Is Biodegradable Plastic Actually Possible? | Out of Our Elements
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ส.ค. 2021
- The Earth is covered in plastic-and we keep making more of it...
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What can we do about our plastic waste dilemma? Out of Our Elements hosts Caitlin Saks and Arlo Pérez Esquivel join chemist Malika Jeffries-EL in her Boston University lab to explore just what it takes to break down familiar plastics like legos and styrofoam. They also learn why plastic isn’t always recycled-even when it does make it into those familiar blue bins.
Biodegradable plastics on the market today may sound like a fantastic solution to our problem. But there’s a caveat: Outside of special composting facilities, they’re difficult to break down and they can still introduce harmful microplastics into the environment. Berkeley scientist Ting Xu shows how her lab is innovating a truly biodegradable plastic that fully breaks down plastic into its constituent molecules-in nature-in a matter of WEEKS.
To learn more, check out NOVA’s 3-part documentary series Beyond the Elements, where host David Pogue investigates the molecules all around us, from the Indestructible to the Molecules of Life, to the Reactions that transform our world: to.pbs.org/3oLqbtJ
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You can seek out our hosts here:
:: Caitlin Saks ::
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:: Arlo Pérez Esquivel ::
Instagram: / perezarlo
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Produced and Hosted by: Caitlin Saks and Arlo Pérez
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Here in the Netherlands we have to separate all our waste so it can be recycled. We have to pay an extra amount of money if we buy beverages in plastic bottles. We get that amount back if we bring the empty bottle back to the supermarket.
This system should be used worldwide and i hope it will
Now that's forward planning in action!
That's the system in much of the usa.
@@-Subtle- some of the USA. I don't think it is most but, i could be wrong.
I thought this was just a European thing in general. I think I got this in Brussels once.
Thanks to '' It's Okay To Be Smart '' for recommending such an amazing video 😇
Go Ting! We need more like you! Thanks so much for all your hard work!
Thank you so much !
Seconded!
Are there any problems we have to worry about with the constituent monomers after the plastic has broken down?
For biodegradable polymers, once we can unzip the long chain into small molecules, they are food for microbes.
The monomer for PLA is lactic acid, which is converted to pyruvate and enter the glycolysis cycle, even in your own body.
This is such a huge problem, not only in the US, but you presented it in such a light-hearted way while you basically said we need to do this, this, this.
3:58 LMAO bumblebee dancing with the caption "That's a questionable practice" floored me hahaha
I'm loving this lady's attitude and presence.
Me putting my brother's legos in the microwave to see what happens:
You know, I'm something of a scientist myself
Yessss. Old WGBH sound is best WGBH sound.
Actually, many communities had local strategies back in the 80s and the 70s, but starting in the mid 90s that all changed with Waste Companies getting into the recycling businesses and creating what is known as 'Curbside' Recycling once that happened everything changed! And many of those Mom and Pop Recycling company went out of business!!
That was marketing. See Adam Ruins Recycling.
It’s quite nice and informative, but the main point should be, IMO, that the best trash is the one we don’t use at all. We produce too much, the only solution is to consume less.
Yep
I feel us is one of the worst civilizations of mankind
For the given reasons:-
1) hate public transport and every one wants to own a personal car ( also the reason why there is so much pollution een in suburbs ) :- I mean what is the need for that you have nice subway system so why 🤔 ? people don't even use bikes and walks to move around just for comparison in uk there is a walk way for every road that people use for bicycle and pedestrian uses while in us if you just stroll around cops are like suprised to see someone walking
@@rohitwankhede9153 worst countries in terms of pollution:
-China (duh)
-United States
-India (wtf how?)
-Russia
-Japan (also wtf how?)
@@The.Nasty. India can be explained bc they have a billion people just like China. Japan is a bit more complex bc it’s a cultural thing that involves lots of wrapping things individually, and plastic and plastic based stuff is still convenient. While recycling happens more often, you still run into the same problems with recycling as elsewhere.
Caitlyn's Baby is gonna be a Doctor in Science even before birth after hearing all those courses in polymers and monomers❤
Our plastic addiction is troublesome, but these reports are encouraging a bit of hope.
Well there is a replacement for traditional plastics it uses jute and after some processing it can be fully biodegradable and is as strong as or even stronger than traditional plastics also the cost is half the current single use plastics 😀 but more research is needed for it to be industrial
PS : I really hope that it is scalable to industry and is Highly competitive with traditional plastics
But jute isn't that waterproof. And it is every expensive (in comparision to plastic) to produce.
