What if it's possible to produce plastics without making them from petrochemicals and without the plastic breaking into microparticles that take forever to degrade?
Well, researchers from Origin Materials are on the right track. The company just announced it's discovered a novel way to produce plastics using bio-based feedstocks, like sawdust, old cardboard, and wood chips.
And that's not all. While learning how to produce these kinds of bio-based plastics, the researchers also "stumbled on" a way to make traditional, petrochemical-based, single-use plastics much easier to recycle, according to a report by Forbes.
That could be a big win-win.
As for the former discovery, scientists with Origin have learned to produce PET plastic, a kind of polyester plastic, using lignocellulosic biomass. That biomass is essentially created from broken-down wood fibers, per Forbes.
The plastic Origin can make from this biomass requires no hydrocarbons, which is one of the environmentally ruinous downsides to plastic production. According to Origin, if its plastics are made in a facility that uses clean energy, it can actually make plastics with a negative carbon footprint. More research is required to judge the safety of the resulting plastic, but the potential environmental impact is promising.
The next step would be to scale up.
The company had struggled to find funding to open a power plant to produce its bio-plastics at significant volume. But, according to Forbes, the market share Origin's product can tap into reaches into the trillions of dollars. That kind of financial upside is too alluring to languish on the drawing board.
But it's also not Origin's only big breakthrough.
🗣️ Should the government be allowed to restrict how much water we use?
🔘 Definitely 💯
🔘 Only during major droughts 🏜️
🔘 No way 🙅
🔘 I'm not sure 🤷
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
The company spent so much time diving into the unique chemistry of PET plastics that it also figured out a way to make plastic bottle caps from PET, which is typically not done. Normally, bottles are made from PET, but the caps are made from other kinds of plastics that can't be blended with PETs when being recycled, as Forbes detailed.
Since Origin has learned that caps and bottles can be made from the same PET plastic, that means much easier and more efficient plastic recycling is possible. That, in turn, means much less oil needs to be extracted and less carbon gets into the atmosphere.
"Despite its investment uncertainties, Origin's biomaterials technology is so compelling and its leadership has displayed such grit that it cannot be ignored," Forbes wrote. "Intelligent investors, take note."
Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
