Environmentally-friendly bioplastic created from shrimp shells

Though million tons of plastic is produced every year yet only 3 percent of them is recycled. The remaining amount of plastic is either adrift in the ocean or trashed to degrade. It is said that more than 24,000 tons of plastic is eaten by fish every year in North Pacific Ocean.

Besides, Researchers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for biologically experimented that Bio-plastic created from shrimp shells is fully degradable.  Actually, this plastic is made from chitosan the important ingredient found in insects and crustaceans. Experts claim that this is supposed to be the most abundant organic material on earth.

It goes without saying that chitin is generally obtained from discarded shrimp shells and they are used in cosmetics products, dietary supplements and in fertilizers.  Besides, Fernandez the founding director of the Wyss Institute says that “chitosan material is not water proof compared to petroleum-based plastics however it requires coating of beeswax to create water barrier”.

Apart from this, Dr. Ingber said in a press conference that “there is dire need in industries for sustainable materials which could be produced at mass level”. He further said that “our bio-plastic is scalable and inexpensive and it can be used for many industrial applications”