Biotransformation technology
context and background:
- E- commerce giant Amazon generated an estimated 321 million kilograms (709 million pounds) of plastic from packaging waste in 2021 alone.
- This is a result of billions of boxes it shipped to its customers globally, according to a December 2022 report by Oceana.
- A U.K.based startup, based at Imperial College in London, claims to have developed a technology that could alter the state of plastics and make them biodegradable.
- The company calls the process “biotransformation”.
- It claims the technology would digest the plastic packaging waste naturally with the help of microbes and biodegrade the waste without leaving behind any microplastics.
What is biotransformation technology?
- Biotransformation technology is a novel approach to ensure plastics that escape refuse streams are processed efficiently and broken down.
- Plastics made using this technology are given a preprogrammed time during which the manufactured material looks and feels like conventional plastics without compromising on quality.
- Once the product expires and is exposed to the external environment, it selfdestructs and biotransforms into bioavailable wax.
- This wax is then consumed by microorganisms, converting waste into water, CO2, and biomass.
- This biotransformation technology is the world’s first that ensures polyolefins fully biodegrade in an open environment causing no microplastics.
Where can this technology be used?
- Food packaging and health care industries are the two prime sectors that could use this technology to reduce waste.
- The increase in cost is relatively small compared to conventional plastic that does not contain this technology.
What are the alternatives to reducing plastic waste?
- A switch to jute or paperbased packaging could potentially cut down plastic waste.
- This could also build sustainability within the paper industry, and save on the import bill on ethylene solutions.
- The wooden packaging is yet another alternative, but that will make the packaging bulkier and increase cost.
Syllabus: Prelims + Mains; GS 3 – Science and Technology
