{"id":24591,"date":"2015-02-24T03:21:26","date_gmt":"2015-02-24T02:21:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=24591"},"modified":"2015-02-23T12:14:42","modified_gmt":"2015-02-23T11:14:42","slug":"fresno-state-research-leftover-food-gets-new-life-as-bioplastic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/fresno-state-research-leftover-food-gets-new-life-as-bioplastic\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresno State research: Leftover food gets new life as bioplastic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Fresno State researcher Bill Wright pulls bags of frozen, mushy strawberries out of his lab freezer. He\u2019s converting the pink food waste into an unexpected consumer product: plastic.<\/p>\n<div class=\"BorlabsCookie _brlbs-cb-youtube\">\n<div class=\"_brlbs-content-blocker\">\n<div class=\"_brlbs-embed _brlbs-video-youtube\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"_brlbs-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/borlabs-cookie\/assets\/images\/cb-no-thumbnail.png\" alt=\"YouTube\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"_brlbs-caption\">\n<p>By loading the video, you agree to YouTube&#8217;s privacy policy.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/policies.google.com\/privacy?hl=en&amp;gl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Learn more<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"_brlbs-btn _brlbs-icon-play-white\" href=\"#\" data-borlabs-cookie-unblock role=\"button\">Load video<\/a><\/p>\n<p><label><input type=\"checkbox\" name=\"unblockAll\" value=\"1\" checked> <small>Always unblock YouTube<\/small><\/label><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"borlabs-hide\" data-borlabs-cookie-type=\"content-blocker\" data-borlabs-cookie-id=\"youtube\"><script type=\"text\/template\">PGlmcmFtZSB0aXRsZT0iRnJlc25vIFN0YXRlIHJlc2VhcmNoZXIgdHVybnMgZm9vZCB3YXN0ZSBpbnRvIHBsYXN0aWMiIHdpZHRoPSI1MDAiIGhlaWdodD0iMjgxIiBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnlvdXR1YmUtbm9jb29raWUuY29tL2VtYmVkL2ZHUUlyTTIyN2VZP2ZlYXR1cmU9b2VtYmVkIiBmcmFtZWJvcmRlcj0iMCIgYWxsb3c9ImFjY2VsZXJvbWV0ZXI7IGF1dG9wbGF5OyBjbGlwYm9hcmQtd3JpdGU7IGVuY3J5cHRlZC1tZWRpYTsgZ3lyb3Njb3BlOyBwaWN0dXJlLWluLXBpY3R1cmU7IHdlYi1zaGFyZSIgcmVmZXJyZXJwb2xpY3k9InN0cmljdC1vcmlnaW4td2hlbi1jcm9zcy1vcmlnaW4iIGFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbj48L2lmcmFtZT4=<\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In his small lab space in a campus engineering building, silvery trays filled with dark powder share cluttered space on tables with a spectrophotometer that measures light, a centrifuge and other equipment. Graduate student Michael Nunes, the lab manager, stirs fermented fruit stewing in buckets painted with the slogan \u201cLet\u2019s do this\u201d \u2014 a fitting message for the researchers, who have worked tirelessly to convert waste from fruit, nuts and other food into biodegradable plastic.<\/p>\n<p>Feathery pieces of the stuff sit in glass test tubes. The opaque, delicate-looking plastic can be turned into water-resistant plastic pellets, melted down into molds, and shaped into forks and spoons, composting bags and plant pots.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a fresh take on the concept of reuse, recycle. And one that makes a lot of sense in the food-producing central San Joaquin Valley, Wright said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAn incredible amount of food is grown in this fertile valley and not all of it makes it to the dinner table. There\u2019s quite a bit that ends up being a burden,\u201d Wright said. \u201cWe look at it as a resource.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For nearly two years Wright has led the research on behalf of a start-up called Full Cycle Bioplastics, an eco-friendly company started by two brothers that\u2019s looking to commercialize an affordable plastic made from food waste. The company has donated $112,000 to fund the project, Wright said.<\/p>\n<p>In a year when plastic is being shunned in California \u2014 plastic shopping bags could disappear from many stores by summer \u2014 and floating islands of debris in the Pacific are catching international headlines, once-niche bioplastics are carving out a bigger corner of a market still dominated by petroleum-based plastic.<\/p>\n<p>Commercial production of various bioplastics has been churning for decades. But Wright and his research team are taking a new approach. Instead of more popular methods, like growing corn or soybeans to use in the conversion process, they\u2019re using food scraps, like peach pits and fruit slurry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one has been able to make this material from mixed waste. That\u2019s our innovation,\u201d said Brian Dawson, executive chairman of Richmond-based Full Cycle Bioplastics. \u201cYou can dump everything into a bucket and make a consistent plastic resin.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>An innovative goal<\/h3>\n<p>The science behind the method is a lot more complicated than that, of course.<\/p>\n<p>The process has everything to do with the carbon stored in the food waste, and how much of it can be fermented into volatile fatty acids \u2014 the same type of acids that animals like cattle and sheep use as energy.