An Indian entrepreneur is using sugar, cellulose, and corn fibers to make a plastic-like carrier bag for small Indian businesses.
His company Bio Reform has already replaced 6 million plastic bags in the checkout counters of stores all over India.
Based in Hyderabad, Mohammed Azhar Mohiuddin first got the idea during the general mayhem that arose during the pandemic. Mohiuddin was looking at global environmental issues with the hope of finding one his entrepreneurial spirit had the capacity to tackle.
PBATs do not degrade under water.
You have a source for that? They get degraded by soil bacteria , why wouldn’t they get degraded by bacteria and organisms in water?
jk that’s what Wikipedia says, it links to a study that tests biodegradability of various plastics
They also won’t fully compost unless industrial (high temperature) composting is utilized - resulting in microplastics, and release chemicals that are toxic to microorganisms - which lowers the quality of the compost.
Oh, and PBATs melt at 115c to 125c (240f - 260f) and start to distort and become plastic around 55c (130F) - a relatively low temp for something that is touted as a liner for food packaging. Hot soup or drinks will definitely leech chemicals out of the plastic. And it’s probably toxic to humans.