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Plastics derived from plants may solve waste crisis
Source: Source: The Times of India, New Delhi, Date: , 2010
Researchers
at IBM on Tuesday said that
they have discovered a way to make an Earth-friendly plastic from
plants that
could replace petroleum-based products, which are tough on the
environment. The
breakthrough promises biodegradable plastics made in a way that saves
on
energy, according to Chandrasekhar "Spike" Narayan, a manager of
science and technology at IBM's Almaden Research Center in Northern
California.
Almaden and Stanford University researchers said that the discovery
could
herald an era of sustainability for a plastics industry rife with
seemingly
eternal products notorious for cramming landfills and littering the
planet.
"This discovery and new approach using organic catalysts could lead to
well-defined, biodegradable molecules made from renewable resources in
an
environmentally responsible way," IBM said. One of the world's biggest
technology firms, IBM is working with scientists at King Abdulaziz City
for
Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia to put the discovery to work,
especially
in the recycling of plastics used in food and beverage containers.
"Plant
plastics for things such as car parts could be made at lower costs than
petroleum-based plastics while materials of soda bottle quality are
"competitive," according to
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