Dairy waste bioplastic could be used for insulation and footwear

In Illinois, a research chemist at the USDA Agricultural Research Service  National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research has converted dairy waste into renewable polyurethane and other bioplastics.  More specifically, Atanu Biswas has used lactose—a kind of sugar found in dairy—as a bioplastic feedstock. He noted that the bioplastics made from dairy waste would work well in niche applications, including insulation and furniture and footwear cushioning.

“I would say that overall, bioplastics can replace a large part of the conventional plastic supply; whether they can replace it entirely, I’m not sure,” Biswas tells Feedstuffs.com. “Eventually, probably everything can be replaced, but it’s a pretty big jump, from where we are now to there… Anything you can get from that is wealth from waste.”