Plastics Made From Carbon Dioxide

Cornell University chemist Geoffrey Coates has developed a way to replace up to 50% of the petroleum based ingredients in plastics with recycled carbon dioxide, which would help make plastics cheaper and better for the environment.

Coates says that carbon dioxide is extremely inexpensive and that for most resources it is a free chemical compound.

Coates and some colleagues of his have started a company called Novomer, Inc to develop the plastic material they’ve created into usable products.

I think it’s a great idea but I wonder if this will help to make plastics any safer. There are already concerns being raised about the chemicals leaching into food from plastic containers when they are heated.

I’m starting to think I should get rid of all plastic containers in my house and go back to the way my Mom did things which was to use, and resue, glass and stainless steel containers and forget the plastic.

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