We may come up with various ways to deal with the plastic littering our oceans, but the key to fixing the problem lies in reducing plastic waste in the first place.
And the best way to do that would be to develop materials we can use in place of single-use plastics.
That’s where Filipino scientists Denxybel Montinola comes in. The 23-year-old graduate of the University of San Carlos has developed a new bioplastic that’s both eco-friendly and water soluble.
Montiola says he first began considering the project when he was a Facebook video of a researcher explaining how he produced a bioplastic using only seaweed. “I wanted to see if I could recreate that invention and take it up a notch,” he said. Eventually, he decided to go with an ingredient common in his country.
Mango peels.
Contributed photo
The Philippines is one of the world’s top producers of the fruit, exporting more than 8,20,000 tons each year. Most of those are peeled before being packed and shipped, so of course it makes sense to use the organic waste that would be generated the most. Not to mention, that waste would be cheap.
Montinola told local paper the Cebu Daily News that he used a mango peel-seaweed blend to make his bioplastic, and it in fact turned out “more robust and flexible”. Apparently, it’s also about as strong as conventional plastic.
But the best part, is that this plastic is doesn’t break up into microplastics like the conventional material. While that disintegrates into microscopic particles and pollutes our water bodies, fish, and our digestive systems, the bioplastic is water soluble. And when it dissolves, there are no toxic chemicals involved that could harm anyone.
Of course that does mean it’s not ideal to package food or drinks, but it could be used for so much else. For one, he looks at it as a material surgeons could use as temporary scaffolds, or for doctors to stop bleeding. And who knows what else it could be repurposed for?
And guess who else produces a lot of mangoes? Yep, that’s us. According to 2003 data from the National Horticultural Board of India, we produce half of the entire world’s mangoes. So not only could this mean a drastic reduction of at least some forms of plastic use in India, we could also possibly use this to bolster our exports.