Chemists Sweeten Plastics For Faster Diodegradation

Makarand writes "Nature has an online article describing attempts of chemists to create tweaked versions polythene, polystyrene and polypropylene that would rapidly biodegrade in a landfill in the presence of soil bacteria. Their technique adds sugars to the polymer chains, like pendants on a necklace, sweetening them in the process and making them palatable to soil bacteria. Less than 3% of the final plastic would be sugar. However, soil bacteria open the chains when they feed on the sugar kicking off the decay process."

Comments

Editing

[Anonymous Coward]

Its Biodegration, not Diodegration. Please, add a spell checker to slashdot!

Re:Editing

[Anonymous Coward]

Posting anonymously, because I know this will get modded down.

When is slashdot going to begin at least pretending to be professional? It wouldn't kill you editors to actually use a spell-checker. And would it really be so hard to query "site:slashdot.org <story submission>" to see if you are about to post a duplicate, triplicate, or worse? Come on people! You do the whole community a disfavor by totally discrediting yourselves (and all of us by implication) through your chronic carelessness.

Re:Editing

[Anonymous Coward]

Which is why I posted anonymously, for the first time since I started reading this site. Pointing out the unprofessional nature of this site is only a good way of getting smacked down by the moderators and editors.

If the Slashdot editors are truly serious about keeping this site afloat and maintaining (and rebuilding) its reputation, they should spend more time and care on the content of this site. The writing quality of Slashdot is at best abysmal. Just installing adding a spell checker to slash would go a long way. ispell has been around for years, you know. It couldn't hurt to add that in, for all of us.

Then, maybe, we could also add a better article search feature to cut down the redundant articles, and maybe a grammar checker. Shouldn't push things, though, one step at a time.

I can't believe they actually want us to pay for this.

As if it wasn't sweet enough!

[jkc120]

Ok, so aparently plastics aren't sweet enough already? :) Adding more things to entice ants is going to keep the Orkin man busy.

Re:As if it wasn't sweet enough!

[TWX_the_Linux_Zealot]

If you don't want something for the short-term, don't manufacture it this way. Stuff like foundation seals, car parts, tools, etc, that doesn't get tossed out very often doesn't have to be made with this type of plastic. Stuff that is frequently disposed of (diapers, water filters, etc) can be made from this process, and won't cause nearly so much of a problem.

That's great, but...

[GreyWolf3000]

By weight, less than 3% of the final polymer is sugar, so the material is more or less the same. But bacteria such as Pseudomonas and Bacillus break open the chains when they chomp on these sugary snacks, kicking off decay.

It doesn't tell us which kind of sugar; i.e. whether it is a mono- or disaccharide. Does anyone know if the mentioned bacteria eat specific kinds of sugar (Bacillus is a very common one I think) or that they eat all sorts (gluctose, galactose, lactose, fructose, etc.)?

Re:That's great, but...

[i_am_nitrogen]

From the article (emphasis added):
Digambar Gokhale and colleagues at the National Chemical Laboratory in Pune mix the styrene subunits of polystyrene with small amounts of another substance that provides a chemical hook for sucrose or glucose pieces. They then add sugars to the styrene chains like pendants on a necklace.

It does say what kind of sugar: sucrose or glucose.

Re:That's great, but...

[GreyWolf3000]

You know, I'm going to admit this because it makes me stupider than if I didn't: I read the article and missed it. Skimming too fast I guess. If I didn't read the article, I'd come off as a jerk-off, but this really seals my stupidity.

Re:That's great, but...

[Anonymous Coward]

Honest mistake. It happens to the best of them/us.

A cheaper solution

[the_other_one]

Cut plastics out of packaging. Stop making disposeable products.

Is this biodegradeable plastic research really another attempt at planned obsolesence?

Re:A cheaper solution

[RyoSaeba]

Yeah, as usual they attempt to deal with the results of some trouble (plastic over-consumption) instead of thinking of ways to reduce plastic use in the first place...
Just go to your local shop (food, music, whatever), buy a few products, and figure out for yourself how much of all that plastic you really need...

