Jung Jun-sung's Yeomindonglak (346) The Evolution of Plastic Bags

Among plastics, 'polyvinyl chloride (PVC)' such as plastic bags is the most widely used in our daily lives.

Plastic bags can be manufactured in various colors, from transparent to black.

Moreover, they have good strength and are easy to produce, so they have long been established as essential items in our lives.

However, environmentally speaking, they are quite problematic.

They don't decompose and are found in various layers of soil, which speaks for itself.

Not many people know that these plastic bags were originally created for environmental protection.

It was to prevent many trees from disappearing due to paper bags—quite the 'irony.'

As signs emerge of prolonged conflict between the United States and Iran, paper packaging materials are rapidly spreading.

This is because naphtha supply, a key raw material for plastic packaging, has been cut off, leading to plastic shortages and rising prices.

Meanwhile, there has been recent interest in the development of agricultural plastic film made from fallen leaves instead of oil.

On the 30th, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) announced that a research team from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering developed an eco-friendly mulching film that decomposes in soil using fallen leaves.

The research team claimed to have presented a new path to solve the existing plastic film problem, which has been identified as a cause of soil contamination.

Mulching film is agricultural plastic film used to cover soil, suppress weeds, and maintain moisture.

The research team utilized discarded fallen leaves as an alternative resource.

They extracted nanocellulose, a plant-derived nanofiber, and combined it with polyvinyl alcohol, a biodegradable polymer, to produce composite film.

According to performance test results, the 'fallen leaf film' created in this way was biodegraded by approximately 34.4% in 115 days.

Additionally, it also had the effect of suppressing UV blocking and soil moisture loss to about 5% over 14 days, according to the explanation provided.

Prior to this, the Korea Institute of Chemical Research developed 'biodegradable plastic film' last year, which garnered interest from the industry.

The research team also created biodegradable plastic film by adding reinforcing material extracted from wood pulp to plastic.

It has higher tensile strength than both existing biodegradable plastic bags and petroleum-based plastic bags, making it stronger and more durable.

Biodegradable plastic bags have had the problem of easily tearing due to weak tensile strength, which this development has solved.

Most importantly, its advantage is the affordable price, which attracted high interest from the industry.

Following this, related companies have begun commercialization and are preparing for mass production.

The evolution of 'plastic bags,' a symbol of the plastic problem, is certainly welcome news.