May 24, 2007

Plastic made from feathers ready for market

BLACKSBURG—Plastic production could become a feather in the poultry industry’s cap—literally.

In an effort to create biodegradable plastics, Dr. Justin Barone, associate professor of biological systems engineering at Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has blended proteins found in poultry feathers and eggs. The result: unused agricultural byproducts—the disposal of which is currently a cost for the poultry industry—transformed into an eco-friendly alternative to petroleum-based plastic that’s cheaper to manufacture.

Barone said his research has lead to the development of a “first generation” plastic that’s ready for short-term use as flower pots and mulching films.

“The horticulture industry has become a very large industry in the United States and is growing rapidly, and it generates a lot of waste in terms of plastic plant containers,” he said.

“When you go to the store and buy a tree, it has probably been in several plastic containers before the one it is currently in, i.e., a small one when it was planted and then increasingly larger ones as it grew. This generates quite a bit of plastic for the industry, and having a compostable, biodegradable alternative is highly desirable.”

Designed to degrade weeks or months after initial use, this generation of biodegradable plastic lacks the longevity or water resistance of most petroleum-based plastics. Barone said his team is working on second- and third-generation products with improved durability.

Although plants have been used to make biodegradable plastic in the past, Barone said petroleum-based plastics have been historically cheaper. And production of corn- and soybean-based plastics has taken a back seat to biofuel production using the same crops.

“Animal proteins are more robust compared to plant proteins, and making plastics from them means the plastics will be better,” Barone said. “Also, animal proteins are easily separable, so they are much cheaper.”

More than 50 billion pounds of plastic waste ends up in U.S. landfills each year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Barone said the U.S. has only about 3 billion pounds of dry poultry feathers and less than 1 billion pounds of unused hatchery waste available on an annual basis.

“We have to use many different biological sources to make a dent in the problem.”

Poultry products account for more than 32 percent of revenue generated by Virginia agricultural commodities. Tony Banks, assistant director of commodities and marketing for the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, said using poultry byproducts in biodegradable plastic makes good economic sense.

“It would be beneficial to Virginia’s poultry industry to have an alternative use for feathers,” Banks said. “Processing feathers into plastic could be a win-win situation, reducing the poultry processing waste and reducing petroleum use for plastic manufacture.”

Contact Barone at 540-231-0680 or Banks at 804-290-1114.