Re:A cheaper solution

[EggplantMan]

While you may have an answer, you didn't provide a method.

I think the best solution is to legislate that all companies are responsible for their products throughout their entire life-cycle, from their creation to their recovery/recycling. This is already done in a much more ecologically savvy part of the world : Europe.

Obviously...

[3-State Bit]

We would want this in only certain kinds of plastics. (e.g. drinking cups).

There was an article not-long ago about an old iBook infested with ants, and someone said that plastics, after a long time, separate, and some of the "corn syrup solids" or whatever float to the top or something, making it like attractive to ants?
Ah screw that....
...google-google-google....

Actual comment. (Attached to story)

p.s. funny, I didn't even use google this time! Now that's branding -- using Kleenex not just for "facial tissue" but for anything used to wipe anything. I LOVE YOU GOOGLE!!!

Re:Obviously...

[Syncdata]

Curses 3-State Bit you beat me to the punch. I read the article, and the first thing I thought of was "Great. Now not only do we have to worry about this in our electronics, but imagine the fun that will occur should this ever make its way into...oh, say, irrigation systems, sprinkler systems, etc..." And imagine how much fun this will be for people who's business is warehousing plastic products.
Plastic is omnipresent in our society, and while it's not great for the environment, we don't necessarilly want one of natures most prolific creatures chewing on our essential infrastructure.

Re:Obviously...

[gotih]

i hope you were kidding.

we have different kinds of plastics for different applications. some are well suited for heat, others for flexibility. well, now we will have one that mcdonalds can use and claim to be helping the environment. don't worry your little american schitzo-from-the-doomsaying-tv brain, we won't have a rash of sprinkler systems degrading because the construction company bought 'biodegradable' plastic.

i say use a mug

word play

[tswinzig]

Diodegredation. When god is disgraced?

Nah...

Diodegration. When something decomposes due to the work of God?

Nah...

Biodegration. When something decomposes due to the work of biological agents.

BINGO!

Re:word play

[AJWM]

No, no, read the word again.

It is as spelled: diodegradation -- the process of grading a collection of diodes, e.g. sorting them according to quality.

Although I'm not sure what that has to do with rottable plastic...

mmmm...plastic

[EMiniShark]

Haven't goats been eating crap like that for years? We should just set the goats loose on the landfills.

Re:mmmm...plastic

[p00p]

no dude.. goats can be too destructive. Think about it.

Important part

[TheOnlyCoolTim]

Does the plastic *TASTE* sweet? If so, this might be a problem for use as utensils. Some foods don't go well with sugar.

Tim

Re:Important part

[Mithal]

Have you ever tasted wood? It's made of cellulose, a sugar polymer. Doesn't taste anything like sugar, does it?

Adding the sugar monomer is a very good idea to get the bacteria to break the long chains into smaller parts quickly. A nice idea, if I ever saw one. The question is: can such polymers be constructed so that they keep the same mechanical properties, at a low enough cost so that they are used...

In Soviet Russia...

[lightspawn]

Plastics sweeten YOU!

IN SOVIET RUSSIA

[Anonymous Coward]

In Soviet Russia, Plastics sweeten chemists for faster diodegradation!

Re:IN SOVIET RUSSIA

[Anonymous Coward]

Didn't the soviet part go away like 10 years ago? Where is this "SOVIET RUSSIA" you speak of?

Re:IN SOVIET RUSSIA

[Anonymous Coward]

That would be John Ashcroft I think.

That is ridiculous

[Anonymous Coward]

Cheaper? what the hell are you thinking? The market will use the cheapest possible solution. Its just economics.

If you would like to say that eliminating disposeable products is an attrative alternative, by all means go ahead, but to say that its cheaper, you must be nutts.

Go back to hugging trees.

Re:That is ridiculous

[the_other_one]

Eliminating disposeable products is an attraive[sic] alternative for the consumer and the environment. The corporations would like to have you believe otherwise.

