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Could bioplastics be a more sustainable option for 3D printed buildings?

January 27, 2019 - bioplastics also weigh much less than concrete.

The lighter weight means it is much easier to import and transport bioplastic over any kind of distance. It can be hauled by smaller, cheaper-to-operate vehicles that can fit inside the more narrow streets of increasingly dense urban environments. (Related: This 3D-printing robot can build an entire home in 6 months for just $300,000.)Amsterdam company is 3D printing buildings using bioplastics

There ...

Researchers develop blend of bioplastics that can decompose under diverse conditions

November 13, 2018 -

These bioplastics are just as malleable, resilient, and robust as their petroleum-derived equivalents. At the same time, they can be easily broken down by common microorganisms that feast upon the usual contents of the compost pile, trash heap, or garbage bin.

In the future, the decomposed plastic can be harvested to produced biogas. The availability of a renewable and sustainable source of biofuel could provide power to your home, thereby reducing your electricity ...

Are bioplastics really as eco-friendly as they’re touted to be?

October 28, 2018 -

In the rush to reduce plastic consumption, researchers have experimented with bioplastics. Touted as eco-friendly, bioplastics are made from 20 percent or more renewable materials. Even though researchers are headed in the right direction, are bioplastics really as eco-friendly as they are touted to be?

Bioplastics may be marketed as degradable plastic, but this term is misleading because all plastics degrade. Just because the product ...

Biodegradable (and edible) seaweed may soon replace plastic packaging on food in an effort to reduce pollution

October 12, 2017 -

According to the DailyMail.co.uk, Indonesia is the world's second largest plastic waste contributor, with the majority of that plastic waste ending up in oceans and rivers. In response, Evoware teamed up with local seaweed farmers to come up bioplastics. The company chose seaweed because it dissolves in water and leaves behind zero waste, is 100 percent biodegradable and can act as a natural fertilizer for plants, and can be grown with minimal resources.

Evoware ...

Presto, change-o: Innovative company is turning avocado pits into biodegradable drinking straws and cutlery

June 14, 2019 - bioplastics. Eventually, he selected avocados, a primary agricultural product of Mexico.

Munguia spent more than a year searching for an efficient way to extract a molecular compound from the pit of the fruit. In turn, the molecule provided a biopolymer suitable for molding into various shapes.

Most conventional plastics come from fossil fuels. They can last for more than a century before the elements finally degrade the plastic pieces into their harmless ...

Study finds new use for food waste, reusing it as feed, bioplastic

July 31, 2019 - bioplastics.Biomass can return waste into the production cycle

In the study, lead researcher Pedro Filho used different kinds of food processing waste to grow a special filamentous fungus in order to form biomass. Some of the waste products he used include soluble starch from potatoes, orange peels, pea starch, and wastewater from a wheat-starch facility.

He discovered that the physical appearance of the biomass depends on its source. In particular, biomass ...

Biodegradable, compostable polymer films show promise for developing more eco-friendly packaging materials

January 09, 2019 - bioplastics that can decompose under diverse conditions.)Upgrading bioplastic packagings with compost-friendly barrier film

Biodegradable, compost-friendly packaging materials are not new or particularly difficult to make. Organic materials like cellulose and starch blends are capable of producing useful biopolymers.

However, biopolymers are not as useful as their synthetic counterparts when it comes to extending the shelf life of perishables. Their biodegradability ...

Researchers study fungi to turn food waste into sustainable bioplastic

March 23, 2019 - bioplastics that don’t pollute the environment the way that oil-based plastics do. He is working on cultivating fungus on wheat to create bioplastics, and when he returns to his native Brazil, he hopes to use cacti as the source material. (Related: Researchers develop blend of bioplastics that can decompose under diverse conditions.)

Senior lecturer Akram Zamani is working on a project that could see bioplastic created using the residues that come ...

Researchers find plastic-eating microbe that can solve our ocean’s plastic problem

April 11, 2019 - bioplastics were all grown on land. They also needed lots of fresh water.

There are countries in the world that lack large swathes of fertile land for growing large crops. Others do not have much in the way of fresh water. And then there are countries like Israel, which has limited amounts of both arable soil and irrigation water.

"There are already factories that produce this type of bioplastic in commercial quantities, but they use plants that require agricultural ...

Cut down your plastic footprint: 3 Ways to protect yourself from TOXIC plastic products

November 19, 2020 - bioplastics have the same chemical structure as other kinds of plastic. Additionally, they're linked to similar risks.How to protect yourself from toxic plastic

Being more conscious of the products you use is key to avoiding toxins in plastic. The researchers offered three suggestions to protect yourself from toxic plastic products.

Reduce your plastic footprint. This includes buying fresh food or unpackaged products. You can also use products made of other ...

