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.