In Scotland, bioplastic firm Cuantec has partnered with an Ayrshire dairy farmer to develop the world’s first biodegradable milk bottles. The collaboration came when Cuantec’s Chief Scientific Officer and Mossigiel Farm’s Bryce Cunningham struck up a conversation in a health food shop.
Cuantec, a Strathclyde University spin-out, has already developed a way to produce antimicrobial, compostable, plastic food wrap from crustacean shells. The company produces chitin from the shells using fermentation.
“Recent research by the UK Government has highlighted that if an alternative is not found, the amount of plastic littering our oceans will triple within the next 10 years,” Cuantec’s CSO Ryan Taylor.
“Plastics are indestructible, decomposing into microplastic which gets into the food chain; our product can be composted in under 90 days. It’s even edible, so it won’t choke wildlife or get tangled around sea life.