Super Innovation Plastic

v SU PER I N NOVAT ION PL AS TIC A glimpse into the future. 1Intro 2Innovation 32066 4Conclusion In the past, we ended up polluting our habitat in an unrestrained way. Is it the man-made innovation, which is linked to the existen- tial damage within our ecosystems? TEXT: Nolan Le Goff Kyeongrok Ha Lele Griccoli Johanna Gratzer 1INTRO aPlastic and its derivatives have and finally to completely synthet- been around for decades now. It ic molecules (e.g., bakelite, epoxy, was first seen in the 19th century polyvinyl chloride). patented by Alexander Parkes and later popularised by the two world cThe material was revolutionary wars of the 20th century and due to its affordability and ver- soon after adopted by the rest of satility. However, the movement the world as a cheap replacement behind it was fueled by overcon- for glass and other resources, it sumption and lack of awareness has shaped our everyday lives on towards the actual impacts of a massive scale ever since. this material. bPlastic is a word that derives dThe reason plastic became such from the greek meaning “capa- a problem at the start of the 21st ble of being shaped or molded.” century is because it relied heav- At the start of the 21st century ily on long carbon atom chains it became a name for a category extracted from fossil fuels which of materials called polymers. The also meant the material required word polymer means “of many hundreds of years to decompose. parts,” and polymers are made of Which makes you think that the long chains of molecules. The de- movement behind plastic was velopment of plastics has evolved speculating on our future. from the use of natural plastic materials (e.g., chewing gum) to the use of chemically modified, natural materials (e.g., natural rubber, nitrocellulose, collagen) To what extent does innovation tend to speculate on our future? v 2INNOVATION eIn the past, a fungus that eats plastic has been discovered. The plastic needs to be sterilized and placed in a container. The fungi are then added. In order for the mycelium to colonize the whole container, glucose and agar had been added to the mix. After a couple of weeks, the plastic had entirely been digested into organic edible matter. fA new type of stone made its appearance. Called plastiglomerate, this stone is a fusion of natural and manufactured materials. Melted plastic binds to- gether sand, shells, peb- bles, basalt, coral and wood, or seeps into the cavities of larger rocks to form a rock-plastic hybrid. gThis discovery led human- ity into the Anthropocene area, meaning human ac- tivity left a vast and dura- ble imprint on the natural world. hTechnology that uses bid-editing to create a creature that can eat, digest plastic and get energy from eating plastic. Designers and scientists design special digestive or- gans for plastics. v 32066 iIn 2016, exactly 50 years ago, scientists found that ‘Ideonella sakaiensis 201-F6’ could digest the plastic used to make single-use drinks bot- tles, polyethylene terephthalate (PET). It worked by secreting an enzyme known as PETase. This splits certain chemical bonds in PET, leaving smaller molecules that the bacteria can absorb, using the carbon in them as a food source. jApplying this process of breaking down and feeding bacteria plastics, in 2054, scientists and designers created an artificial animal. When the so-called ‘plastimal’ eats plastic, its digestive fluid breaks down chemical bonds and it digests carbon as their primary energy source. During excretion of its bodily waste, genetically modified bacteria is spurted to clean the waste to prevent any pollution. kFor example, in 2039, caterpillar, having en- zymes that break methylene bridges, was bio-edited to be much bigger (in size) with longer lifespan, eat 200% faster and eat huge amount of plastic wastes. So-called ‘Plastic-caterpillar’ farm where caterpillars are domesticated and thus eliminates plastic wastes, spread across the globe. 4CONCLUSION lDue to the collaborations in different fields of industry now in the year 2066 the world has overcome most of the problems that arose from the ‘plastic boom’ of the 20th and 21st century. With plastic waste virtually eradicated, through the use of ‘plastic farms’ where genetically modified animals digest the plastic and convert it into organic waste, it is clear, that we have to focus on the importance of re-development and innovation towards the future. .

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