The fact that it's just economics is probably the keystone to many of our current problems.

Somewhat related interesting tidbit

[Utopia]

This was in my first year chemitry course:

Cement should never be stored in bags previouly used to stored sugar because it weakens the cement.

Ants & other assorted insects

[Spuffin]

I thought it was bad enough that insects try to eat your food if you leave it out on the counter, now they're going to eat the containers too.

Wonderful...

[Anonymous Coward]

That's all I need, my friggin' palm pilot to be rotting in my hand. Rotten monitors anyone? How about rotten PC's? That's a great idea. For me to poop on!

Re:do some more research

[p00p]

the article linked didn't give the pertinent details. However, the ignorance is your own fault if you don't follow the google. It's a complex sugar.

Dont be stupid.

[Anonymous Coward]

Why would it be an attractive alternative for consumers?

Re:Dont be stupid.

[the_other_one]

Buy once, use for at least as long as you live (perhaps with some small cash input for maintenance).

The alternative would be to buy a monthly subscripion to the product and be subject to future unexpected(by the consumer) price hikes.

It's somewhat like the difference between open source licences and Microsoft EULA's

Re:Dont be stupid.

[Danse]

If consumers want something, then somebody will sell it. It may cost more, but hey, that's the way it works.

Good news

[foniksonik]

Seeing as Plastic is going to be a favorite production material for a while now, this is good news. It's amazing that it took them this long to get this to work or to come up with the idea, whatever. This of course still won't help the bigger issues with heavy metals polluting the environment but it's a nice step in the right direction. If nothing else it has probably made a few more 'positive' jobs available.

I'm also curious as to how this will effect plastic recycling? Are these new plastics recyclable? Do we really recycle plastics if we are trying to make more biodegradeable materials?

Plastics and, no, IN you

[E1v!$]

SO, lets make these plastics break down faster.. hmm good idea.

Now we have lots of tiny microscopic bits of plastic floating around everywhere. Free for all to ingest in the water or air they breath. When all's said and done, I'd rather have an evian bottle laying on the sidewalk than floating in the air I'm breathing.

What's the 1/2 life of the plastic molecules themselves? How toxic are they?

What about the plasticizers (sp?) in the plastic. I believe they're some of the more carciogenic chemicals we've come up with.

This sounds like a 2 edged sword moving in the wrong direction. Have I missed something?

Re:Plastics and, no, IN you

[GigsVT]

What's the 1/2 life of the plastic molecules themselves?

Uhhh, forever?

I sure hope my coke bottles aren't radioactive.

Re:Plastics and, no, IN you

[AJWM]

Have I missed something?

Apparently.

It doesn't break down into smaller pieces of plastic (well, it does, but that's a first step). The polystyrene chain is broken into smaller units as the bacteria attack the linked sugars. Those smaller units can then be broken down directly by the bacteria.

Most plastics are poly-hydrocarbons (although stuff like PVC and teflon throw chlorine or fluorine atoms into the mix). Depolymerize them and you get hydrocarbons, which all sorts of bacteria find yummy (depending on the specific hydrocarbon -- but styrene and ethylene both occur in nature (styrene in strawberries, coffee, etc, and ethylene is a chemical trigger produced by and recognized by fruits to hasten the ripening process.)

Biodegradation.

[Anonymous Coward]

Biodegradation. Damn compression filter.
Biodegradation.
Biodegradation.
Biodegr adation.
Biodegradation.
Biodegradation. WHy should I try less whitespace.
Biodegradation.
Biodegradation.
Bio degradation.
Biodegradation.
Biodegradation. I want to be funny.
Biodegradation.
1q78alafoi1891i
Diodegra dation.
Diodegradation.
Diodegradation.
Diodegr adation.
Diodegradation.
Diodegradation.
Diodeg radation.
Diodegradation.

Sweet Cables

[droyad]

Wouldn't this create a bigger problem with vermin chewing on cables because they already taste good?

