Plastics from Food Waste

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05.07.2010 12:58 talk talk talk: 3 : English bio-plastics green economy new economy no waste

Have you ever wondered how to make bio-plastics without taking away food from the poor? The solution can be food waste from restaurants. Food waste is a major nuisance in industrialized countries. The uncontrolled dumping of organic waste is one of the main causes of methane gas emissions from landfills.

Prof Shirai from the Kyushu Institute of Technology studied the option to convert garbage into plastics and applied a bacterial treatment that generated a PLA (poly-lactic acid) comparable to those made from fresh corn starch. A consortium of private enterprises committed to zero emissions built the factory and presented a new business model: Instead of having to pay for raw materials and compete with food and fuel, the restaurants in Japan pay in order to have their waste collected by the plastic makers.

The opportunity to use waste food for bio-plastics seems an option that works well. This reduces methane emissions, generates multiple cash flows and you even get paid for raw materials. These are the basic conditions of the Blue Economy.

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	Ekolog wrote 374 Days Ago (neutral)
	0 www.ecososerc.blogspot.com Every year in the world are cut down hundred millions trees for manufacturing of wooden boxes what to transport their fruits!!! We suggest replacing wooden boxes, for transportation of fruit and vegetables in agrarian sector with the portable polymeric boxes of repeated use made of secondary polymeric materials. This model can be used to reduce cutting down of woods and ecological pollution, to open many workplaces for young and older persons in the various countries.

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	blueeconomy wrote 519 Days Ago (neutral)
	0 Hi Patrik. Any business can be run as a social business - whether according to strict Yunus' definition or in any of the numerous variations that people wanting to work in this kind of philosophy have implemented. The Blue Economy believes in "real" business, i.e. defining "what is enough" and ensuring that the sustainable product outcompetes traditional offerings. We're happy for Blue Innovations to be picked up by players from around the world. If the Grameen Creative Lab wants to implement Bioplastics, in Bangladesh or whereever, great! Whatever is posted by us in this community is open source. If further information and assistance is required for successful implementation - i.e. someone's time - then this must be paid for, i.e. valued. Fair deal?

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	Patrik wrote 527 Days Ago (neutral)
	0 Thats a fantastic idea! We at http://www.grameencreativelab.com/ work together with Kyushu University and I wonder if a business like "Plastic from Food Waste" could be run as a social business. What do you think?