Mawara Tahir
Research shows that plastic is an absolute threat to the environment that spreads a lot of health hazards. They are made of petrochemicals, which is what makes them non-renewable, non-corroded and a risk to the health of the planet. They last for hundreds of years, as they do not decompose, all the while doing damage to natural habitats and killing animals that mistake them for food.
Chances of environmental damage increase when use of plastic bag increases. Meanwhile as recognition of a global plastic waste crisis grows, two Chilean researchers, Roberto Astete and Cristian Olivares, have made a revolutionary invention that could redefine the way plastics are produced.
They had also used plastic cutlery at a diner that is automatically sorted into small grinders, then the debris dissolves in water in just a few minutes and is flushed away. In late July, Astete’s organization Solubag and Polye Materials in south China’s Guangdong Province together propelled a progression of soluble shopping bags in Santiago right before the country established a new law banishing organizations from giving out plastic bags to the clients.
The two companies who have introduced the biodegradable bags displayed that the bag dissolves in water quickly, and Astete even drank the mixture during a press conference to endorse its safety. According to Chen Gang, chairman of Polyrocks Chemical, Polye’s parent firm, the bag’s raw material is modified Polyvinyl Alcohol, or PVA, which comes from natural gas or calcium carbide. They discovered the formula while experimenting with biodegradable detergent.
Astete, the general director of SoluBag, a company that hopes to start selling the bags in Chile explained “Our product comes from a limestone that does not hurt the environment”. The water-soluble substance used in the production doesn’t contaminate the environment or its fauna and is completely eco-friendly. The company’s engineers made sure the products can withstand rain, setting the temperature of dissolution at 40 to 50 degrees Celsius.
There are two sorts of Solubags: those that dissolves in cold water and look like the traditional plastic grocery bag. Others disintegrate in hot water and resemble reusable shopping bags, a significant number of which are likewise made of plastics, says Olivares.
Both are planned for use by the overall population.Its pure biodegradable quality makes it worthwhile and will also make it a hit in the market and in the world. Solubag won the SingularityU Chile Summit prize in 2018 for its potential to transform the country’s plastics market. Solubags are not yet for sale (the company is testing the bags in the Chinese, Indian, and Chilean markets) but the founders expect them to be sold in major retailers later this year in Chile, Europe, and the United States. Solubag is currently focusing on perfecting the raw material to produce not only bio plastic bags but other objects, such as bottles and straws.
“Solubags are not the first water-soluble bags but they will be the first intended for the general public. Their low cost also differentiates them in the market”, Astete says.
This solubag is a protection against asphyxia and is anti-suffocation, an important cause of infant mortality and childhood accidents at home, as it dissolves when it comes into contact with a person’s tongue or tears. It is regarded as a marvelous invention that will not just reduce the marine or land pollution but also cause reduction in animal and child deaths.
The interesting part is that there are not only plastic bags but also fabric-cloth bags which are dissolvable too. They also showed the immediate solubility of their plastic bags in cold water or reusable cloth bags in hot water.
Astete and Olivares are not the first to create biodegradable plastic bags. In 2009, Indonesian biologist Kevin Kumala launched Avani Eco, an eco-friendly company that makes biodegradable and compostable products. Kumala began the project when he returned to his home in Bali, after spending a decade in the United States, and saw the once-pristine beaches strewn with plastic. Kumala created a bag from cassava starch that is 100% biodegradable and even edible. To prove that the bag is totally natural he also dissolved part of it in a lukewarm glass of water and then drank it.
The manufacturers of these bags are currently accepting big orders from restaurants and hotels, so you might come across one of these eco-friendly carriers soon.
