What is Potato plastic?
Potato plastic is biodegradable unharmful plastic made from potato waste. Made of only natural materials, this product is 100% biodegradable. This means you can just put it in a compost bin or even eat it after use!
The story behind Potato waste materials
The brainchild of Mr. Pontus Törnqvist from Sweden, the material was accidentally discovered by him during his bachelor’s thesis in 2018.
His focus then was to reuse or eliminate waste products. From then on, the brand has stood for finding ways to make single-use biodegradable products made of Potato waste.
Fighting plastic pollution
More than 8 million tons of plastic end up in our oceans every year. An average fork that is used in fast-food restaurants will remain on Earth for the next 450 years.
The company aims to fight this plastic pollution by providing a completely biodegradable plastic alternative. It decomposes within two months of returning to the soil and degrades completely.
A different kind of bioplastic?
Most other bioplastics on the market today have a fossil-based component. This means that they function similarly to petroleum plastics by releasing microplastics into the water.
Potato waste will never release microplastics as it is only made of natural materials.
How is Potato plastic made?
As for the constituents of this wonder product, it only has two ingredients; potato starch and water.
The combination fluid is heated, poured into molds, baked, and, voila! You have plastic made of potatoes.
Where are the potatoes sourced from?
This product is made of starch from potato waste and “ugly” potatoes. Around 20% of potatoes are sorted away from sale because they are not the right shape and size.
By using wasted potatoes or ugly potatoes, they also tackle the food waste problem.
New products
Future products made of potato waste include straws, cutlery, and single-use plastic bags. Exciting new products such as Potato plastic ketchup cups and packing material are also featured on their Instagram page.
The future of Potato plastic
As this material is very versatile depending on the method of production, it opens up many product possibilities.
A strong contender in the bioplastics industry, their mission is to have a sustainable alternative to single-use plastic.
References
- https://medium.com/dyson-on/meet-the-inventors-produce-plastics-d23ea382aabb
- https://potatoplastic.se/
- https://www.instagram.com/potatoplastic/
- https://www.linkedin.com/company/potato-plastic/
- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/are-bioplastics-made-from-plants-better-for-environment-ocean-plastic
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