Plastic
and other of its variables have been very useful through decades since its
invention, but the cost of it, has brought little or ineffective benefits to
the environment. A single plastic cup can take up to 1000 years to degrade,
this, with the ascending population in the world has become a serious problem because
this doesn’t enable earth to keep up with the degradation process. The use of
disposable items has become a reliable source in a way that people avoids the struggle
of cleaning used tableware. Plant based
polymers are an alternative that have become a useful alternative to petroleum
based derivates. A biodegradable item takes months to degrade compared to a
plastic derived product. A resent research conducted by the Instituto
Politecnico Nacional in Mexico City has used garlic skin, potato starch, gellant
gum and glycerol to create a cellulose microfiber paste that is efficient in
the degradation process and is an environmentally friendly waste material.
Results using SEM imaging showed that bio degradable paste had characteristics
similar to polystyrene, a synthetic resin that is used in making plastic utensils,
these shared properties consisted of heat resistance and harmless residues of
components. These results should be considered important in a way that other plant-based
resins/pastes can be studied to obtain products that can help to a more environmentally
sustainable world, and by this contamination can be reduced in a great scale
for future generations.
References
Hernandez-Varela, J., Chanona-Perez, J., Resendis Hernandez, P., & Villasenor Altamiano, S. (2020). Biodegradable polymers. New Alternatives Using Nanocellulose and Agroindustrial Residues.
link for peer review research article.
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