Batteries from trees, 3D printing developments, canola straw cling wrap, biochar, and more: The Digest’s Top 10 Innovations for the week of August 2nd

#5 New cling wrap may create secondary market for canola

In Canada, University of Alberta researcher Marleny Saldaña has created a biodegradable cling wrap using cellulose nanofibers from canola straw.

“We have a huge problem with the millions of tonnes of plastics that are produced; landfilling isn’t possible anymore as much of it winds up in our oceans, so we need to look for new alternatives to produce these types of materials for a wide range of applications,” Saldaña tells Phys.org.

The “cling wrap” is twelve times stronger than a previous iteration made with cassava starch and provides a market for the fibrous stalk byproduct left over from canola oil processing. The canola industry employs a quarter of a million Canadians and creates $26.7 billion in revenue. China was previously the largest buyer of Canadian-grown canola but has since banned imports amid a trade war.
More on the story, here.