Shrilk Plastic Photo: Harvard’s Wyss Institute

Discarded plastic is a major problem in today’s oceans. Plastics leach toxic chemicals into the seawater while otherwise not degrading.  Recently researchers at Harvard University have announced they have created a new bio-degrable plastic based on, of all things, shrimp shells.

We have posted for several years now about the vast floating collection of trash in the Pacific Ocean. It goes by a variety of names including the plastic vortex and the great Pacific garbage patch.  It is held together by the circular current, the North Pacific Gyre. Similar garbage patches have formed in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.  The floating plastic is often deadly to sea birds, fish and whales which inject the trash.  Once tossed in the oceans, the plastic simply does not go away.

Recently an international study involving 15 organisations across Europe, led by the University of the Azores completed a survey of the seafloor which found bottles, plastic bags, fishing nets and other types of human litter even in the deepest ocean depths. In the survey, plastic accounted for 41% of the trash observed.

The problem with plastic in the oceans will only get worse unless a workable alternative is found. Researchers at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute have developed a process using chitosan, a form of chitin, from shrimp shells to create a material that is strong, transparent and renewable. They’ve named it “shrilk.”  Shrilk is thin, clear, flexible, and strong as aluminum at half the weight.

“There is an urgent need in many industries for sustainable materials that can be mass produced,” said Wyss director Donald E. Ingber. “Our scalable manufacturing method shows that chitosan, which is readily available and inexpensive, can serve as a viable bioplastic that could potentially be used instead of conventional plastics for numerous industrial applications.”

Not only is shrilk biodegrade, but once it’s discarded, it can be used as a fertilizer, releasing nutrients into the environment as it breaks down.