Researchers Discover a Way to Produce Plastic Without Fossil Fuels, Safer and Easier to Recycle
It would be great if we could produce plastic without relying on petrochemicals or fossil fuels, reducing environmental impact and making recycling easier than ever.
Researchers from Origin Materials are celebrating their recent achievement after the company announced they have discovered a new method to produce plastic without relying on petrochemicals, using biomass-based raw materialslike sawdust, cardboard, and wood scraps instead.
Additionally, they have found a way to make single-use plastics—traditionally made from petrochemicals—easier to recycle. These two discoveries are significant breakthroughs in research aimed at environmental restoration.
The biomass-based plastic developed by Origin Materials does not require hydrocarbons, which is one of the major environmental drawbacks of traditional plastic production. If they continue to produce this new plastic using clean energy, it will result in plastics with a negative carbon footprint, which would be a major win for humanity.
They have also invested significant time studying how to produce PET bottle caps, which are typically made from a different type of plastic, preventing them from being recycled together with the bottle. If the new method allows the production of bottle caps from the same PET plastic as the bottles, it would make plastic recycling far more efficient, reduce oil extraction, and lower the carbon emissions released into the atmosphere.
The company hopes to attract global investment to further develop their bioplastic technology for practical production in the future.
Source: Spring News