Re:Sweet Cables

[budalite]

My cats already try to chew up every plastic thing and all our computer cables as it is. It is a startling site to see the cat munching on a power cable. If I every smell smoked kitty, I'll know the cause. :})||

Re:Sweet Cables

[molo]

We had a cat that chew threw an electrical cord. He got a good enough jolt that he wasn't able to let go of it. We had to hit the light switch.

The cat just sat there confused for a second and then took off and hid. We didn't see him for two days. He finally came out to eat and was fine. He learned his lesson though. He never chewed on another wire until the day he died.

Re:Sweet Cables

[Myco]

He never chewed on another wire until the day he died.

Second one got 'im, eh?

Re:Sweet Cables

[Valdrax]

Tests indicate that cats can't taste sweetness, so you shouldn't have to worry. Of course, not being able to taste sweetness doesn't preclude a cat for liking sweet foods on other merits.

Then again, my cats don't need any encouragement to chew plastic either. One of my cats just loves to chew the phone cord on the kitchen phone. I would coat it with pepper spray to make it taste awful, but it tends to bump him in the face at he plays with it while I talk on the phone. Now for computer cables, that would work really nicely. I'd suggest trying that.

Not enough information.

[spotted_dolphin]

Biodegradable plastics have been developed for some years now, however, the ones which have been released on the market degraded into pieces which small animals (squirrels, birds, etc.) choke on and die. I'm not sure how this novel modification may change this. We solve one problem, yet create other. Also the article doesn't go into much of the details which it referenced. The experiments which were performed used pure cultures of bacteria, which are not found in the natural environment (though will determine which bacterial strains are useful), and in liquid media flasks at 28 degrees celcius. How useful is that in rather temperate climates?

I see a problem with this...

[HaloZero]

Wouldn't adding a substantial amount of sugar to plastic bits sortof decrease the specific heat radically? And, well, look at your computer. The case, the monitor, the shell. What's it made of? (not the aluminum/titanium/steel frame) PLASTIC! The monitor's shell is plastic, the bits on the fronts of drive trays are plastic, buttons, are plastic. Albeit, the heat generated wouldn't be enough to melt anything, even with 3% sugar onboard, but still. If this becomes such a good idea, and we opt to use a different type of sugar, which alters the heat even more, and you put it way too close to something that gets really hot... well...

Melty 'puter. :-\

Re:I see a problem with this...

[Valdrax]

Read the article again. The types of plastics they give examples for are types most commonly used in plastic flatware, containers, and other disposable items that are rarely recycled or used in long-lived structures like toys and computers. Just because people have come up with this innovation doesn't mean it has to be used everywhere.

Diabetics?

[jmcwork]

Could the sugars leech into food stored in these containers?

Parent is right!

[RobertB-DC]

Wish I had mod points... "Diode Gradation" was exactly what I thought.

A quick Google search did reveal a paper on "Diodegradation of Cationic Surfactants", which looked promising because of the "cation" (cathode/ion) reference. Alas, no other references to diodes were included.

Searching on the words separately yielded a Panasonic CD Receiver, but no sites showed up with the term enclosed in quotes.

Whatever. Now, I should probably go read the article before I go any farther off-topic. No +1 bonus for this reply!

Degradability won't help in the landfill

[RobertB-DC]

The article notes the volume of landfill space being taken up by plastics, and implies that this new plastics technology will solve the problem.

But that ignores an important fact: nothing degrades in the landfill! To prevent groundwater contamination, landfills are lined and capped with impermeable materials that keep water out, and no water = no bacterial action.

A poster in a previous discussion on landfills and biodegradability pointed out that you can open up a landfill and find 30-year-old newspapers, preserved just like new. Compare that with laying a newspaper out in your front yard. Degradable in the open, yes, Degradable in a sealed environment, no.

Degradable plastics (however they decompose) are just another red herring to distract us from the real issues of truly sustainable development.