Meet biodegradable plastic from organic waste, sans petroleum
by grmeyers
Two quotes stand out in the drafting of this report on making biodegradable plastic:
Micromidas cells make plastic Source: Micromidas
The first comes complements of Mario Vellandi, who presides over Melodies in Marketing. He sent a great story this way, with this slug: “A non-petroleum plastic made from organic waste that completely degrades in six months to a year? What’s not to love? Seriously, you rock Ryan.”
Okay, this sounds like a marvelous idea, especially considering how much petroleum-based plastic we use once, only to turn around and toss it out into landfills.
That led to watching Ryan Smith present as a social innovation fellow at PopTech 2010, pitching the company he helped co-found, Micromidas, where he serves as chief technical officer. The 6:04 video is very much worth watching.
At Micromidas, a team of entrepreneurial engineers and chemists has found microbes, when placed in a reactor that can produce high-quality plastic from organic waste, sans any petroleum additives to the formula. Best news of all, the product degrades in less than a year.
