Biodesigning Solutions for Plastics Pollution

December 5, 2024

Negotiators seeking the first legally binding treaty on global plastics pollution recently failed to reach agreement, deciding only to resume talks next year. But some students aren’t waiting. In Issues, two teams of college students taking part in the Biodesign Challenge describe their efforts to get at the problem by reducing the need for conventional petrochemical-based plastics or making them environmentally safer. With one team starting with agricultural byproducts such as molasses from sugar beets and the other with mushrooms and silkworm cocoons, they can produce practical consumer packaging that is more sustainable and easily biodegradable after use.

Posted by Tom Burroughs