Biodegradable plastic

1990/05/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Materialak
• Ingurumena

The French Corn Producers Association has announced that they have achieved a new, flexible and biodegradable plastic. This revolutionary plastic gets undone on its own for two years; the truth is that normal plastic needs two hundred years to get rid of.

Bio-D is the name given to the new material and is not entirely composed of petroleum products such as conventional plastics. One of the ingredients is corn starch.

When Bio-D plastic is buried, mineral salts, by taking the natural component, "explode" the basic molecule, dissolving the material. In addition, it does not leave contamination in the soil when it is undone.

There is no shortage of applications to this biodegradable plastic. Domestic garbage bags (at the moment they are 15% more expensive than conventional ones) to cover large surfaces, plant protection in orchards, etc.

In Italy, the Montedison House has claimed that it has achieved a new biodegradable plastic, but for the moment it has not been informed of its composition.