Polystarch Material

March 16th, 2008 § 2 comments

Through the kindness of their heart, PSM North America has provided me with a small quantity of Polystarch plastic. Polystarch plastic is made with a biodegradable resin made from corn starch. It has most of the same qualities of petrochemical based plastics, but will compost completely very quickly.

Currently, I have it in granule form. One of the options I’ve been looking into is an extruder which can source granules instead of filament.

§ 2 Responses to Polystarch Material"

  • Robert says:

    Plastics made from crops, are at least 400% more expensive, they are not strong enough, and they emit methane (a powerful greenhouse gas) in landfill. Also, it is wrong to use land, water and fertilisers to grow crops for bioplastics and biofuels, which drives up the cost of food for the poorest people. See http://euobserver.com/9/25831/?rk=1

    The same applies to growing cotton or jute to make durable bags. These rapidly become unhygienic and become a durable form of litter, but they can be made from oxo-bio plastic to last up to 5 years.

    Paper bags use 300% more energy to produce, they are bulky and heavy and are not strong enough. They will also emit methane in landfill

    However, ordinary plastic and recycled plastic can be made oxo-biodegradable.

    This is done by including d2w additive made by Symphony UK, which makes it degrade, then biodegrade, on land or at sea, in the light or the dark, in heat or cold, in whatever timescale is required, leaving NO fragments NO methane and NO harmful residues. Oxo-bio meets American Standard 6954, and there is little or no additional cost.

    Oxo-bio plastic is made from petroleum, but this is an advantage, not a disadvantage. Some people would like to stop using petroleum to fuel cars and planes, but until that day arrives it makes sense to use the by-product of oil which used to be wasted.

  • lou.amadio says:

    Are you offering to provide me with a quantity of your plastic for trials in my printer?

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