Lots of different materials can replace different uses of plastic. Fungal mycelium can be used to replace styrofoam packaging, or some other uses where durability is important but waterproofing is not
Lego is so expensive that even my grandkids will play with the same set as I did. :D
This is another way making plastic reusable. :D
It's also meant to be reusable, unlike most other plastics
Is there any update on bacteria/fungi being able to eat plastics?
Yea, I want to know too.. Is there any impact to the soil that those has those bacteria n fungi.
Good questions ! We purposely chose enzymes since they can be easily deactivated. They do not contain genetic materials and can not replicate like bacteria or virus.
@@tingxu7206 awesome, if u do have link to the paper published or any youtube link to indepth research, kindly share it with us all to learn.
@@gg31hh I posted the link to our article with references to where the field is at. The full article can be accessed without subscription to Nature. HTH
@@tingxu7206 Noted. Thank you very much
LEGO is literally making hemp legos that are completely biodegradable now............
Up to 50% of all plastic manufactured is 'single use' - bottles, bags, packaging, etc. Several states have bottle return laws. Maine in addition to their bottle return law just banned single use bags and is also charging manufacturers a fee for the disposal of packaging which should encourage them to reduce packaging. With micro plastic working its way up the food chain, we are literally eating plastic. A few common sense FEDERAL laws such as these would greatly reduce plastic pollution. Why not?
Thank you for this contribution!
What if we've already tried this at home?
Joe from It's Okay To Be Smart recommended this channel. Also, it's good to see progress being made in the breaking down of plastic.
You guys make science fun. Thank you.
EXCELLENT editing!
You would think between Canada and U.S we would have a facility that can take care of this issue?
I'm working with the local civil protection director to make a prototype of a torpedo style rescue floatation device to be donated and mounted on natural wood posts at our most historically dangerous beaches.
These torpedoes are abusively priced ($150 USD), not available locally here in México and not available in all-natural materials but I'm working to change that.
We need a local bioplastics supplier with materials well suited for this purpose with sheet plastic that can be manually heat-formed over a mold. And for a much larger scale impact, we need an estimate of the cost of mold that could be used with recycled plastics, bioplastics and biodegradable plastics also to injection mold them for us. If we can raise the funds to pay for the mold ourselves, the devices can be relatively very inexpensive which will make them very accessible and help save lives everywhere they're used.
There was ( is?) a plastic I saw at the state fair back in the '90s that was made from corn. Left outside, it would break down in a few months.
I had a few pens made from this plastic, and tried it...and it crumbled in a few months, leaving only the ink tube and ball point...the body of the pens crumbled away. I guess this stuff never worked out for some reason?
We can, but like many great ideas, it will take more than 10 years to come to market, and we only have 10 years.
Even if we find a way to destroy plastic, it STILL has to be done in a way that would not harm the environment. We can't just burn it in chemicals and then what? Into the soil? Into the ocean it goes?
You have to consider the atomic structure of the different types of plastic, and see what you can do with them. Some plastics you could just feed to cows, they can easily digest certain ones. Others you can turn into water or alcohol (if you need someplace to get rid of the alcohol let me know)
"be smart" sent me to this amazing video and im glad he did
I had the pleasure of working at an adult facility subcontracted through the local County Adult School System the main resources at the facility were Mega Recycling and had been for a good thirty years before I came along I'd say that was in the 80s and 90s and I knew then that there was a lot of stuff to be recycled but not a lot of places to recycle it through we were more of just a collected all and let it sit there until a market could be found to sell it through we need viable ways to put this stuff back to use right now before it just piles up just in new places waiting to be used if that makes any sense
I was hoping to hear more about plastics made from soy and corn starch. If would be safe if eaten by small animals
I just came from its ok to be smart and I love it already
"Green plastic" oh, you can hear the air quotes
1:06 I know she said “bye bye lego”, but I definitely heard “bye bye nigga”
Amazing video!
I mean a long time ago, trees couldn't degrade at all because nothing evolved yet to degrade it. Then it got buried and turned into oil.
Hello, thank you for the really nice video .... I wanted to know if really biodegradable plastic have been invented ? If yes then can you please spare some time to get connected to me please as I would like to know more....
Also, is there a powder or something some substance that can be thrown on all the garbage that can dissolve all the plastic ?
But what does that mean for toys (especially with communities like Transformers)?
