Plastics's Biodegradability

[Indu]

:confused:Hi guys,

How can we enhance the degradability of plastics in nature?

You think waste waters will contain any plastic eating microbe? Or

You think we can modify a microbe's metabolism by depriving it of a limiting nutrient factor( eg- Carbon) so that it uses up the carbon present in the plastics?

[npts2020]

They have produced such things as that. Try googling "plastic eating bacteria" and you will see there is more than one bacterium for this. What has yet to be done is prove that release into the environment will not have negative effects.

[bombus]

Depends how one defines a plastic. I have a pen made from a plastic developed from cellulose. Its totally biodegradeable. I have plastic bags that are the same and degrade after 6 months...

[gcol]

I obtained quite a few samples of biodegradable plastics (water-soluble) derived from starch (including poato starch) in powder and pellet form in connection with a home-brew project. They all had controlled levels of solubility, ranging from a couple of hours to days when immersed in water. If the finished article was very thick, even the fast dissolving grades could take days.

 

These plastics do however present difficulties to commercial extruders and moulders through limited plastic temperature range, and generally an undesirably high moisture content, unfriendly for existing extruding equipment. The plastics industry is geared up largely for more machine friendly petrochemical plastics.

 

Environmentally friendly, yes. Commercially convenient and profitable, less so. Requires retooling and re-education.