Think of IBM, and it’s most likely that computer hardware or software or some manner of information technology will come to mind well before the development of new, greener materials. But the New York-based company has staked out an impressive track record in matters of environmental responsibility and sustainability over the past several years. IBM’s latest contribution arrives through a partnership with Stanford University researchers with whom the company has made progress in the development of sustainable, biodegradable plastics.
As described in an article on IBM’s Building a Smarter Planet Blog, the collaborative research effort is leading to findings and developments with beneficial implications for improved recycling, pollution reduction, and medicine. The recent polymer chemistry breakthrough, published in the journal Macromolecules, arose through materials that science research initially targeted to nanotechnology and chip design, but as explained in a separate blog post, it became apparent that the applications for a cleaner, greener plastic are so broad as to provide IBM the opportunity to step outside of their established, traditional business practice boundaries.
In what is described as a chemical recycling process, the breakthrough has resulted in a plastic that not only exhibits biodegradability, but dramatically improved recyclability. Unlike current conventional bottles whose plastic cannot be reused to make a new bottle but that must be transformed into another chemical form, the IBM-Stanford innovation includes a catalyst that allows the plastic to be reused and reformed. The shift to such new polymers could have a significant reduction in the amount of plastic material going to landfill, or worse, out to sea.
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