1. The Whey Forward in Renewable Packaging Plastics
By: Keyur Palan

2. The Environmental Toll on Plastics
Plastics have molded our society today making our life safer and easier used in daily life in objects such as cell phones, computers, hospital IV bags and even helmets.
With the heavy use of Plastics also comes its environmental problems:
Chemical Added to plastics are absorbed by human body altering health
Plastic debris is often ingested by marine life and can injure or poison wildlife.
Plastic buried in landfills can leach chemicals into ground.
“Around 4 percent of world oil production is used as a feedstock to make plastics"
A study published this July 2014 found that 175 chemicals used in food contact materials are also recognized by scientists and government agencies as chemicals known to have adverse health effects.

3. Why it's bad...

4. The Whey Forward - Nov. 2012
"This new material is made from waste, proteins that are byproducts of agriculture. It's sustainable and completely renewable, unlike fossil resources, and that's why we think it can be a viable alternative to plastic film in the future."
Includes Whey - liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained, found in cheeses or yogurt.
Aim is to develop on industrial scale
Using this layered technique of the byproducts to enhance recycling methods and ensure safety in the environment.
Use potato pulp, whey, aluminium cardboard and biodegradable plastics.

5. What it looks like...

6. Still going forward
This technique is still used today by many some packaging companies in Europe
The product has good mechanical properties and has promising prospects for use in packaging materials. It could even end up replacing polyethylene (most common plastic)which has enjoyed a reign of over 50 years.
Annual output of whey in Europe is estimated to approach 50 million tonnes. Around 55% of this is currently processed, and the remainder discharged, often in an unregulated way.
The film also fights against one of the main problems for some dairy products - humidity
Tests ran on the Oxygen Transmission Rate (OTR) of the packaging showed that a layer of whey improved the protection level 30-fold compared to conventional plastic films.

7. Recycling Advantages and Implementation
“We have tested how simple it is to separate the layers – it's important to recover the polyethylene, the aluminium and most of all the fibres, which are very useful in producing recycled cardboard,” said Marco Buchignani, Head of Paper Quality Control at Lucense in Italy.
The plastic is designed so that separation is easy and the most important part to the plastic is that it is impossible to break apart by hand further ensuring its only method of disposal to recycle.
14 partners worked on this project who received an EU grant of €2.8 million.

8. The Impact Globally
If this method is implemented globally we could be saving thousands of marine life, wildlife and money at the same time.
Properly recycling this plastic would be economically beneficial as well as environmentally because less plastics would be out there.
These packaging plastics could be used everywhere from grocery foods to appliances and accessories.
The applications and ability of this product can only get stronger (different plastics and conditions tested)

9. Personal Impact
Knowing that this innovation exist makes me think differently about how I recycle my plastics and enhances my knowledge on how packaging plastics work.
If I ever encounter plastics littered on the ground I will make sure to act responsibly.
If whey is this important the message should be spread and if it is spread then maybe proper disposal of whey will also be established in the coming years.

10. Works Cited