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A biodegradable plastic, made out of bananas developed in Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Thursday 26 January 2017
FJ
Representing already 35.4% of the country's agricultural exports, bananas could also become a "raw material" for innovative plastic.
Winners of the Innovation Competition, chemistry students from the University of Costa Rica have developed a new biodegradable plastic based on bananas.
This new material is 5 times stronger than standard plastic bags but above all it is biodegradable and can disintegrate in only 18 months. While plastic can last for decades without completely degrading.
"Discoverers" say they have worked on new uses of cellulose acetate, a product obtained from cellulose extracted from plants, as polymer (plastic) base and on certain types of additives. The final formulation allows to produce Bantù plastic bags, as they called it.
These 3 students in chemistry from the University of Costa Rica won the national competition for Development and Innovation a few weeks ago. An industrial development of this new material is feasible and many other applications could emerge.
source : thecostaricanews.com, thecostaricanews.com
