New Invention Could Replace Polystyrene
Inventors with the Agricultural Resource Service, the chief scientific research agency for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, have discovered a way to turn common starches such as potatoes, wheat and corn into a polystyrene substitute.
Polystyrene, also know as plastic #6, is used in products such as packing and construction materials, as well as disposable dinnerware. This new finding may offer a way to replace non-biodegradable polystyrene with a more eco-friendly alternative.
According to a report by the Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers (AFPR), 69 million pounds of expanded polystyrene was recycled in 2008. Photo: Amanda Wills, Earth911.com
Inventors Gregory Glenn and Simon Hodson discovered that the new material is equally as strong, durable and versatile as polystyrene.
It not only looks like the original product, but also can be produced in a range of densities and formed and molded into various shapes, sizes and thicknesses.
Although the biodegradable foam is not waterproof, a corn-derived moisture barrier can be applied.
Polystyrene, as a type of plastic, is one of many products derived from petroleum. However, the use of a biofoam, in place of plastic, would greatly reduce usage of petroleum.
This polystyrene substitute is not the first bioplastic to be invented. The market is bursting with alternatives including polylactic acid (PLA), which is generated using corn instead of petroleum. Many of these substitutes can be commercially composted after use.
As of June 17th 2011 we have upgraded our comment system to use Facebook comments. The below comments are closed and are listed for historical purposes.
Bill Fogarty
posted on October 9th, 2009 at 6:31 am
Hello! Go to http://www.natureworksllc.com and you can read all about PLA foam resin that does replace polystyrene! Since 2006 the technology for foaming PLA (to replace polystyrene) has been commercially available (see http://www.turboscrews.com) and we are licensing companies world-wide. Polystyrene’s days are numbered. Plant based bio-polymers are the future.
Triskelion
posted on October 14th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
I hope this trend picks up faster and sooner. The state of Arizona is still not recycling these products and all restaurants and stores are still using it BIG TIME.
Why isnt this pushed out to the major corporate companies and government?
It really needs to start at the source and lessen the impact on the end consumer to be responsible for it. Logical isnt it?
Joy
posted on October 15th, 2009 at 5:10 am
Corn. Really? Say industries change to corn wheat or potatoes, now we have an agricultural problem. There is a shortage of farmland today, we can not make more. Many small farmers sold out, and now stands housing developments. We will wind up pay much more for a loaf of bread and bag of chips. This is most likely the reason PLA has not caught on faster. I would celebrate this caution with this could potential to make things worse.
Skeptical Optimist
posted on October 15th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Excellent, they finally figured out that they can use those materials for packaging. We’ve had corn-based flatware, (instead of plastic forks, spoons, etc.) for many years. I’m surprised no one figured out that you can use that same compound for molding packaging materials yet.
perry hawkins
posted on October 15th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
there is a product call greeninsilate coming in 2011 that made from mushrooms and is more fire retardant and as strong as polystyrene as can be buried and can put back in to the soil to decompose
pepper
posted on October 27th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
when did the agricultural resource service and gregory glenn and simon hudson discover this?
Laura Rodriguez
posted on January 3rd, 2010 at 11:19 pm
Am I missing something? Doesn’t any product which is labeled “biodegradable” go to a landfill to biodegrade? Where is the plus in that? I realize that the idea of biodegradable products is popular with most consumers, but why use something once and fool ourselves into feeling good about it going to landfill. The truth about landfills is that they are designed to specifically prevent biodegradation, due to the harmful gaseous and water related pollution that is caused by the process.
I prefer to use the polystyrene and be sure it goes to a recycling center to be turned into CD cases, computer cases, home products like waterproof molding and picture frames etc.
The term biodegradable is a remnant from the “don’t litter” campaigns of the seventies, when we weren’t sure we could change our litterbug practices. At that time, biodegradable litter was better than non-biodegradable litter. A more useful term that actually fits current technologies and landfill practices is “reuse”.
I hope soon the public is educated regarding the myth of biodegradable products, as anything in a landfill is not as helpful as a product which can be remade into something useful, and NOT GO TO LANDFILL. How can the myth live on when the logic doesn’t. Compare a one use cup which goes to landfill, with a cup that can then be made into molding for a home, or a CD case and avoid landfill for another 3 to 50 years or more. The first cup used natural resources and had a short consumer life, while the other used natural resources and had a long consumer life. If you’re interested, please research the recyclability of polystyrene. I believe that currently about 14% of Californians (mostly So. Cal. and the city of Tracy) can recycle it curbside, right along with their cans and bottles. Now that is a practice that makes sense in 2010. Bill, I will check out those bio-polymeres. Are they recyclable, or one-use products. How can they be used after their life as packing material and foodservice containers?