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| Last updated at 12:16 AM on 31/01/08 |
Chemistry goes green 
A UPEI research project is searching for the perfect recipe for vegetation-based, biodegradable plastics
MARY MACKAY
The Guardian
It’s hard to think of plastics and not consider the waste associated with them.
However, one University of Prince Edward Island chemist is thinking purely green when it comes to the new age of plastics.
Michael Shaver and his research group are working on the development of vegetation-based plastics that can withstand the usual rigors of petroleum-based plastics and be cost-effective to produce.
“The big project that we’re working on right now is in biodegradable plastics,” says Shaver, assistant professor in UPEI’s Department of Chemistry.
He is part of a small but growing network of “green chemists” across Canada who are working toward developing chemical processes that minimize environmental harm, yet still create the products people need.
“The problem with traditional plastics, the plastics that go into your lawn furniture or your plastic bags or your Styrofoam cups, all of that plastic is made from non-renewable resources. And all of that plastic does not degrade.
“Polyethylene, which is a very common plastic, would degrade in over 10,000 years,” he says.
Currently, over 150 billion pounds of petroleum-based polymers are produced each year, which is enough to cover all of Prince Edward Island in a metre thick layer of dense plastic.
Markets in China and India are upping that number.
The project, which began in July 2007 with startup funds from UPEI, focuses on the synthesis of a biodegradable, renewable polymer (polylactic acid or PLA), which is made from agricultural byproducts.
“If we’re making a plastic, what we’re doing is taking what’s called a monomer, which is the smallest component of the polymer, that we then put into a big long chain to create plastic. We are using a little basic (monomer) unit that can actually be extracted from vegetation,” Shaver says.
“So instead of taking oil out of the ground, which is a non-renewable resource, we’re taking that basically functional (vegetation) unit (traditionally corn) and have it from a renewable resource.”
The benefits of this renewable process are multifold. Not only is this polymer made from a renewable resource, when it breaks down over time it will revert to its original components.
“(So if) those little (retail) bags originally came from a plant, it’s not going to harm the environment. So it’s a nice cycle in terms of environmental stability that we’re not putting any toxic chemicals into our environment,” Shaver says.
Also of added interest is that because these biodegradable plastic polymers are bioassimible, they can be ingested without harm. That means that you could actually eat your lawn chair when you’re done with it.
“Technically yes (you could), but it wouldn’t necessarily taste good,” Shaver laughs.
This non-toxic nature of the biodegradable plastic bodes well for future biomedical uses.
“Let’s say you needed to be treated with an anti-inflammatory agent over a long period of time. Potentially you could use a polymer to surround your drug and deliver that material over a long period of time and also direct where you would deliver it to,” Shaver says.
“So instead of having to inject a drug every single day, you could simply swallow a big plastic pill and have that work over a long period of time.”
Shaver estimates that his research team will increase to six in the future. At present, UPEI students Laura Callaghan and Ami Moore are working on this green chemistry project.
“It’s amazing to be able to work at a job like this to help the environment eventually,” says Moore, who is studying one of two catalysts that will hopefully increase the plastics’ stability and melting point.
“I do know it’s at the beginning stages, but it is nice even to get something started. It will always continue from there.”
When the magic piece of the biodegradable plastic production puzzle is found, Shaver says engineers and biomedical scientists will be able to use these specialty polymers without the concern of previously associated waste.
“The goal is to really make these substances applicable and beneficial to all the world.”
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31/01/08
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