Green Options

Researcher Susan Sun of Kansas State University has an answer for all those hungry cows out there:  let them eat barrels.  Sun’s work on sustainable biomass adhesives has already lead to an edible barrel for cattle feed made with straw and soy adhesive.  More products are on the horizon, including a new formula that improves the flowability and strength of raw bioplastic, making it easier to pour and mold.

The edible barrels replace oil drums, which cost approximately $6 per barrel to clean for re-use as feed containers in addition to the cost of the barrel.  Sun’s elegant waste reduction solution relieves farmers of this expense while practically eliminating the risk of oil-contaminated feed from poorly cleaned barrels.  It also eliminates waste or water pollution associated with the cleaning process, and it eliminates the cost (and carbon footprint) of returning used barrels for re-use.

California-based company Cereplast has revealed that it is developing breakthrough technology to transform algae into bioplastics, and predicts that it could replace 50% or more of the petroleum content used in traditional plastic resins.

Cereplast already makes plastic from renewable material such as corn starch, tapioca, wheat and potatoes, but is keen to trumpet the advantages of the new approach.

According to Frederic Scheer, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Cereplast, “Algae-based resins represent an outstanding opportunity for companies across the plastic supply chain to become more environmentally sustainable and reduce the industry’s reliance on oil.”

As the Economist wages the largest debate about bio-fuels in memory, another market opportunity appears to be showing itself in the bio production space as well. Bio plastics have been sprouting up in various applications, but a recent study puts the total market of green packaging at $43.9Billion by 2013. The highest growth gains in this market will be in bio plastics for reasons of price stability and increased capacity the report said. Bio plastics will, it is reported, preform at an annual growth rate of thirteen percent. This spells big news for an industry which currently holds only about .1% percent market share.

Part of the reason for this growth will be due to policy changes which restrict the use of some of the most environmentally damaging materials, but the largest effect seems to be coming from packaging producers themselves. Corporate social responsibility leader Coca Cola has developed a new bottle which is composed of around thirty percent bio plastics with the intended goal of developing a one hundred percent renewable option in the future. Likewise, Wal-Mart has begun sourcing toys and children’s goods made from bio plastics.

The draw is that decomposition coupled with less petroleum based material seems to be better environmentally, but some counter this analysis. According to the Guardian Newspaper, foods producers in the UK such as Innocent Drinks have chosen to stop using bio plastics due to lack of recycling options for the products at present. Likewise there have been claims that bio plastics can be environmentally damaging on par with their petroleum based counterparts. Recent innovations have made it so less energy is needed to create bio plastics and thus it seems the growth of the sector makes environmental sense. Followers of Bill McDonough’s cradle to cradle concept often tout the re-usability and closed-loop life cycle of these products, while others derided their historically slow decomposition rates.  Some applications in the burgeoning bio plastics space are:

Some time in the sparkling green future, the global food giant Archer Daniels Midland might have a hand in developing the world’s first compostable car.  And we might have to thank the Belgians for that, too.  Sounds far-fetched, right?  Not when you throw in the U.S. military and a small Massachusetts  company that specializes in bioplastics.

An army travels on its stomach, and the U.S. military is no exception. The impact is evident in the packaging, especially plastic packaging, left over from MRE’s, Unitized Group Rations, and other packaged food supplies. That’s about to change, big time. Food waste composting is on the horizon for U.S. military bases and even field operations, and close on its heels is a compostable bioplastic for military use.

By implementing easy green practices like composting and recycling, my husband and I quit taking huge bags of trash out to the dumpster in the alley a long time ago. We had a stockpile of evil plastic grocery bags that we used for the bathroom and kitchen trash, but we quit getting our groceries in plastic bags a long time ago. When the stockpile ran out, we needed a green alternative to

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