Home-compostable test forks remain too bendy for steak
Pebble-sized pellets at a research facility in Woburn, Massachusetts, are being transformed into forks and films that CJ Biomaterials says won’t leave persistent microplastics in the environment. The pellets are bioplastics: the company ferments sugar to make plant-based polymers that microbes will consume.
The materials are alternatives to traditional plastics made from fossil fuels, and some see them as one of many solutions needed to confront global plastic pollution.
At the company’s Woburn research facility, lab technicians recently poured pellets into a molding machine to make forks. The test forks were thin enough for home composting, though too bendy for stabbing a steak; other batches have been rigid, similar to a typical plastic fork.
The technicians also melted pellets to roll out flexible films for food packaging, like a bag for baby carrots. The film was quite strong but not stretchy like cling wrap.
The tests illustrate the performance trade-offs of the plant-based materials as they move toward products: forks suited to home composting bend more easily than conventional plastic forks, and the strong food film does not stretch the way cling wrap does.