.
But is it affordable? Because if not capitalism is gonna capitalism and keep using the more affordable material until the government decides it wants to do something 25 years later
I don’t mean to be a downer, this is great to have, but it’s hard to feel like anything is going to come of it.
It’s not even about the cost so much. Bioplastics just aren’t a good substitute for synthetic polymers for a lot of applications, usually because they’re water-permeable. This article doesn’t address the characteristics of the particular bioplastic they tested, but most of them are based on corn starch.
Water permeability is what makes the plastic biodegradable - water penetration allows bacteria to get inside the material and break it down. It also makes the plastic useless for medical applications, most industrial applications, anything electrical, anything outdoors, and even food packaging - it can’t be a drink bottle because it’ll dissolve, and it can’t be a bag for dry food because it won’t keep the food dry. Maybe you could use it for take-out containers, short term stuff… hard to imagine another use case.
The relative permanence and water-blocking nature of synthetic polymers is what makes them useful. It’s also what makes them such a terrible waste problem.
Sure, but that doesn’t stop if from being a replacement for normal plastic in situations where water permeability isn’t a problem. I’d prefer this replace at least some conventional plastics, wouldn’t you? Let’s not let perfect be the enemy of good here.
I often see comments like that where unless it’s a 100% solution in all situations it’s pointless.
Except bio-plastics have been around a long time. I remember a Beyond 2000 show about packing peanuts made from corn starch that dissolved in water. They never caught on because they dissolve in water. Imagine your package gets rained on and you get your item in an empty, gooey box.
What dry foods actually need to be in a watertight container and how often do you immerse your packaged dry food in water or leave it in a humid environment? Back when I hiked a lot our circle of friends packed all the dry food we took into reusable fabric bags and had no problem keeping it dry for weeks in snow and rain.
Quite a lot of dry food is packaged in paper or carton—flour, cereal, couscous, sugar etc. For some reason (at least where I live) most dry food that are my staples like rice, pasta, buckwheat is packaged in plastic but could just as well be packaged in paper. It’s not like rice or pasta is more vulnerable to humidity than couscous or sugar (packaged in paper/carton).
Your camping excursion is not the same as international shipping. A container will see vast swings of climate on its travel.
Somehow all the dry foods that are shipped internationally in carton boxes seems to do just fine…
Note to self: invent better water.
Because there’s money to be made in eco products, and a savvy business will realise this: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/consumers-care-about-sustainability-and-back-it-up-with-their-wallets