Wood and web: Scientists develop wood nanofibers that could soon replace plastic

September 05, 2020 -

Fortunately, however, researchers from Aalto University have unveiled a tantalizing – and potentially sustainable – alternative: composite bioplastics made out of spider silk and wood fibers.

As detailed in the journal Science Advances, the researchers created the biocomposite by first breaking down birch wood pulp in order to make tiny microscopic cellulose fibers, which they then aligned to make a stiff scaffold-like structure.

According to Pezhman ...

Scientists develop new technology that extracts valuable chemicals from biological waste

September 23, 2019 - bioplastics and butanol

Taherzadeh and his Boras colleagues are working on ways to get volatile fatty acids from biological waste. Once they come up with a viable acid extraction platform, they will hook it up to membrane bioreactors.

They intend to scavenge as much volatile fatty acids of extraordinary quality as possible, preferably before the chemicals get turned into less versatile methane.

Furthermore, their bioreactor must work on various kinds of ...

Instead of plastic waste, plastic FROM waste: Apple and orange scraps can be turned into gluten-free, edible bioplastic

September 21, 2019 - bioplastics. One is called the solution casting method, which she describes as a polymeric solution casted on a non-sticky surface that then dries to a thin bio-based film.

The other is called compression molding which is a way to use the polymers’ self-binding properties through pressure and heat to create 3D objects.

With regard to the results of her research, Bátori noted, “The materials behaved differently in the different methods. Orange waste films ...

Ambitious study looks at converting food waste back into food

July 05, 2019 - bioplastics, animal feed and ethanol."

He and his colleagues plan to make Ways2Taste different from other resource recovery projects such as composting organic waste, incinerating the material, or producing biogas fuel. Whereas the earlier approaches used food waste as an energy source, their approach would turn the waste into materials.

"The difference is that we can develop new materials and not only solely use the waste products as an energy source," Taherazadeh ...

Scientists focus on developing sustainable concrete mixtures to print 3D breakwater units

April 28, 2019 - bioplastics be a more sustainable option for 3D printed buildings?)3D printing could make it cheaper to build breakwaters

The field of 3D printing is developing very quickly. 3D printers are beginning to usurp traditional approaches to building concrete structures. However, it was only recently that the technology was considered for use in breakwaters.

A breakwater is a structure built near the coast to either manage the coastline or to shield an anchorage ...

Researchers develop eco-friendly catalysts that can be used to produce renewable raw materials for plastic products

March 19, 2019 - bioplastics

Manganese dioxide-based catalysts are considered to be cheap yet effective substitutes for precious metal-based ones. These catalysts combine manganese dioxide with copper, iron, and other common metals. Researchers from Tokyo Institute of Technology experimented with using pure manganese dioxide as the catalyst for oxidation. They reported that it can be done, but only if the crystals are arranged in a certain way.

After using computers to analyze ...

Novel chemistry method paves the way for large-scale production of bioplastic bottles

February 28, 2019 - bioplastics that can decompose under diverse conditions.)Unwanted chemical side reactions reduce the efficiency of polymer production

However, in order to be considered for industrial uses, a chemical process needs to work on a concentrated solution that ranges from 10-20 wt percentage. And current oxidation methods are unable to achieve a yield that is high enough to fulfill commercial requirements.

In earlier experiments involving the minimum 10 wt percent ...

Novel research raises prospects for large-scale production of algae-derived starch

February 24, 2019 -

Starch is not just the natural fuel of plants. It can also be turned into renewable materials like bioplastics and biofuels. These cleaner and sustainable products may eventually replace their petroleum-based equivalents, which would be a huge step towards societies that practice sustainable living.

The new report came from researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) and Tohoku University (Tohokudai). They were investigating Cyanidioschyzon merolae, ...

Plastic pollution threatening the health of baby sea turtles

December 18, 2018 - bioplastics really as eco-friendly as they’re touted to be?)One piece of plastic is dangerous, 14 causes 50/50, and 200 results in a dead turtle

The CSIRO researchers investigated sea turtles in Queensland, Australia. They took a look at post-mortem reports and archived data pertaining to stranded animals.

Based on their analysis, an animal was not going to survive if it consumed at least 200 pieces of plastic. The fewer the plastics involved, the better ...

USDA scientists are reusing discarded almond shells and hulls to create renewable products, from biodegradable plastics to biofuel

April 23, 2018 - bioplastics

The USDA researchers previously worked with dinnerware maker Worldcentric to create biodegradable spoons and forks. They created bio-based additives that made plastic dinnerware strong enough to resist melting in hot water.

Building on this earlier experience, the researchers used almond shells as the bio-base of a powdered additive. When added to recycled plastics or bio-plastics, the powder increases their strength and heat stability.

“A lot ...