Scientists at Imperial College London have developed a plastic that can be composed at home and could be used for all sorts of food packaging....
The degradable polymer is made from sugars produced from the breakdown of lignocellulosic biomass, which comes from non-food crops such as fast-growing trees and grasses, or renewable biomass from agricultural or food waste. ...This is significant as the leading biorenewable plastic, polylactide, is formed in a high energy process requiring large volumes of water. In addition, when it reaches the end of its life polylactide must be degraded in a high-temperature industrial facility.In contrast, the oxygen-rich sugars in the new polymer allow it to absorb water and degrade to harmless products – meaning it can be tossed on the home compost heap and used to feed the garden.Even better: It isn't too expensive to produce.It doesn't have a brand name yet, though it surely will soon. For now just refer to it by its chemical name: Poly(acetic acid-5-acetoxy-6-oxo -tetrahydro-pyran-2-yl-methyl ester) and copoly(lactic acid-ran-acetic acid-5- acetoxy-6-oxo-tetrahydro-pyran-2-yl-methyl ester).Via Inhabitat.
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