Plastic has been introduced to human life almost 150 years ago. At that time plastic was a derivative from plants and later it was produced in a synthetic form from fossil fuels. Thousands of everyday use objects are entirely or partially made of plastic material: chairs, bags, toys, kitchen devices, cutleries, bottles, etc, because it is durable, light and cheap. But plastic is also one of the generated solid waste which is endangering not only the human health but also aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. According to United Nations, 220 million tons of plastic waste are produced every year. Even though a part is recycled, most of the plastic is buried in landfills. Unfortunately, a dramatic amount of plastic ends in the oceans, where more than 45 000 pieces of plastic can be found floating in one square kilometre. The most common plastic debris found in the oceans or on the beaches is the plastic bottles and their caps used for beverages. The caps are made of a different plastic material than the bottles. They are highly buoyant and degrade slower than the plastic bottles. The UNESCO agency refers that around 100 000 of marine mammals and more than a million of seabirds die because of plastic residues. The powerful images of photographer Chris Jordan showing carcases of seabirds after being chocked to death by the bottle caps, shocked the world eight years ago. Picture 1. Sea birds chocked to death from plastic debris in oceans. (Photo: Chris Jordan 2009) Many universities and researching centres are making a broad effort to substitute the source of synthetic plastic with an environmentally friendly recycled material or making it efficiently fully degradable material. A revolutionary material which aims to change the source of plastic production is the alga. Few years ago, the design engineers Rodrigo García Gonzalez and Pierre Paslier from Skipping Rocks Lab of Imperial College in London, introduced their edible beverage packaging called Ooho!. Ooho! is a soft material made of a mix of edible plants and seaweed. The material is suitable for different drinks, water and even cosmetics. The covering Ooho! membrane gives to the drinks a spherical shape easy to swallow. The membrane can be flavoured or coloured. If the Ooho! membrane is not eaten, it can be disposed of in bio-waste. It biodegrades within six weeks and its production requires nine time less energy than the plastic of beverages bottles. Whereas, a year ago, a design student from the Academy of Arts of Iceland, Ari Jónsson, designed an algae-based water bottle. The bottle is made of agar, a powdery substance formed from the red algae Gelidium and Gracilaria. When agar powder is mixed with water it creates a gelatine material. The bottle made of this material will keep its shape as long as it is filled with liquid. When the bottle is emptied, it will start to break down. Jónsson suggests that the bottle is edible, even though the agar taste might not be everyone’s favourite. Picture 2. An algae water bottle designed by Ari Jónsson. Source:https://www.dezeen.com/2016/03/20/ari-jonsson-algae-biodegradable-water-bottles-iceland-academy-arts-student-designmarch-2016/ Innovative ideas such as the above mentioned, promise that the day when the synthetic plastic made of fossil fuels would be a past is approaching. Despite that, there is a long way till the total eradication of plastic from our lives. First, the amount of plastic disposed of in the environment is enormous, and it will take many centuries for it to decompose. Second, there are still many problems to be solved regarding the above-mentioned materials, such as the protection of the product during the transport, their life span in the shops’ shelves, the protection of the liquids from light and heat, the hygienic issue of the water balls, etc. However, these initiatives can be considered as significant steps in tackling the plastic waste and minimizing all the impacts that its components lead to.
REFERENCES Jónsson, A. Agari. Biodegradable water bottle. Read on 17.11.2017 http://www.arijons.com/ Knight, L. Business reporter. Released 17.05.2014. A brief history of plastics, natural and synthetic. BBC News. Read on 13.11.2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27442625 Morby, A. Released 20.13.2016. Ari Jónsson uses algae to create biodegradable water bottles. Dezeen magazine. Read on 17.11.2017 https://www.dezeen.com/2016/03/20/ari-jonsson-algae-biodegradable-water-bottles-iceland-academy-arts-student-designmarch-2016/ Ooho! What is Ooho? Skipping Rocks Lab. Read on 13.11.2017 http://www.skippingrockslab.com/ooho!.html The editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. Updated 25.10.2017. Agar. Seaweed product. Encyclopedia Britannica. Read on 17.11.2017 https://www.britannica.com/topic/agar-seaweed-product UNESCO. Facts and figures on marine pollution. Read on 13.11.2017. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/ioc-oceans/focus-areas/rio-20-ocean/blueprint-for-the-future-we-want/marine-pollution/facts-and-figures-on-marine-pollution/ |
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May 2019
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