<\/p>\n<p>In Wright\u2019s lab, students in white lab coats are trying to find what organic material works best to boost the amount of acids produced.<\/p>\n<p>After fermentation, the acids are fed to a special plastic-producing bacteria stored in large tanks. Wright controls the environmental conditions to get the best results, a process he compares to \u201cfattening up turkeys right before Thanksgiving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The goal is to force the bacteria into producing and storing the plastic substitute \u2014 polyhydroxyalkanoate, or PHA \u2014 in large amounts. The plastic resin is then dried into a powder, which can be sold as-is or processed and formed into plastic products.<\/p>\n<p>Wright is still experimenting with different types of organic waste. He\u2019s looking for a mix that forms a plastic tough enough to replace the petroleum kind, but which still degrades quickly if it ends up in landfills or oceans.<\/p>\n<p>The potential is big, Dawson said.<\/p>\n<p>Although about 87 million tons of plastic are recycled in the United States each year \u2014 34.5% of the 251 million tons the Environmental Protection Agency estimates is generated annually \u2014 it can take anywhere from hundreds to thousands of years for discarded plastic to decompose.<\/p>\n<p>Dawson says the product Wright is developing answers these problems: The plastic degrades quickly in both land and sea and can easily be recycled back into the production process. It\u2019s so efficient, Dawson said, that degradation of some products like composting bags takes only two weeks. It could be cheaper, too: company estimates show the product could cost as low as 90 cents per pound, several cents less than some traditional plastic and bioplastics on the market.<\/p>\n<p>The team is revamping techniques that bioplastics companies have built their names on, like using corn and other field crops to create plastic. New tactics, like using methane waste, are also emerging.<\/p>\n<p>Dawson calls Wright\u2019s method \u201cbioplastics 2.0.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can imagine the environmental narrative of taking a food crop to make plastic is significantly less attractive than using waste,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<h3>A full cycle<\/h3>\n<p>It may be especially attractive to Valley food producers.<\/p>\n<p>Bill Smittcamp, president and CEO at Wawona Frozen Foods, quickly realized the benefits of the project when Wright called him two years ago. At the time, Wright was looking for a steady supply of food waste he could use to experiment.<\/p>\n<p>Smittcamp was more than happy to donate.<\/p>\n<p>On a regular day, the fruit processor hauls out three to four truckloads of waste \u2014 pits, peels, stems and other scraps.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe trucking cost is a pretty big number and then there (are) times where we have to pay to have it disposed of,\u201d Smittcamp said. \u201cThey\u2019re going to take things that cost me money and turn it into something that will make me money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smittcamp was one of the project\u2019s first investors. He also converted an old carport at his Clovis facility into a research shed, giving Wright\u2019s team a spot to run on-site tests. That\u2019s where the first plastic was produced, Wright said.<\/p>\n<p>Smittcamp, a longtime partner and donor to Fresno State, said these types of partnerships can prompt industry to ask tough questions about how they do business. In this case, he said, the research could mean real savings for both the environment and his pocketbook.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt makes us think and we learn from the academia side of the world,\u201d he said. \u201cThey learn with practicality with boots on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It won\u2019t be too long, Smittcamp imagines, before he\u2019s transporting fruit on bioplastic pallets. Just another version of the food he produces every day, given new life by Wright\u2019s innovation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fresno State researcher Bill Wright pulls bags of frozen, mushy strawberries out of his lab freezer. He\u2019s converting the pink food waste into an unexpected consumer product: plastic. By loading the video, you agree to YouTube&#8217;s privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always unblock YouTube In his small lab space in a campus engineering building, silvery [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","nova_meta_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[],"supplier":[2147,9313,9311,1214,9312],"class_list":["post-24591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","supplier-california-state-university","supplier-california-state-university-fresno","supplier-full-cycle-bioplastics","supplier-united-states-environmental-protection-agency-epa","supplier-wawona"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24591\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24591"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=24591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}