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What's the use case for plastic that degrades? I mean we humans know when we're done with it, but surely it's going to interact with environmental triggers. I
by gumby 2y ago
What's the use case for plastic that degrades? I mean we humans know when we're done with it, but surely it's going to interact with environmental triggers.
I understand the benefit of not having plastic in landfills and not making it from fossil fuels! My question is "when could I depend on something using this plastic?"
- Gigachad 2y agoThere are plenty of plastic products that are only used for a moment and then chucked. Plastic wrap for wrapping pallets, or disposable cups, etc. A lot of the paper alternatives we use still have plastic liners to make them waterproof.
- placatedmayhem 2y agoSingle-use scenarios would be my first thought, especially food containers and utensils from food vendors. I would think places where wood is, or could reasonably be, employed might also work. Table top game tokens, for example. Uses where environment factors (rain, contact with the ground, etc.) typically aren't relevant.
- tracker1 2y agoI just hope that if they're used for straws, that they work well enough as straws. All the alternate material straws I've tried typically suck. Especially Paper, but have tried a few bioplastics as well.
- sircastor 2y agoBiodegradable plastics are typically degrading in intense environments, such as a compost pile. Not unlike wood. Wood is strong and lasts a long time if kept dry. If you introduce the environment where fungi, microbes, and insects are more comfortable, the wood starts to deteriorate. I don’t know quite how it’d work with this kind of plastic, but maybe someone will come up with an indicator or rule of thumb that helps. Like how you don’t eat food out of a dented tin can.
- heftig 2y agoIf it were chemically/biologically stable until it has been mechanically eroded into microscopic particles, that would at least avoid adding to our microplastics problem.
- treve 2y agoAccording to the article, food packaging and interior trims of cars is mentioned. They also say: > I think it's realistic that different prototypes in soft and hard packaging, such as trays, bottles and bags, will be developed within one to five years," It sounds like the environmental triggers for degradation are naturally occurring microbes. I hope we keep supporting and funding these projects and solve the scale issue!
- normie3000 2y ago> interior trims of cars It might be a step backwards to consider cars single-use.
- almostnormal 2y agoLeather is biodegradable and an accepted material for cars. I don't see why the same shouldn't apply to this.
- solardev 2y agoFood wraps, straws, cup liners, plates, bowls, utensils, anywhere single use plastics are just there to hold something for like 30 min before being discarded.
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- jnurmine 2y agoStill, why plastic nowadays? Wood and other biodegradeable materials are available. Plenty of products already on the market, not just for cutlery but things like product packaging, too. Companies exist all over the planet, like BioPak from Australia, WoodAble from Chile, Sulapac from Finland, Hunufa Compostable from Vietnam, etc.
- adrianN 2y agoPlastic is cheap and convenient. It also might have a lower carbon footprint than alternatives.
- solardev 2y agoCheap and easily manufactured using existing processes and factories (pellets molded into various films and containers). Very few restaurants want to pay a premium for the deluxe eco groovy stuff, in my experience (as a customer only, but one who frequents such stores). They're almost like a lifestyle / branding thing to go along with organic / vegetarian / sustainable / local themed restaurants, but most don't do that and just want to keep costs down. Most just use regular cheap plastic and some still use Styrofoam. I think a bioplastic that actually biodegrades in average municipal landfills at a minimal cost markup vs current plastics, that say 40% of restaurants adopt voluntarily (or by regulation), will be more impactful than the boutique reusables we currently see but only at like one restaurant per thousand. I don't ever see places like Walmart or Costco switching to wooden bowls, for example. But bioplastics that look and feel the same and only cost a few percentage more? Maybe. Especially if encouraged by local regulations, similar to plastic bag bans.
- Tagbert 2y agoThe point is to have a plastic that breaks down into starches and cellulose which are materials that our biomes can hand and can break down or incorporate. The trick will be producing a plastic that is stable enough for use but can break down once it is no longer needed. This would be useful to replace a lot of plastics that are not used long term and are used in dry environments. It probably would not be good to store liquids.
- azinman2 2y agoAren’t there still plasticizers and other chemicals added?
- jillesvangurp 2y agoAll the one time use products that currently end up in a landfill (or the oceans) shortly after being manufactured and then fail to decompose properly. A lot of plastic products don't need to be durable for very long. If it needs to be durable, there are perfectly good materials other than plastic that you could use that are probably better. In fact, most plastics don't actually do that well over time (some exceptions of course) and aren't that durable. Quite a few types of plastic degrade under UV light for example. Of course not enough to fully degrade but they become brittle, get ugly, etc. If it stayed in one piece and just sat there not changing, plastics would actually be less of an issue. The issue is that they do degrade and gradually turn into micro plastics. Which end up in animal and human tissue causing all sorts of issues.
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- kazinator 2y agoWe've had this before. Cellophane, linoleum, ...