The new favorite of food waste environmental protection, corn and strawberry can be bagged

Food waste has become the new favorite of environmental protection packaging. When it comes to food waste, the first thing that comes to mind is the disgusting "residual leftovers" in the trash. They not only pollute the environment, but also serve as a delicacy for rats and cockroaches. However, a recent study by American scientists has “unchanged” the food waste and transformed it into a “new darling” of environmental protection.
According to the New Scientist magazine, biochemists at the Hawaii Institute of Natural Energy have made food waste a biodegradable polymer that researchers have humorously called "perfect plastic." This type of plastic, which can be degraded in a short time, is widely used, and can be used not only to make packages such as bottles and bags but also to make capsules for medicines.
According to the "New Scientist" quoted biochemist of the Institute of Natural Energy as saying, the raw material of the new biodegradable plastic is a mixture of water and various food waste, and can produce 22 to 25 kg of biodegradable plastic per 100 kg of mixture, which not only greatly reduces The cost of production also finds a good "home" for a large amount of food waste that "has nowhere to hide." At present, many waste disposal companies hope to use this technology instead of landfill technology to dispose of food waste in schools and company restaurants.
Corn is a delicious and nutritious food. With the advancement of technology, scientists have found that using corn can also produce a variety of plastic products. The "corn starch resin" that has been successfully researched in Japan and Taiwan in the near future is a new type of green environmental protection material. This kind of resin is made of corn as raw material, processed and plasticized, and it can be used to make a variety of disposable articles, such as cups, plastic bags, and commodity packaging. According to experiments, this kind of packaging material can be disposed of through burning, biochemical decomposition, and insect feeding, thus eliminating the "white pollution" hazard.
Today, many large companies abroad are optimistic about this new environmentally friendly material. For example, Coca Cola used 500,000 disposable cups in the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, all of which were made of corn and plastic; the cups disappeared in open air in just 40 days.
So, how did corn become a plastic product? Visit the corn plastics factory of Cargill Road Co., Nebraska, USA, and you will see the whole process of turning corn into plastic. First, the sugar in the corn is extracted, and the carbon, the base material for the production of plastics and fibers, is extracted through fermentation and distillation and processed into tiny particles of 4.57 mm in diameter called polylactide (PLA). Finally, these small particles are pressed into bags, foam or tableware.
Strawberry becomes a food film. Food science experts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture have also recently announced that a new environment-friendly food packaging material is expected to come out. This new type of environmentally friendly packaging material is completely made of crushed strawberries, so it is very environmentally friendly and may replace traditional polyethylene plastic film and become a new material for food packaging.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture food expert Tara. Tara MChugh said that this newly developed food packaging material is no different from traditional products in terms of performance. The food packaging film made of it can also prevent the infiltration of oxygen and achieve the purpose of food preservation.
Since the composition of this new material is mainly derived from vegetables and fruits that are not suitable for consumption, it is a naturally decomposable and environmentally friendly material. In the test, the packaging film made of this “magic” material can not only play a role in preservation, but also can improve the taste of fruits such as bananas and apples.
McHugh said that in the near future, not only can strawberries be used as packaging materials, but also vegetables and fruits such as carrots and broccoli can be used as packaging materials.