How biomaterials could save the planet | Freethink

How biomaterials could save the planet | Mark Herrema | Newlight Technologies

Plastics have seeped into all corners of the environment. In addition to the larger wrappers, bags, and bottles that litter the land and oceans, microplastics pollute less obvious places, including Antarctic ice, Colorado rainwater, and our own bodies.

Since the material entered commerce in the early 20th century, people have produced more than 9 billion metric tons of plastic. Of that, only 9% has been recycled. The majority of the plastic that doesn’t get burned or carried to landfills flows downstream into oceans, where it can kill marine life and take hundreds of years to degrade.

If current pollution rates persist, some researchers predict ocean plastic will outweigh all ocean fish by 2050.

Bioplastic products could put the world on a more sustainable track. Bioplastics are biodegradable materials made from biological substances instead of fossil fuels, and in some cases they function as well as or better than conventional plastics.

This video was created in partnership with Million Stories Media.

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Read more of our stories on biomaterials:
‘Liquid Death’ canned water — a thrilling alternative to plastic

Diy factory turns plastic waste into super-strong bricks

New pregnancy test made from paper is flushable, biodegradable

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About Freethink
No politics, no gossip, no cynics. At Freethink, we believe the daily news should inspire people to build a better world. While most media is fueled by toxic politics and negativity, we focus on solutions: the smartest people, the biggest ideas, and the most ground breaking technology shaping our future.

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[freethink]

What do you think we should do about single-use plastics?

[Antonioalvarez-nmmz]

This channel is great, your main differenciator is you cover real companies, real products and applications. No unshamed clickbait titles with theoric or research phase content that will come to life if we pour billions on it and wait 15 years.

For all science related YT channels, this is it. This is how it's done. I do enjoy lab breakthroughs and papers, but the real applications, business models and economics behind are so interesting and engaging.

Congratulations for your channel. Hope you get millions of subscribers soon.

[shama_k]

This guy has insane amount of dedication and long term vision🔥

[keplerf]

Governments world-wide should legislate all plastic products to be fully recyclable and promote the industries to accommodate the requirements.
The bio-plastics industry sounds like an exciting field to support and develop... I wish Mark and his am overwhelming success.

[canarygreen]

Extremely interesting! It is crazy how much plastic our team collected on the beaches of Tenerife. 🏖

[asishalamsammo]

sir you guys making a world better place

[dragonskunkstudio]

If you put a easily recognizable logo on your bio degradable plastics, I would recognize it and personally will prefer it to any other competition that doesn't use it. If it's 5¢ or 50¢ more I'd pay it. Please bring it, manufacturers please use it.

[TheDeathmail]

If this replaced straws and other basic fast food plastics and that mushroom thing replaced the foam plastics... this would be a great replacement for plastic that could work.

[grenishsinxRgold]

This technology could get a boost if or when the consumers create a demand for it. Willing to pay the price to drag that price tag down.

[rrmackay]

Polymers are available from many sources, biodegradable polymers are already in use worldwide, its only a question of scale at this point.

[GFYYT]

Congratulations on the teams commitment. It's forward thinkers that will save the planet from greed.

[OldCleisthenes]

Can’t wait until shopping bags are made of this stuff!

[sanjuansteve]

I'm working with the local civil protection director to make a prototype of a torpedo style rescue floatation device to be donated and mounted on natural wood posts at our most historically dangerous beaches.

These torpedoes are abusively priced ($150 USD), not available locally here in México and not available in all-natural materials but I'm working to change that.

We need a local bioplastics supplier with materials well suited for this purpose with sheet plastic that can be manually heat-formed over a mold. And for a much larger scale impact, we need an estimate of the cost of mold that could be used with recycled plastics, bioplastics and biodegradable plastics also to blow mold them for us. If we can raise the funds to pay for the mold ourselves, the devices can be relatively very inexpensive which will make them very accessible and help save lives everywhere they're used.

[anderskarlsson]

I really hope Mark and his team will make it! 👍🏿

[eskanderx]

Amazing idea!

Hope they succeed globally!

[chrisbingham]

Can this be used in a 3d printer, if so were can you buy it.

[lemonsavery]

What is the destination of discarded PHB? Can it only be downcycled into less useful material, or can it be indefinitely recycled? Is it compostable instead?

Is it eaten by organisms for energy like sugar, and so can't act as a carbon sink, or does it truly act as a carbon sink by being used for tissue construction in microorganisms?

Also, if it's a polymer found in lots of life, would large amounts of PHB and/or PHB decay products in the environment mess with the chemical signaling of any organisms?

What portion of current plastic products can be made with PHB while not sacrificing too many important properties of those products?

[regi]

this actually is a cool idea

let's hope that they'll manage to do this shift

[VantaBlackSheep]

Here lies my routine comment for thy algorithm! Great channel!

[FlufflessLive]

Seems almost too good to be true. That is wonderful.