A lot are mixed plastics which can't be recycled. We did not discuss Transformers with Malika, but she did mention this was the case with Barbie.
transformers and most other complex toys are made with multiple types of plastic that can't really be broken down in a single step. so for example a transformer's joints need more toughness and flexibility than the main body to be able to hold up to the transforming, but making the whole toy this material would be more expensive. also many are made with different 'alloys' of the same kinds of plastics that don't break down the same.
if you collect old transformers you know they're delicate (you know that 90s gold plastic that crumbles if you look at it sideways?). the plastic becomes brittle with age and the same will happen to biodegradable plastics that aren't in the ground. collectors aren't going to be storing them in dirt so they'll be fine. it's not like they'll need museum-quality climate control.
Would be nice for packaging!
I also want to research on biodegradable plastics in the future.
Pacéman says pikipikipika instead of wakawakawaka.
It's Okay To Be Smart sent me here!
Does PLA even form microplastics long term? The big benefit of PLA is that almost everything can process the monomer, lactic acid. Even if it doesn't decompose as rapidly as manufacturers would like you to think, I don't see it causing the same long term microplastic problems more chemically stable plastics can cause. PLA does decompose under non-ideal conditions, just very slowly. And the smaller it gets, the more surface area it has and the faster it decomposes.
I would like to see a study on the ability of animals to digest particles of PLA as well. Warm blooded animals tend to have a quite well regulated environment in their gut and I suspect animals won't have nearly as much problems with PLA as they do with other plastics.
Don't eat too many failed 3D prints at once or you'll get cramps
From the real world tests I have seen from your average PLA 3d print, it cannot be considered biodegradable by itself, even the ones that say extra "friendly".
8:00
I cant help but think it would be more effective to understand the enzymes that are abundant in nature.
Then design materials such that their broken down by those existing enzymes.
Ivan Jayapurna? An Indonesian working on making our world plastic-free?? Go broooo!!!
By the great thermonuclear power of the sun. I love this channel
Yes we can. Henry Ford did it. It's called hemp based plastic.
You know what I leaned about pearl necklaces in high school?
That gorgeous smarty pants Dr. Joe sent me hear, and I'm glad he did
Nope. It’s not just melting and remoulding. You have to dose virgin to bring back the polymer strength. Usually 30%. Every thermocycle weakens the polymer chains. Just like paper. It’s not endlessly recyclable.
Many plastics are not biodegradable. That is why it is better to revisit this plastic issue because people don't put them in the proper receptable. Do away with plastic bags & over time the landscape will not get as dirty. That said, all the politicians talk about climate to the point of hysteria but they don't make any effort to actually clean up the plastic, the food wrappers, the bottles, the cans, the straws, the wrappers, the packaging, the inserts. Somoe of the better uses of plastics (aka petroleum) is to help people adapt to climate extremes & increase their comfort. Eg petroleum goes intot product we term dri-fit or coolmax. This is the fabric of hi-tech athletic apparel that is designed for coolness in hot weather & warmth in cold weather. These products need to become accessible for all the folks.
It's not just science and technology; it's economics and behavior. As long as it's cheaper to pollute than it is to use greener products we'll get more pollution, especially since those doing the polluting aren't the ones suffering the worst consequences of pollution. Capitalism works by constantly finding new markets to open and new populations to exploit. So long as we can dump the problem somewhere else no one has an incentive to stop it. After all, you can't see it from their house.
Joe from It's Okay To Be Smart sent me!
Plastic today is the equivalent of lignin during the carboniferous. So all we need a some organism to evolve to consume it. Although last time that took 60 million years... We might need another solution.
"You cannot introduce another problem by solving a problem." Well DUH! 😒 Tuh!
Biodegradable plastic has been here for 300,000,000 years!
It's ok to be smart recommended me this amazing channel. 💝💝Wow it is really great channel. 🔥🔥🔥
Very cool.
I want no plastic in the future, like the pack an eating it!
We need not toxic stuff instead of using plastic
Now i want a game to see pokemon as pacman
4:17 yo dawg i heard you like plastic bags so we got you a plastic bag to put in a plastic bag
So why can't you reform the melted plastic into a new solid shape?
Is it possible to dump a bunch of enzymes onto existing plastic and degrade it that way?
Won't matter, because if raises the production costs even by a 1000th of a cent, companies won't use it.
This was a great video but severely overproduced, easily could have been condensed to half the length
They send me!
I'm here 💕
interesting!!!
PLA already exists and is good enough!
