Turning wood into bioplastics and back into wood

Date: January 23, 2020, No. A new BMBF project at the University of Stuttgart wants to research plastics which protect the environment in two ways - [Picture: Universität Stuttgart/IMB, FreeImages.com/William Picard, FreeImages.com/as012a2569] Conventional plastic packaging is manufactured using oil, and harms the environment as plastic waste after use. The new research project "SusPackaging" at the University of Stuttgart wants to develop biocompatible packaging materials which have sustainably-produced substrates such as fats and carbohydrates as their base material and can completely biodegrade in just a few months. Bacteria play a key role in this process. The growing mountains of plastic on our planet, and especially in the oceans, is one of the biggest environmental problems facing the world today. What makes this such a big problem is that conventional plastics in nature often last for decades or even centuries, because they do not biodegrade. So-called "biodegradable bioplastics" promise a solution to this problem.