USDA invents new technology for processing hair into degradable plastics

China Packaging Network Compilation: Not long ago, the Agricultural Research Service Laboratory of the US Department of Agriculture developed a new technology that can process chicken feathers into plastic products. The laboratory's chemist Walter Schmidt and colleague Justin Barone invented this technology by making clean and chopped chicken feathers into plastic products, at an experimental scale, and have applied for patents on the technology, but no public.

According to Barone, the plastic is made using traditional plastic manufacturing equipment. The material can be used to smash chicken feathers and other readily available natural ingredients. This chicken feather plastic can be molded like other plastics, and its performance is similar to common plastics such as polyethylene and polypropylene. Due to its high strength and biodegradability, the material is particularly suitable for packaging and other applications such as agricultural plastic film.

According to the US Department of Agriculture, about 4 billion pounds of chicken feathers are produced each year in the production of livestock products, seriously polluting the environment. The invention of this new technology has not only solved environmental pollution but also improved the commercial and economic value of chicken feathers.

Source of information: pack.cn