Amazing Dissolving Plastic Packaging

Creative Review :

Newsstand copies of the November issue of CR come in a revolutionary new bag that simply dissolves in hot water. No waste. No landfill.

Read the whole story: Creative Review

Comments

[Kache]

08:13 PM on 10/29/2009

So when do we get to see beverage containers made from this stuff?

[oakley9]

03:17 AM on 10/30/2009

You're kidding.... right?

[iScan]

01:06 PM on 10/27/2009

This is great! We need more stuff to be made out of plant sh--. I think there is a lot of push back from plastic and nylon lobbyists that stop organic packaging encouragement so that needs to STOP or we will all have plastic coming out our ears very soon. A new house or a grave. You decide. I use really great cigarette 'papers' that are made out of cellulose. Much smoother, and I didn't have to take a part of a tree just to enjoy a smoke! The future of the paper and plastic industry is no longer going to be paper and plastic, but hemp and other plants that can be replenished much quicker and that don't take away from the carbon dioxide absorbtion that many forests function as in our ecosystem.
You're doin it right! Keep at it!

[3dtrix]

12:30 PM on 10/25/2009

The ever-present nay-sayers and Cassandras here and everywhere in public discussions of developments, policy and politics bring to mind an image of a crowd attending a race which boos each passing car and lap completed - only to burst into cheers as the winner crosses the finish line. No rational person can deny that humanity is faced with enormous challenges - many of them require the contributions of technology - if only to clean up disasters created by previous intemperately-implemented technologies. The very most important thing is that this has been recognized - sadly, not by everyone - and that brilliant, hard-working people are addressing these challenges. Reportage of positive developments or breakthroughs does not mean all problems are solved, or that we've been thrust into utopia - just that here and there, things are moving in the right direction - progress is being made. This, I promise you, is a good thing...

[ZellaBee]

01:19 PM on 10/24/2009

But the bags are used to protect the magazines and newspaper from water damage. Like leaving it in the rain out side of the house. What then?

[jpayne30]

05:47 PM on 10/30/2009

See the part about the temperature needing to be 60 degrees.

[jsarets]

09:07 PM on 10/23/2009

As best as I can tell, this is polyvinyl alcohol. I used to work with this stuff as a spray-on release film for molding epoxy-based composites. It's quite safe, dissolves fairly easily in water and even easier in aqueous solutions of alcohols or acids.

It's hydrolyzed from polyvinyl acetate, which is produced by reacting ethylene gas with acetic acid, both of which are produced for industrial applications by cracking petroleum at high temperatures.

Ethylene gas is also produced by nearly all vascular plant life as a ripening agent, but not efficiently enough for industrial purposes (including artificial ripening of produce), and can also be produced from ethanol, but not cost-competitive with the many other uses of ethanol, which is a segue to...

Acetic acid is better known as vinegar. It can be produced by bacterial fermentation of ethanol (again), and vinegar for human consumption is required by law to be produced in this more expensive manner. But industrial applications use the Monsanto or BP processes from petroleum.

So PVA is a biodegradable, non-toxic petroleum product.

[Kache]

08:12 PM on 10/29/2009

Read the article. It's made from cellulose (plant matter - non-petroleum).

[jpayne30]

05:42 PM on 10/30/2009

Maybe Polylactic Acid (PLA - corn-based)...??? It's already in use as a plastic covering, plastic cups, etc...but it always seemed a bit more stiff that what this product appears to be.

[tb92]

08:35 PM on 10/23/2009

This is totally brilliant. The geeks will save the world.

[tb92]

08:34 PM on 10/23/2009

Honestly, people, please read the article before making your comments. You'll sound much smarter, I promise.

[kiln]

06:25 PM on 10/23/2009

If you read the whole article they said it only dissolves in water as an example. You can put it into your compost. Plus they were only testing it.

[LVFlowerchild]

06:12 PM on 10/23/2009

What is this made of-- and what about the water once it's dissolved--is that safe to be pouring down the drain?

[Kiri sute gomen]

12:15 PM on 10/25/2009

The answer you seek is in the text of the article.

[Kache]

08:09 PM on 10/29/2009

Read the article. You can drink the water after it's dissolved.

[condor101]

04:27 PM on 10/23/2009

Imagine millions of these 'genius' plastic bags dissolving in our water systems. Total contamination.

[Kache]

08:09 PM on 10/29/2009

Read the article. You can drink the water after it's dissolved.

[jpayne30]

05:45 PM on 10/30/2009

I would agree if they were made from synthetic plastic molecules as most bags are, but these are plant-based.

[condor101]

04:26 PM on 10/23/2009

That's Not a solution.
When the bag breaks down, those plastic particles/compounds are in the water. It doesn't just vanish. Those plastic compounds contaminate the water systems, our oceans and rivers.

Would you drink a glass of water from a tub where a few of these bags dissolved?
Not unless you want toxic substances in your body.

[Barbie40]

06:35 PM on 10/23/2009

you can make faux plastic from the shell of a corn kernal. If you look at the clear coat of holding the kernal is very hard. The first car made by Henry ford is from corn and the navy uses dissolvable corn plastic. It's hard cellulose.

[jsarets]

08:23 PM on 10/23/2009

The article says it's non-toxic. There are many different kinds of completely non-toxic plastics. The most common plastics, such as polyethylene and polyester, are toxic, but others, such as cellophane and polylactic acid, are not.

[redkittyred]

03:44 PM on 10/23/2009

isn't the point of putting a magazine in a plastic bag to keep it from getting wet?

but I can see this being useful for the bags of air used for packaging.

[MrWampler]

03:55 PM on 10/23/2009

I believe *certain* magazines use a black plastic cover for another purpose.

[Wuz314159]

03:07 PM on 10/23/2009

No waste in production? No waste in material mining? No waste in transport? Why does a magazine need a plastic bag? Can't I just use my reusable bag?

greenwashing fail.