We Grow Plastic Plants...
Imagine (spoiler alert - we already did it) creating a premium plastic material that follows its own ecological cycle such that it can be considered an agricultural good. The word bioplastic gets thrown around a lot - but we're here to challenge the standard like never before.
When you think of plastic these days, it often carries a negative connotation, whether due to the raw materials used or the disposal issues it creates. But what if we told you that M49 isn't plastic in the conventional sense? In fact, M49 is made from cellulose acetate combined with a vegetable-based plasticizer, resulting in a formula that primarily consists of materials from renewable sources.
A New Carbon Cycle
Using bio-based materials offers two key benefits: it decreases reliance on finite fossil fuels like oil and also lowers greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, the M49 formulation includes wood cellulose acetate and a plasticizer derived from plants.
These two components have enabled the chlorophyll photosynthesis process throughout their existence—a process that, in simple terms, absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, generates essential energy for plants, and converts it into oxygen. To maintain balance, for every six molecules of CO2 absorbed by the plant, six molecules of water and one molecule of glucose (a sugar crucial for the plant's survival) are produced, along with six molecules of oxygen that are released back into the environment. Plastics derived from petroleum do not participate in this beneficial process.
Oil/Fossil Fuel Based Plastic:
Bio-Based Plastic (M49)
So what's our impact on global agriculture?
The European Bioplastic Association states that the raw materials used for bioplastic production currently occupy only a tiny fraction of agricultural land—specifically, just 0.02% of the total area used for agriculture. To put this into perspective, the cultivation of bioplastic raw materials across the entire Earth's surface would cover an area smaller than the island of Malta!
Still can't wrap your head around natural plastic?
To be clear, M49 is nothing like traditional plastic. So, why call it plastic? The reason is that, despite Cellulose Acetate being a far more sustainable and superior material, it's not yet widely recognized by the public. Dive into the science behind it to understand why it stands out.
Check Out Our Bioscience Post to dive into details.
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