AUG 13

That is the coolest thing I ever heard. You mean like you peel the plant away like a banana and than there is the plastic?

no bimbo, it's probably inside the vacuoles or something... it's microscopic droplets of plastic inside every cell...
but they can be isolated relatively easy...

"No bimbo" lol! That was a little harsh but still quite funny.

Thanks for creating the acronym guys, you used it a sum total of 0 times in the article after you coined it.

It's cool that scientists have figured out a way to get plastic without depending on petroleum, but my concern with plastic in general is that it doesn't break down. Or have they figured out a way to create plastic for every day use that won't end up cluttering a bunch of landfills like the way your grandfather's plastics have?

Think of it like this - if the plastic is cluttering up the landfills, but it comes from plants, what we're doing is essentially making a carbon sink. CO2 is taken out of the air, made into plastic products, and thrown away. Depending on the cost effectiveness of the plant, it could not only reduce the need for oil, but offset the carbon emissions from other oil products.

This is uber innovative- i was quite impressed after reading this article.
I'm assuming that people who read eco-geek recycle... right? I cannot remember the last time i sent plastic to the landfill instead of recycling it. Although people are trying to switch to cloth bags- some things (like credit cards) are unlikely to change to another material any time soon.
So the plastics from this "bioplastic" (which i've heard also being referred to the corn based "plastic" which breaks down...) that you recycle will have even LESS of a footprint :)

Recycling in itself isn't enough (or else, we wouldn't need to produce any more plastic!)

actually, Polyhydroxybutyrate is a polyester which some bacteria use as energy storage...
and therefore there already are enzymes in nature for it's decomposition...
(you can't use it as a bacterium unless you can degrade it once you've mnade it)
so, PHBA IS BIODEGRADABLE

I hope they make other plant plastics with different properties that they can then blend with this one to produce different materials that have properties more suited to their purpose, because if it's just one plastic, with one set of properties, then it's not going to have a very diverse range of use.

Well- That makes more sense now- all bioplastics i've heard of or seen were corn based and biodegradable. Unfortunately, here in Nova Scotia (Canada) where composting and recycling are mandated by law, the composting facilities are not set up for bioplastics- meaning that any bioplastic that was sent to the compost plant would automatically be thrown out into the landfill... what a waste. However, regardless there are many companies here (eg. pasta bags, chip bags, coffee cups/straws) that are using bioplastic (corn) as a statement. I'm hoping the more mainstream it gets that the government will change to accomodate.

Switchgrass. Is there nothing it can't do?

I would love it if more people recycled in the states. However plastics consumption does not seem to be flagging and just as many people don't seem to recycle. Even for someone who is an advocate for more recycling and less plastics consumption, I sometimes have to purchase a product that is enclosed in a lot of packaging that can't be recycled. It's frustrating.

Wow, this is some pretty awesome news. I recycle as much as I can, but in my present apartment, it is difficult as they do not provide a recycle bin and I asked the Green Team in the city for one since there was none available, and they don't provide them. I also don't have a vehicle to take things to the recycling center myself.

Although lots of people complained when Nova Scotia made it illegal to NOT compost or recycle- they've set up the entire infrastructure pretty quickly to handle it. it's fantastic- all i have to do is separate my plastics (tin cans and glass) and papers and my apartment building has a compost bin that is emptied weekly into the city's compost truck, and a recycling bin that's emptied weekly by the city's recycling truck AND a garbage bin (although we have greatly reduced our garbage bags to one every two weeks). everyone does it because it's the law. too bad other provinces/states couldn't follow this lead. give a few people some fines for not sorting their garbage and you'd be surprised how many people will just suck it up and do it. :)

Even though we all like to feel the "warm and fuzzies" for recycling, it's important to understand that only three of the seven resin designations are commonly recycled (PET #1, HDPE #2 and PP #5). Recycling, like everything else (composting, disposable manufacturing and even landfill engineering) needs considerable improvement before we finally land at a zero-waste destination. As a result, the most significant advancements that have come out in recent years are those that use renewable resources in the manufacturing process, instead of petrochemicals and anything that may leave a toxic residue as it degrades over time.

exactly! that's why restricting the amount of "black" or garbage to one "black" garbage bag for every two weeks forces people to buy less packaging and choose those plastics that are recycled in our community. which is another aspect of our provinces recycling/composting/garbage law. using bioplastics like PHBA is another step to loosening our dependency on petroleum based plastics.

