Finding viable alternatives to traditional petroleum-based plastics and microplastics has never been more important. New research from scientists at UC San Diego and Algenesis shows that their plant-based polymers biodegrade — even at the microplastic level — in under seven months.
People with 3D printers will remember how we were lied to about PLA’s biodegradability.
Whoa, really? I’m aware of other scandals in the industry. Like anti-competitive buyouts intended to stifle it. But, generally, I’m a 3D printing outsider. I had not heard about this.
The original story was similar: PLA is made from corn, and is completely biodegradable.
Interested people took various parts made from PLA and put them outside for a while. Some people buried them. Some people put them in their compost pile or canisters. I think the only result was some discoloration and possibly some reduced strength.
So now it seems PLA only biodegrades under industrial conditions, requiring elevated temperatures.
AFAIK under elevated temperatures, it degrades nicely. At typical soil temperatures it slowly degrades into methane which is a greenhouse gas - not great for the environment… but it’s still a hell of a lot better than plastic.
As bad as methane is, at least it has a relatively short life before it becomes Co2 and ultimately is absorbed by trees/etc and re-enters the cycle of life. Plastic on the other hand is really nasty toxin that often ends up in the ocean and causes long term damage.
The TLDR is methane needs to be managed, we have to make sure we don’t produce too much. While plastic should just be illegal. We should never produce any plastic, at all, for any reason. It’s going to take a long time but that’s where we have to go.
We should never produce any plastic, at all, for any reason.
What about for medical reason? AFAIK reusing stuff for highly infectious cases is not an option.