Turning Sawdust into Plastic
Here's how one startup is turning trees into recyclable plastic bottles.š³
Unexpected materials used as plastic alternatives
Origin Materials has developed a way to make recyclable plastic bottles from wood waste āinstead of petroleum. The company extracts cellulose from wood to make paraxylene, a chemical used to manufacture PET bottles ā PET bottles are usually made from petroleum and natural gas. Production and incineration of plastic release emissions ā from as much as 189 coal power plants in 2019 according to the Center for International Environmental Law.
Startup Origin Materials is offering to pay $20 a ton for sawdust leftover at sawmills from transforming logs into lumber. To do this, Origin Materials extracts cellulose from the wood waste to create para-xylene, which is a hydrocarbon typically obtained from oil and used to produce polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, which is a strong, clear and lightweight plastic that is among the most commonly used plastics. Opting to use wood waste instead of oil to manufacture the plastic resin absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere, according to Origin Materials, whereas drilling for the crude oil to manufacture plastic resin releases greenhouse gas emissions.
Critics of bioplastics say bottles could still end up in oceans and rivers. Bissell says part of solving the plastic problem is reaching better collection and recycling rates, reducing emissions, and thinking of sustainable ways to make it. Origin Materials is not alone its efforts to create plastic alternatives to help prevent plastic waste overcrowding landfills and overwhelming the worldās oceans, resulting in a world-wide plastic waste crisis. Startups and researchers the world over are turning to unexpected materials to use in the development of plastic alternatives including avocado seeds, lobster shells, fish scales and red algae and cactus leaves. Nestle, Danon and PepsiCo plan to use Originās bottles in 2022.
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86 comments
Dienel M.
11/01/2019 02:39you can only use this kind of tech after we all know how to plant more trees
Alejo A.
10/31/2019 23:59How about converting plastics into trees. Its more more brilliant than your present invention.
Abdulrasheed Y.
10/31/2019 21:09Let's ship the plastic waste to another planet say Neptune or Pluto
Ahmed N.
10/30/2019 20:36Yeh... We need to cut more trees that doesn't ALREADY exist....
Leandro O.
10/30/2019 13:40Wait wait... Turning wood into plastic is supoosed to be a good thing? Really?
Raymond J.
10/30/2019 01:32wood plastic, there are lots of so called "bioplastics" yet floats on the ocean, still take years to degrade, why not bamboo cups as cups spoon fork, less process involve but really biodegradable and very environment friendly
Tajay R.
10/29/2019 18:21But youāre sacrificing trees and we need trees to live and without trees there will be drought and with drough we will have no food and no food equal starvation and starvation leads to death. Just stop cutting the damn trees and make glass bottles
Protap D.
10/29/2019 18:02very bad idea , should save trees and try to collect co2 from air
Kerwin S.
10/29/2019 16:04How does cutting trees assist in helping the environment....
Rassan A.
10/29/2019 15:56Plastic is plastic no matter the origin this is double pollution
Ghani Z.
10/29/2019 11:39Bamboo does it 100 times better.
FATIMA R.
10/29/2019 11:18NO!
Gervais L.
10/29/2019 05:54So to reduce plastic we need to cut more trees. NICE.
Luz A.
10/29/2019 02:17Quiere decir que para contruir botellas de plƔstico van a desaparecer todos los Ɣrboles v,que bonito, que adelanto ,solo son inventos tontos
Donita I.
10/29/2019 01:57There are many possible raw materials to use in producing bioplastics. How about the sugarcane bagasse? Banana pseudo stems, or avocado pits? I am recently conducting a research about bioplastics, and i think this is not a great idea. There are a lot more waste that doesnt need to use wood pulps.
Mohammed A.
10/28/2019 22:50How many trees do u plant wen u destroy to make more plastic that is polluting our seas an oceans ???
Yazid R.
10/28/2019 22:08ŁŲ·Ų¹ Ų§ŁŲ§Ų“Ų¬Ų§Ų± Ų§Ų³ŁŲ” ŁŁ ŁŁŁ Ł Ł Ų§ŁŲØŁŲ§Ų³ŲŖŁ
Cecilia E.
10/28/2019 19:50Por favor que lo traduzcan al espaƱol... gracias.
Pedro P.
10/28/2019 18:18BUT IT IS NOT MAKING MORE BOTTLES OF PLASTIC IS HOW TO DESTROY IT AS THE PLASTIC IS DESTROYED ?????
Pedro P.
10/28/2019 18:17PERO NO ES HACER MAS BOTELLAS DE PLASTICO ES COMO DESTRUIRLA COMO SE DESTRUYE EL PLASTICO?????