Makes me wish I lived in Novia Scotia! I did a green presentation at a local university in Colorado recently, and there was a woman in attendence who was from Australia, where it is also a law to compost and recycle. Here in the states, it has to be profitable for the recycling/composting centers before they'll consider the service. Currently, we only have commercial compost pick-up in a few counties. My neighborhood is the first I've heard about that is considering residential pick-up, but that's still about 6 months out. Props to your country for making our environment a top priority!

:O This is so amazing! Mother Nature Technology = Awesome.

Talk about a new definition of "plastic flowers"! :)

"growing it is proprietary bioplastic in significant amounts right it is leaves"? As an ecogeek/nerdfighter I have to argue about the correctness of that sentence, Hank!

I live in Australia, and, I am afraid to say it is not the law to compost and recycle, far from it in fact

Can we use the rest of the switchgrass for ethanol production after the plastic is extracted? How much of the plant would be left over for ethanol production? Switchgrass is great for ethanol because no one really wants to eat grass, so no impact to foodstocks other than arable land distribution to switchgrass crops. With projects like verticalfarm.com, we could eliminate even this impact.

”Can we use the rest of the switchgrass for ethanol production after the plastic is extracted?“

My first thought, as well !

Once they harvest the switchgrass, they're going to have to treat it with a chemical to break down the cellulose anyway...


If the process leaves behind the plastic AND allows some fraction of the cellulose to be converted to alcohol, that would pay for the processing.

Plastics from plants have been around for a long time, check out what Henry did with a couple of cannabis plants he didn't just stuff them in a tail pipe!

http://www.chanvre-info.ch/info/en/About-Henry-Ford-s-Car.html

These are the kinds of innovations we as a modern society need. Fostering new approaches to accomidate
the problems of dwindeling natural resources has always
been on the forefront of importance for enviromentalists, consumers, farmers, developers and
big industrial corporations that rely heavily on basic
natural resources such as lumber, an immediate building
material that will always be needed for sometime to come. However, costs and obsolete construction methods
have dictated that change is upon us. A resource such as a plastic or what may end up being loosley reffered to as
'plastick' could hopefully help preserve some of the worlds rainforrests and some of the U.S. old
growth forrest(s) in the High Sierras to name just a few of the benifits. Plastic as it is now produced
has a direct draw on the worlds oil reserves and subsequent rising prices of consumer,automotive,medical
aerospace, etc....goods and services. If this product
can be grown, harvested and proccessed in the regions
it can be utilized it will reduce costs across the board to all of us in other areas that we may not yet
see on the surface of this issue. One important area of savings to almost
everyone is the rising costs of fuel for cars, trucks
(diesel fuel) and air transportation will come down
if the theory of supply and demand holds true. This
aspect of economics in itself will have a trickle down
effect on the average person resulting in more savings
for all of us in the end and also a healthier world for all of us. Hopefully. The one thing that puzzles me
is, will birds and small creatures use this new plant life in the same way to build thier nests and/or migrate? I suppose we can talk about bird condos another time.

Dear Sir or Madam:,
We are Cheung Hung Plastic Trading from Hong Kong. We are doing the Plasitc film recycle business, and looking for those material which list as below:
1.LDPE sticky Rolls, and also LDPE bales (no glue)
2.Pet sticky Rolls, any colour.
3.PP material can be roll or bales, color : white, nature
4.PA6, PA66, PA12 can be any form, material must be pure, colour: mixed, white, nature
5.HIPS cut off bales, rolls, regrind
6.PEX lumps mixed color, regrind larger size(5cm)
7.PP big bag (A, B grade)
8.HDPE grass form bales,rolls
If you have ,could you provide to us? we can offer a very good and reasonable price for this item base on the quality. Please send the detail and picture to our email .Hope we could establish good business partner.Looking forward to your earliest reply and remain,thank you very much.

Yours fainthfully,
Sally
Cheung Hung Plastic Trading
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
FAX: 86-752-6386382

Wow, someone needs to take a remedial English grammar class and also be taught how to proofread.

Thanks for creating the acronym guys, you used it a sum total of 0 times in the article after you coined it.