RALEIGH – Materials with enhanced structure derived from crustaceans and seaweed could be part of a next-generation answer to the challenge of replacing petroleum-based plastic films, according to new research from North Carolina State University. Combining chitosan, a biopolymer that makes crab shells hard, with agarose, a biopolymer extracted...
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The company is busy settling into their new digs in Sanford. A recent $7.6 million bridge round of financing covered most of the costs for their new plant, which will also be the home to a research & development facility and the company’s new headquarters.
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PlantSwitch has secured $17.5 million in funding for its Sanford bioplastic processing facility, where it will be producing 50 million-plus pounds of bioplastics each year.
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Editor’s note: Deep Dive – a feature looking in depth at timely issues from tech to jobs – is a regular feature weekly in TechWire. +++ RALEIGH – Researchers have genetically engineered a marine microorganism to break down plastic in salt water. Specifically, the modified organism can break down polyethylene terephthalate...
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Even though the number of environmental pledges have greatly increased in the last five years, most firms have largely avoided tackling the root of the problem – namely, the excessive use of plastic in the first place, a Duke professor says.
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Researchers at NC State have developed a new biomaterial that could help solve the worsening problem of plastic pollution. Lokendra Pal and Lucian Lucia, professors in the Department of Forest Biomaterials, have discovered how to convert leftover sawdust powder and agro-residues into a Styrofoam-like packaging material.
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The country’s 9% rate of recycling will never keep up. Why so low? The chemistry of today’s plastics makes most difficult to recycle. Even thermoplastics that can be melted down weaken with each re-use. And that leads to the real barrier to recycling – economics. There’s just no profit incentive. But that could change thanks to two UNC-CH scientists.
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Every day we are ingesting tiny, often microscopic pieces of plastic — “microplastics” — with our food, beverages and with the very air we breathe. Drinking bottled water drives up the count, too, a new study finds.
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