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A Cambridge, Massachusetts company called Metabolix developed has just developed Meril, a new biodegradable plastic. Meril biodegrades in "soil, ocean and wetlands", meaning it can biodegrade pretty much anywhere, not just in industrial facilities designed to help plastic degrade.
Mirel and current biodegradable plastics both have starch bases and are made using bacteria fermentation. However, current biodegradable plastics use polylactic acid(PLA), while Mirel uses polyhydroxyalkanoate(PHA) which "many microbes in soil and water feed on", allowing it to break down outside of industrial conditions.
With cities like San Francisco going "100% bioplastic bags" something like this not only reduces waste, but is a hot market. Unfortunately, costs are keeping biodegradable plastic bags in general from becoming widespread, but the easier they biodegrade, the cheaper the lifecycle of the bag should be. Hopefully this will make a mass switch come a little sooner.
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written by Siju K jacob, March 10, 2008
Hi,
I am very much interested to know more about bulk production of BioPlastic materials. Kindly provide the technical details PLA for bulk production of Bio plastic materials and a feasible solution for the production of this material.
I am very much interested to know more about bulk production of BioPlastic materials. Kindly provide the technical details PLA for bulk production of Bio plastic materials and a feasible solution for the production of this material.
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written by Drug rehabilitation, March 13, 2008
I still believe recycled paper bags are the best solution. Although there's a lot of food for example still being wrapped in plastic foil. If someone were to use the bio-plastic, wouldn't that leave an aftertaste? Just wondering.
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written by Airynn, March 24, 2008
The first thing most consumers should keep in mind, is that using cloth bags for everyday shopping would curb or cut most of the plast-over-paper discussion entirely. That being said, the biggest use we have for plastic bags at all should be for garbage, which is not feasibly kept in any other material. As such, bio-plastics are a huge step in reducing what goes into our landfills, and consequently, what stays there. The only way for the price of such materials to go down in our market, is for demand to go up, and that means higher prices for the pioneer consumer. If we as individuals are willing to pay a bit more more now to use these bags, we would be investing in a better future by ensuring lower prices and a stable demand in the years to come.
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written by TOM CHUNG, June 05, 2008
WE ARE BASED IN EVERETT MA AND CURRENTLY SELLING ABOUT 10K CASES OF PLASTIC BAGS THAT WERE IMPORTED FROM ASIA PER MONTH. I WOULD LIKE TO FIND OUT MORE INFO ABOUT THIS LINE OF PRODUCTS. WHERE CAN WE BUY THESE PRODUCTS? MAY BE WE COULD WORK TOGETHER.
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written by Dave, August 05, 2010
We have to use paper bags like we used to do when I was a kid
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The Co-Op stores here, have been using biodegradable plastic bags for quite a few years. If you store anything in them at home, when you go to pick them up a year, or so later, they fall apart. :)