{"id":274985,"date":"2021-06-15T11:41:32","date_gmt":"2021-06-15T08:41:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/weve-got-a-plastic-problem-and-spider-silk-may-be-the-solution\/"},"modified":"2021-06-15T11:41:32","modified_gmt":"2021-06-15T08:41:32","slug":"weve-got-a-plastic-problem-and-spider-silk-may-be-the-solution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/weve-got-a-plastic-problem-and-spider-silk-may-be-the-solution\/","title":{"rendered":"#We\u2019ve got a plastic problem \u2014 and spider silk may be the solution"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2e30d153bb2\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2e30d153bb2\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/weve-got-a-plastic-problem-and-spider-silk-may-be-the-solution\/#Types_of_plastic\" >Types of plastic<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/weve-got-a-plastic-problem-and-spider-silk-may-be-the-solution\/#The_new_material\" >The new material<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#We\u2019ve got a plastic problem \u2014 and spider silk may be the solution<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>Plastics are very useful materials. They\u2019ve contributed significant benefits to modern society. But the unprecedented amount of plastics produced over the past few decades has caused serious environmental pollution.<\/p>\n<p>Packaging alone was responsible for <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.progpolymsci.2021.101395\">46% out of 340 million tonnes<\/a> of plastic waste generated globally in 2018. Although plastic recycling has increased significantly in recent years, most plastics used today are single-use, non-recyclable and non-biodegradable.<\/p>\n<p>The demand for food will double by 2050. This will probably increase the amount of waste from food and its plastic packaging, putting poorer countries under tremendous pressure to manage waste disposal.<\/p>\n<p>To tackle the issues of environmental damage, we need more sustainable materials that we can recycle or that biodegrade. There\u2019s been a surge in plant-based plastics, but many of these can only be composted using industrial processes, not by people at home.<\/p>\n<p>Now <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-021-23813-6\">researchers<\/a> at the University of Cambridge have found a way to make plastic from abundant and sustainable plant proteins. Inspired by spider silk, the film works in a way similar to other plastics, but it can be composted at home.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Types_of_plastic\"><\/span>Types of plastic<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Synthetic and non-biodegradable plastics commonly used for food packaging include polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS) and crystalline polyethylene terephthalate (CPET).<\/p>\n<p>There are some processes in place for disposing of PET \u2013 namely mechanical and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/plastic-pollution-how-chemical-recycling-technology-could-help-fix-it-156346\">chemical recycling techniques<\/a> \u2013 but most plastic around the world is <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/what-happens-to-the-plastic-you-recycle-researchers-lift-the-lid-142831\">still sent to landfills<\/a>. PET can take hundreds of years to decompose and it\u2019s non-biodegradable. This means it can continue to pollute the ecosystem for many years.<\/p>\n<p>Making plastic requires lots of energy. Then, when plastics are thrown away, they cause environmental damage, including global warming, greenhouse gas emissions and damage to marine life.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, there are some biodegradable <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/sustainable-lego-plastics-from-plants-wont-solve-a-pollution-crisis-92953\">plant-based plastics<\/a>, such as polylactic acid (PLA), polybutylene succinate (PBS), polycaprolactone) (PCL) and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), which are friendlier to the environment than non-renewable polymers.<\/p>\n<p>PLA polymers are produced from renewable resources and have the advantage of being <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/how-plastics-made-from-plants-could-be-the-answer-to-the-worlds-waste-problem-89475\">recyclable and compostable<\/a>. This makes PLA a much more environmentally friendly material than PET, PS, and CPET. However, their long-term durability and stability are lower than their synthetic counterparts.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_new_material\"><\/span>The new material<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The new research has investigated the potential use of a biodegradable and renewable polymer, such as soy protein, to make a new material that could be an alternative to other plant-based plastics.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers created a plant-based plastic and added nanoparticles \u2013 particles smaller than one-millionth of a meter. This meant they could control the structure of the material to create flexible films, with a material that looks like spider silk on a molecular level. They\u2019ve called it a \u201cvegan spider silk\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center \">\n<p><figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Two small cardboard boxes with plastic film inside them.\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/405664\/original\/file-20210610-19-1wqu2g3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\"\/><figcaption><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/#\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Feditorial.thenextweb.com%2Fscience%2F2021%2F06%2F15%2Fplastic-problem-spider-silk-may-solution-syndication%2F&amp;via=thenextweb&amp;related=thenextweb&amp;text=Check out this picture on: The new material in action. Xampla\" data-title=\"Share The new material in action. Xampla on Twitter\" data-width=\"685\" data-height=\"500\" class=\"post-image-share popitup\" title=\"Share The new material in action. Xampla on Twitter\"><i class=\"icon icon--inline icon--twitter--dark\"\/><\/a>The new material in action. Xampla<\/figcaption><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/405664\/original\/file-20210610-19-1wqu2g3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\" alt=\"Two small cardboard boxes with plastic film inside them.\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" class=\"\" srcset=\"\"\/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The team used various techniques, including scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy to study the structure of the film.<\/p>\n<p>They analyzed important properties, such as barrier properties and moisture absorption. They found the nanoparticles helped to increase the various properties \u2013 strength and long-term durability and stability \u2013 significantly.<\/p>\n<p>By creating a plastic with a more environmentally friendly manufacturing process, made from sustainable materials itself, a significant amount of energy can be saved. This is one of the most exciting parts of this study.<\/p>\n<p>This new material could help solve some of the problems that plastic pollution has caused to the environment \u2013 by introducing a material from a renewable source with enhanced properties suitable for many engineering <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>lications, including packaging.<\/p>\n<p>The study could help to scale up the production of sustainable packaging materials, using natural resources and less energy consumption, while reducing the amount of plastic going into landfills.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important;margin: 0 !important;max-height: 1px !important;max-width: 1px !important;min-height: 1px !important;min-width: 1px !important;padding: 0 !important\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/162530\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\"\/><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --><\/p>\n<p><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important;margin: 0 !important;max-height: 1px !important;max-width: 1px !important;min-height: 1px !important;min-width: 1px !important;padding: 0 !important\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/162530\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class=\"\" srcset=\"\"\/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p><em>Article by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/hom-dhakal-1240508\">Hom Dhakal<\/a>, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-portsmouth-1302\">University of Portsmouth<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This article is republished from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/new-material-inspired-by-spider-silk-could-help-solve-our-plastic-problem-162530\">original article<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. 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They\u2019ve contributed significant benefits to modern society. But the unprecedented amount of plastics produced over the past few decades has caused serious environmental pollution. Packaging alone was responsible for 46% out of 340 million tonnes of plastic&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":274986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/06\/pexels-karolina-grabowska-4033163.jpg&signature=423cd1506a65a93b513b78405fea9b9a","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-274985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}