Bio-Plastics

Video: Discription of Bio-Plastics project

Every year, 400 million tons of plastic are dumped into the Earth, while the food industry is responsible for 33% of the plastic waste yearly. This project was meant to solve a major world crisis of plastic pollution and save us humans and animals. Bio-Plastic is a new solution to plastic waste in the food industry to replace wrapers, Zip-Lok, Saran Wrap, food containers, and more. Plastic in the food industry has a significant effect on food products, from adding to extracting. A study from the National Library of Medicine has shown that plastic adds microplastics and unknown toxins to food, which causes severe health risks such as mind disruption, cancer, metabolic disorders and, in worst-case scenarios, death. To continue, it also absorbs the smell and taste of your food, which makes it less appealing and, in certain cases, makes your food spoiled. Next, every year, 11 million tons of plastic are making their way to the ocean, and in the next 20 years, it is predicted that it's going to triple. They also have substantial effects on animals, such as reproductive issues, liver and cell damage, organ failure, and blockages. There are already 51 trillion microplastics in the world, and by 2050, 99% of animals are going to be exposed to or consume them. 40% of plastics are single-use plastics, which means they can be used once and go straight to landfills. In conclusion, bio-plastics could reduce 9.2 billion tons of plastic pollution and have great outcomes.

Recipe 1: Agar

Ingredients:

Glycerin (10 ml)

Agar powder (3 grams)

Water (1L)

Tools

Heat source

Pot

Tray (Silicone works better)

Whisk

Food scale (grams)

2 small bowls

Measuring cup

Ladel

Recipe 2: Honey

Ingredients:

Honey (5ml)

Water (560ml)

Unflavored gelatin (20 grams)

Tools:

Heat source

Pot

Tray (Silicone works better)

Whisk

Food scale (grams)

2 small bowls

Measuring cup

Spoon

Recipe 3: Zip-Lok

Ingredients:

Glycerin (5ml)

Water (560ml)

Unflavoured gelatin (20 grams)

Pectin (5 grams)

Tools:

Heat source

Pot

Tray (Silicone)

Whisk

Food scale (grams)

2 small bowls

Measuring cups

Spoon

Normal bowl

Glass jar

Ladel

Recipe 4: Wraper

Ingredients:

Glycerin (5ml)

Water (560ml)

Unflavoured gelatin (20grams)

Pectin (5grams)

Tools:

Heat source

Pot

Tray (Silicone works better)

Whisk

Food scale (grams)

2 small bowls

Measuring cups

Spoon

Normal bowl

Glass jar

Ladel

Procedure:

(layout for all the recipies)

First, locate a pot, then add water, then add other ingredients such as glycerin and gelatin. It varies if you add other ingredients or just add water. Next, for recipes like Ziploc and honey, add water and gelatin into a jar and set aside. After adding water and other ingredients, put your pot on a heat source, bring it to a simmer (90 °C) for recipes like Honey and Ziploc, but for recipes for agar and warper, bring it to a boiling temperature (100 °C). To continue, for recipes like agar and wraper, they have finished and are ready to be poured into a silicone tray or a metal non-stick tray, then let them dry for 36-72 hours. In addition, after bringing the water to a simmer, add pectin if needed and then add the mix of water and gelatin. After everything is finished, dissolve in the water. You can add the liquid to silicone trays and dry for 36-72 hours.

The process of making bio-plastic was very difficult due to many different mistakes and learning curves. The first attempt I made with the bioplastic was the wrapper recipe: water, pectin, and glycerin. I made it in small metal non-stick trays, but after 2 days, when I came back to peel them off, they would not come off the tray and fell apart instantly. Next, on my second attempt, I poured more, and it worked, but it was delicate, so for the next try, I moved the tray up and down twice during the process of drying, and it worked significantly better. After all this, I bought silicone trays for all the other recipes, which worked much better and more consistently. In addition, once I completed all the recipes, the wrapper worked best on the metal non-stick trays, because it took the stickiness away, as silicone does. For all the other recipes, agar, honey, and Ziploc worked better on silicone trays, because they need to be thicker with less stickiness. For example, if you had a ziplock bag and you put food into it, you would not want all your food to get stuck to the sides. But all the recipes had many issues with amounts of ingredients added into the pot; it took at least 5 tries just to get a viable product until the correct amount of ingredients was added to create biodegradable plastic. Each recipe was tackled differently, with different heat temperatures for different recipes, such as 90celcius for honey and Ziploc, and boiling for agar and wrapper. In the end, each recipe succeeded with many fails, but each fail was needed to improve the numerous parts of the structure of the bio-plastic. Furthermore, food products are usually stored in fridges or freezers, so I tested whether my products could withstand 25 hours of being in the fridge and freezer. The results were very successful. Each recipe was very similar; they all succeeded with no tears or crumplings. The only thing was they got a little bit cold, which is very normal. In conclusion, the results of this product were phenomenal because it has all the characteristics of plastics, which means it could go into production.

Differences and Purposes of Recipes

Recipe 1: Agar

The agar recipe is meant to be thick and thin at the same time. Also, it is good for wildlife because agar is made out of seaweed.

Recipe 2: Honey

The honey recipe is very similar to the Ziploc recipe, but is meant for if you can't find glycerin, you can just substitute honey.

Recipe 3: Ziploc

The Ziploc recipe is meant to be thick, like a Ziploc, and feels very similar. It is a more complex version of honey that is of better quality, too.

Recipe 4: Wraper

The Wraper recipe has zero stick but has great texture to protect when made on non-stick trays. This recipe acts as a sealant plastic which is very durable to protect food.

Bio-plastics contain many steps to produce, with lots of attempts to create a practical product for the real world. In the last 70 years, plastic pollution has been on a rapid rise; every second, it is getting worse, from people littering to the waste that can't be reused. Getting a good product of bio-plastics takes lots of attempts, but once produced, they can save the environment, animals and humans if done correctly with safety requirements. My bio-plastic will save space for the future because they biodegrade in a range of 1 month to 2 years, in comparison to real plastic, which disintegrates in 100-500 years. This could prevent global warming, clear up landfills, and most importantly, save animals and us humans. The product of bio-plastic for the food industry has almost all the same qualities as plastic. It is durable, can withstand the refrigerator, and is simple to produce. People tend to like it if there is little change, which my product fits the standard to, but some important facts about it are that it is good for the environment and looks very similar. If you put normal plastic and the bio-plastic beside each other, people would not tell a difference. For example, if you take the Ziploc-like recipe and you put it right beside the real product and feel them both and look at there aperance, a person would not tell the difference. In conclusion, the new creation is a great substitute with all the same features plastic has.

Creating biodegradable plastic is a long process, starting with making the correct liquid for the long drying stage. In the future, I aim to partner with companies that manufacture plastics for specific industries, such as brands specializing in wrappers or food containers. I intend to negotiate agreements to either sell my recipes or collaborate on product development using my bio-plastic. Additionally, I plan to reduce production costs by sourcing less expensive ingredients and speeding up the drying time to 8 hours using a dehydrator, from the current 36-72 hours.

Thank you to all the organizations that help clean up our planet and organize plastic pollution. I would also like to thank all the websites I used that provided me with valuable and accurate information for all my research and experiments. Lastly, I would like to thank my family, who provided me with all the amazing support and guidance through the last couple of months, which got me and my project to CWSF.

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