Potatoes to Plastic Potatoes to Plastic

Making bio-plastic Making bio-plastic from starchfrom starch

What is Plastic? What is Plastic? Plastic is a common term Plastic is a common term

for a wide variety of for a wide variety of synthetic or semi-synthetic or semi-synthetic materials synthetic materials suitable for use in suitable for use in manufacture. manufacture.

Plastics usually made up Plastics usually made up of polymers and often of polymers and often created from petroleum created from petroleum products.products.

What’s so great about plastic?What’s so great about plastic?

MalleabilityMalleability VersatilityVersatility Low costLow cost

What’s not so great about What’s not so great about plastic?plastic?

About 8% of the About 8% of the worlds oil is used in worlds oil is used in plastic plastic manufacture, 4% manufacture, 4% for raw materials, for raw materials, and 4% for energyand 4% for energy

Plastic products Plastic products account for 35% of account for 35% of all litterall litter

What is bio-plastic?What is bio-plastic?

Bioplastic is a from Bioplastic is a from of plastic derived of plastic derived from renewable from renewable biomass sources, biomass sources, such as vegetable such as vegetable oil or corn starch. oil or corn starch.

Biodegradable?

Biodegradation is a process where organic materials are broken down by natural processes and micro-organisms.

All bio-plastics and conventional plastics are technically biodegradable. But, some break down slowly that they are considered practically non-biodegradable.

Quite a lot of bioplastics will only biodegrade under very strict circumstances, most will not biodegrade in landfill.

The Pro’s: BioplasticThe Pro’s: Bioplastic

Bioplastics are Bioplastics are made from plant made from plant based sources, not based sources, not from fossil fuels so from fossil fuels so introduce no new introduce no new carbon from carbon from materials source. materials source.

The cons: Bioplastic Most bioplastic

manufacturers use oil products to fuel the production process. This uses about 80% of the fossil fuel used in conventional plastic production.

Problems of large scale mono-cropping

Destruction of rainforest

But…

Bioplastic produced on a smaller scale, planted with biodiversity in mind and produced using renewable energy really is a sustainable option.

One way of doing this is to make plastic from locally grown potatoes.

Health and Safety

GratingAcidSodium HydroxideHeat

GlovesGoggles

Extracting starch

Grate about 100g of clean potatoAdd 100cm3 distilled water to the potato

and grind in a pestle and mortarStrain the liquid off, and repeat adding

distilled water, grinding and straining twice more.

Leave to settle for 5 minsStrain the water off, leaving the starch

behind.

Turning starch to plastic…

Potato starch is made from two carbohydrate polymers, amylose and amylopectin.

Amylopectin needs to be broken down in order for the starch to be plasticised.

Turning potato to plastic…

Put 25cm3 water (distilled) into a beaker and add 2.5g starch and 3ml hydrochloric acid and 2cm3 pure glycerol.

Bring to the boil for 15 mins, ensuring it doesn’t boil dry

Using indicator paper and sodium hydroxide to neutralise the solution (probably about 3ml).

Turning starch to plastic…

Add a few drops of colouring to the mixture and mix in.

Pour the mixture out, and mould into your preferred shape.

Leave to dry out. This will take a while…

What to do with your plastic

Once your mixture has dried out, attach a magnet to the back with some superglue to create a fridge magnet!