FutureWire - futurism and emerging technology

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Dissolving Plastic

A persistent problem with plastic is its persistence. Conventional plastic can stay intact in a landfill for centuries... something that environmentalists and plastics manufacturers alike have tried to address.

One solution has been to make certain disposable plastics, such as grocery and garbage bags, out of corn starch to make them biodegradable. Australian plastics manufacturer Plantic has taken this idea a step further. With a compound containing 90% corn starch, Plantic's plastics dissolve literally within seconds after contact with water.



While the Plantic plastic obviously isn't suitable for pool toys and beverage containers, it does have applications in products that have a short shelf life, after which they become trash. Best of all, because its main ingredients are plant-based, the Plantic plastic uses very few petrochemicals and is largely immune to disruptions in oil supplies.

Source: we make money not art