Traditional plastic forks shed harmful microplastics. Plastic created from sugar is an alternative

At a Massachusetts lab, pebble-sized pellets are transformed into forks and films that won't leave persistent microplastics in the environment.

These are bioplastic pellets. CJ Biomaterials ferments sugar to make plant-based polymers that microbes will consume. These alternatives to traditional plastics made of fossil fuels are seen by some as one of many solutions needed to confront global plastic pollution.

At the company's Woburn research facility, lab technicians recently poured pellets into a molding machine to make forks. The test forks were thin enough for home composting, though too bendy for stabbing a steak. Other batches have been rigid, similar to a typical plastic fork. The technicians melted pellets to roll out flexible films for food packaging, like a bag for baby carrots. The film was quite strong but not stretchy like cling wrap.

Technicians from CJ Biomaterials are figuring out how the pellets’ biopolymers can make products with attributes similar to conventional plastics, but that can go in a composting bin instead of a trash can. Forks and films are breaking down in the lab’s compost bin. Straws that were added are long gone. A recently tossed-in knife showed pitting on the surface as bacteria colonized it, starting to consume the material.

Plastics have never really fundamentally been disrupted. Now, interest in bioplastics is growing because of concern over microplastics. It's the new “wild card” in this market, said the company's marketing director Leah Ford.

“I've been doing this for a long time, and the compostability has always been a really strong driver. But with the greater understanding of microplastics, I think, that's going to change how people think about materials,” she said.

Traditional plastics last for decades or even centuries as they fragment into harmful microplastics and even smaller nanoplastics. Microplastics have been found in the ocean and the air, in our food and water, and in a wide range of body tissues.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.