Pinoy scientists develop biodegradable plastic from coconut oil

Plastics are hard to get rid of. It could take hundreds of years for plastics to finally decompose. And if you burn them, the fumes are harmful to health and the environment. But Filipino scientists may have found a way to reduce the decay period of plastic: by developing them from coconut oil. "Scientists at the University of the Philippines Natural Science Research Institute (UP-NSRI) and the UP Institute of Chemistry have developed a biodegradable plastic from coconut oil," said Filipino physicist Dr. Nathaniel Hermosa II in an email. Hermosa, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques in Spain, was referring to UP scientists Marlon Conato and Florentino Sumera's research, published in the Journal of Polymers and the Environment in March 2012. Conato and Florentino used a major fatty acid from coconut oil to prepare biodegradable polymers like clay, plastic and rubber. They found that the plastic they made is more biodegradable than plastic derived from petroleum. However, the study also showed that coconut oil-derived biodegradable plastic is not as biodegradable as newspapers. — BM/TJD, GMA News