We should also spend time and money and humans thinking on how not to create things that become trash to begin with. We need manufacturers not to produce so much trash. Right now per unit trash, there is way too much profit being made. We need to internalize the cost of these plastics on society and the environment by fining producers who create the trash. Plastics are an amazing thing if used sparingly for things like food security. But not for making us buy over priced coffees or sugary drinks and junk foods
We need to filter out micro plastics
Just breathe those toxic fumes 2:50
I wonder what insanely awesome mic they are using for their TH-cam vids. Maybe they can put some affil links in the description, lol
I like this video just for her Pac-Man comparison
❤️
Scientists are awesome and science is cool.
Anything is possible. but the corporations will cry fowl the excuse will be it's not cost-effective and they will have to spend more money in getting this biodegradable plastic with their products I know for a fact that Coca-cola isn't interested with this idea why I suggested they switch to biodegradable paper with their multipacks they said the money was the issue and they can't recycle the water they waste also to much trouble they said.
scientist: best analogy is a pearl necklace
pervs in comments: (< )o(< ) ( >)m( >)
Everyone eats a credit card sized amount of plastic every year I think
It's Okay To Be Smart
I was send here by it’s okay to be smart
Yes we can... I even came up with a name.. bamboo
Who is the narrator?
I NEED MORE TING
What if we gather the plastic and send it into the Sun?
I doubt that the enzymes would survive a 3d printing process - PLA is commonly used in 3d printing.
If they can survive injection molding or blow molding they'll withstand 3d printing.
@@rfldss89 that is true, but are there enzymes that can really go that high?
Well enzymes are just proteins. Not all proteins are affected by heat. Some are only denatured when exposed to certain chemical denaturants like acids or bases. So I'm sure they use enzymes that can withstand the 3d printing process.
There are two uses of plastic. You have the immoral use of oil to create one time use plastics that are then improperly disposed of. And you have the moral use of plastics that last a decade or more and are sometimes properly disposed of.
It is grossly irresponsible to produce and consume short term use plastics solely because it is convenient. If you do that then you can't say you care about the environment. People who say the solution is biodegradable plastics are just apologists for the polluters. They think they can make things better by making pollution less bad rather than eliminating pollution. This was long ago but when I was young we bought beverages in glass bottles, had to pay a deposit, and returned them when empty (and it tasted much better). It is not fun but it would solve a majority of this problem. But we don't like the idea of going back to simple old technology. We have to take our precious oil and turn it into a disposal problem.
The moral use of plastics is to make durable products like vehicles, appliances, and homes. When the life of those products ends they are recycled like when vehicles go to the junk yard. We get a lot of benefit per pound from durable uses while it is an environmental assault using disposable water bottles. Let's say someone (today's people) was to spread dog poop around your (tomorrow's people) living room. Is the solution to figure out how to make the poop less stinky or just not spread the poop?
The bottling industry knows they are the culprit so they are now having a TV propaganda campaign telling us they aren't the problem, they are solving it!
Microplastics are only harmful if they are toxic. Almost 90% of all plastic in our environment is inert. Wow, more research needed to be done here.
Biodegradable plastic.? It depends on your definition of plastic. Plastic like substances exist but, they are not economically feasible at the moment. How strong do you need your plastic? Is it a child's player? Or is it only a plastic bag? The answer is "it depends"
Melting Lego's just triggered the manchild's who spend thousands to buy them.
It's ok to be smart
The plural of LEGO is LEGO
@Wayne Flanigan Not really needed, 'There's LEGO all over the floor', the same way you'd say 'There's sand all over the floor', also LEGO is also wheels, rods & floors
He only immediate way to stop the plastic issues is to stop using it in every way you possible can. It starts with making a choice to buy the peanut butter in a glass container, not plastic. And demand this change. Science will not make any meaningful solutions until it to late.
@Bakamalian I appreciate Mills Methods of Scientific Testability (The Scientific Method) more than most. You are right, companies will not change. The best way to stop plastic demand is to not buy their stuff and that takes everyone - no excuses. Quit making out that people are powerless because they don’t have riches - B.S. Finally, Eat It Raw.
Joe Hanson sent me
Yes, we already have one great example, it’s called wood.
Truly Biodegradable Plastic= hemp resin, just ask Dupont and the oil industry.
Wood is natures fully recyclable plastic.
My 5 year old weeps at the destroying of Legos. Also it's not that we don't have the infrastructure, or don't have a "local strategy", our strategy was that it was more proiftable to send it overseas. Our strategy is that there must be profit in recycling for us to actually do it, and by "our" I mean the garbage companies that get the contracts to deal with all of the waste me we make, all of the waste we manually separate free of charge, and all the waste that could give us money if we just cared to take cans and bottles to a local recycling center.
Engagement engagement engagement
Yeah, but if it's not cheaper to make than regular plastic it wont matter.