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(Archive) Meet the Three Degradables

Natural plastic substitute derived from wastewater

This project was part of DDW 2022
Meet The Three Degradables — © EFGF

The work consists of three tables representing bacteria in a waste water plant which produce biodigradable plastics. These tables visualize the lifecycle of this remarkable material.

BACTERIA PRODUCE A 100% NATURAL PLASTIC SUBSTITUTE

Background
PHA2USE is a project of five water authorities, knowlegde center STOWA, technologyconcern Paques Biomaterials and energycompany HVC.
This consortium succeeded in making bioplastics from bacteria that purify waste water. This results in a high quality natural polyester. It's 100% degradable under natural conditions in soil and compostinstallations, and also in fresh and salt water. Wastewater contains lots of fatty acids and the sludge contains bacteria. These bacteria eat the fatty acids untill the are completely full. The cell content is harvested and collected for application as a natural plastic substitution. At may 10 in Dordrecht at HVC a demofactory the doors to produce this material for developing industrial applications.

Effect
This story is visualized by the three tables of Nienke Hoogvliet. These tables tell us about the lifecycle of this remarkable material. The first table is about the making of the material from wastewater, the second about all (industrial) applications and possibilities. And the third adresses the unique quality that this material is 100% degradable in nature. How circulair is that?