Researchers create high-quality bioplastic from wood byproducts; test its environmental impacts using LCA
A new study in Nature Sustainability outlines the process of deconstructing the porous matrix of natural wood into a slurry. Researchers say the resulting material shows a high mechanical strength, stability when holding liquids, and UV-light resistance.
It can also be recycled or safely biodegraded in the natural environment, and has a lower life-cycle environmental impact when compared with petroleum-based plastics and other biodegradable plastics.
“There are many people who have tried to develop these kinds of polymers in plastic, but the mechanical strands are not good enough to replace the plastics we currently use, which are made mostly from fossil fuels,” says coauthor Yuan Yao, assistant professor of industrial ecology and sustainable systems at the Yale University School of the Environment. Yao then led a comprehensive life cycle assessment to test the environmental impacts of the bioplastic against common plastics.
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