So plastics can be good for the atmosphere too

by Amy Judd | August 22, 2008 at 09:44 am

667 views | 14 Recommendations | 17 comments

Plastics that are made from materials that are biodegradable, such as corn, are attractive to the consumer, but recent studies reveal that they also generate lower greenhouse gas emissions than the manufacturing of other plastics.

Jian Yu and Lilian Chen of the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, examined the greenhouse gas emissions associated with producing one type of bioplastic, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), made by bacteria growing on corn-based sugar.

The pair examined the potential for making PHA from waste material left over from the production of ethanol from the stalks and leaves of corn plants -- which is not yet done on a commercial scale.

"We count all of the chemicals, fertilizers and fuels. We also count the CO2 released from our process. That includes the direct CO2 from the fermentation part, and the energy part," Yu said. "We tried to bean count so we can understand which part is the major CO2 producer."

In the manufacturing of bottles, the biggest producer of greenhouse gases is the fermentation process, and the other is electricity. The new process tackles both environmental reasons but also economic ones.

Of course, you can always go the really environmentally friendly route and make your plastic out of potato.

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Paschen

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 10:02 on August 22nd, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.

eastvanray

at 10:23 on August 22nd, 2008

A bit of a double edged sword. If this takes off it will add significant additional pressure on corn demand and will make the 3rd world starvation problem worse.

melissa_thinkspace

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 10:24 on August 22nd, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.

chrispins

at 12:26 on August 22nd, 2008

One of the many cornfields now to be found in the UK. This one is in Southampton.

chrispins has contributed a photo to this story.

bbum

at 12:34 on August 22nd, 2008

The problem is in the growing of the corn itself. To grow corn in the volume that the US does -- to grow corn such that there is a significant surplus left over for fuel and plastics -- requires a very unnatural process that introduces tons of nitrogen into the environment, completely destroying field and stream ecosystems in the area.

Worse, the nitrogen based fertilizers are produced through a petroleum heavy process.

To make any claims about the benefits of using corn in this role without accounting for the massive energy inputs required to produce the yields necessary to sustain such industries is short sighted and irresponsible.

While it is admirable to use the byproducts of the ethanol production process, that very process -- with the damage to the environment, the government subsidies that create artificial market viability, and the oil heavy growing practices -- raise into question the viability of ethanol fuel in and of itself.

Richard Weinreich

at 13:54 on August 22nd, 2008

St. Michaels, Maryland

Richard Weinreich has contributed a photo to this story.

Barry Artiste

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 14:39 on August 22nd, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff. You know cotton bags and paper bags should work as well if not better, you still pollute making biodegrable, why not reusable?

Mark my words.

at 14:44 on August 22nd, 2008

Happily Unsettled

at 18:45 on August 22nd, 2008

This photo is Waxy Corn - (zea mays ceratina) taken in South Korea 2008

Happily Unsettled has contributed a photo to this story.

normcopp

at 18:58 on August 22nd, 2008

normcopp has contributed a photo to this story.

World_Groove

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 19:49 on August 22nd, 2008

Damned if you do, Damned if you don't....

Paschen

at 20:55 on August 22nd, 2008

Yes, you make a good point eastvanray. We can produce this sort of plastic though with out taking away the food value of the Corn, and keep the food separate, yet that would increase the cost of production and make the plastic of a lesser quality.

Or we could go back to produce plastic with natural rubber and sap as well as hemp fibber.

Even better would be discontinue using plastic as much as possible. Go back to Glass bottles being reused as in some European countries and cloth bags. No more packaging and wrap meat and other products in wax paper again as it used to be and is done again in some countries. Japan and North America are probably the worth once when it comes to over packaging and use of plastic.

Rafael Mantesso

at 20:53 on August 22nd, 2008

Nice Ad!

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knesje

at 01:37 on August 23rd, 2008

www.flickr.com/photos/knesje

knesje has contributed a photo to this story.

bottlerocketprincess

at 01:38 on August 23rd, 2008

i second the idea to return to using glass bottles and wax paper instead of plastic - but if we're to continue using plastics, it would be best to find the least environmentally harmful process - not to mention the process which would permit multiple use of a natural resource for food and production purposes.

the ideal would be the possibility to reuse environmentally friendly packaging - customer supplied, i suppose, with the possibility of refilling "à la bulk foods" in the supermarket instead of having to buy overpackaged products, but i digress.......

so NOT cool

at 07:30 on August 23rd, 2008

While I do try to avoid the use of plastics, when necessary ... I look for something made from corn. For the last few years, I have been using dog poo bags made from corn, which are also bio-degradable.

Fusty Box

at 05:57 on August 24th, 2008

Whilst I applaud any effort to reduce our carbon emissions we really need to examine the bigger picture very carefully. The quest for a replacement to fossil fuels has already caused ecosystem damage and will gradually cause depletion of species and habitats if we continue on our current path. I take bbum's observations (above) very seriously, if we reduce emissions through using corn waste but in the process destroy the land itself what have we gained?

Surely the question we should be asking is "Do we actually need to make more plastic bottles?" The dwindling army of milkmen in the UK have for years been delivering full bottles and taking away empties to be washed and refilled (and in my part of the world the same goes for cardboard egg boxes). In my youth there was money to be made out returning empty beer and soft drinks bottles to the off-licence and collecting the deposits - a great incentive to recycle and re-use. I could live without over packaging, the simplicity of a paper bag or re-used glass bottle wins every time