University of Sussex student Lucy Hughes has developed biodegradable plastic using fish waste and locally sourced red algae.
The translucent bioplastic MarinaTex is a flexible sheet material is suitable for single-use plastic packaging applications.
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The production of the material requires only ‘little energy and temperatures below 100°C’. The proteins drawn out from organic fish waste such as offal, blood, crustacean and shellfish exoskeletons, fish skins and scales are bonded through a unique red algae formula.
MarinaTex biodegrades after four to six weeks and does not release toxins.
Hughes said: “Plastic is an amazing material and, as a result, we have become too reliant on it as designers and engineers. It makes no sense to me that we are using plastic, an incredibly durable material, for products that have a lifecycle of less than a day.
“For me, MarinaTex represents a commitment to material innovation and selection by incorporating sustainable, local and circular values into design.”
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By GlobalDataHughes noted that the organic waste created by one Atlantic cod can be used to make as many as 1,400 MarinaTex bags.
MarinaTex is a final year project for Lucy’s Product Design course. She has been declared as the winner of the international James Dyson Award 2019.
Hughes won a £30,000 prize, which she will use to continue further research to make MarinaTex a solution to plastic waste. She also has plans to commercialise the invention.
Sir James Dyson said: “MarinaTex elegantly solves two problems – the ubiquity of single-use plastic and fish waste. Further research and development will ensure that MarinaTex evolves further, and I hope it becomes part of a global answer to the abundance of single-use plastic waste.”
