Making Plastics from Garbage

Summary We propose a novel recycling system for municipal food waste that combines fermentation and chemical processes to produce high‐quality poly‐L‐lactate (PLLA) biodegradable plastics. The process consists of removal of endogenous D, L‐lactic acid from minced food waste by a propionibacterium, L...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of industrial ecology Vol. 7; no. 3-4; pp. 63 - 74
Main Authors Sakai, Kenji, Taniguchi, Masayuki, Miura, Shigenobu, Ohara, Hitomi, Matsumoto, Toru, Shirai, Yoshihito
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 238 Main St., Suite 500, Cambridge, MA 02142-1046 USA MIT Press 01.07.2003
Subjects
biodegradable plastic
biopolymer
lactic acid fermentation
municipal solid waste (MSW)
poly-L-lactate (PLLA)
recycling
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Summary:Summary We propose a novel recycling system for municipal food waste that combines fermentation and chemical processes to produce high‐quality poly‐L‐lactate (PLLA) biodegradable plastics. The process consists of removal of endogenous D, L‐lactic acid from minced food waste by a propionibacterium, L‐lactic acid fermentation under semisolid conditions, L‐lactic acid purification via butyl esterification, and L‐lactic acid polymerization via LL‐lactide. The total design of the process enables a high yield of PLLA with high optical activity (i.e., a high proportion of optical isomers) and novel recycling of all materials produced at each step, with energy savings and minimal emissions. Approximately 50% of the total carbon was removed, mostly as L‐lactic acid, and 100 kg of collected food waste yielded 7.0 kg PLLA (about 34% of the total carbon). The physical properties of the PLLA yielded in this manner were comparable to those of PLLA generated from commercially available. L‐lactic acid. Evaluation of the process is also discussed from the viewpoints of material and energy balances and environmental impact.
Bibliography:ark:/67375/WNG-ZQTRH948-W
istex:0469D522EF17B17F9A2BA7F2B8532A5DD2DA8198
ArticleID:JIEC63
Professor in the Department of Materials Science, and Technology, Faculty of Engineering, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan
Professor in the Graduate School of Life, Science and Systems Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Fukuoka, Japan.
Associate professor in the Department, of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering Oita University, Oita, Japan.
Associate professor in the Department of Environmental, Space Design, Faculty of Environmental Engineering, University of Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan.
Manager in the research and development department of Musashino, Chemical Laboratory, LTD, Tokyo, Japan
Group manager in the Toyota Biotechnology, and Afforestation Laboratory, Toyota Motor Corporation, Aichi, Japan.
ISSN:1088-1980
1530-9290
DOI:10.1162/108819803323059406