• Question: How do you make plastic from plants?

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      Asked by adamt to Sarah on 10 Mar 2015. This question was also asked by Tomo el sol.
      • Photo: Sarah Kirk

        Sarah Kirk answered on 10 Mar 2015:

        Plants (such as corn) are fed to bacteria, they break this down and produce a chemical called ‘lactic acid’, which is the building block for making my plastic. I don’t actually do this part – I buy this from a company.

        I take this building block, then add my own special chemical that I have made, which is a catalyst to make the reaction go. I dissolve these up in a tube and stir and heat them for a while. What I get from this is my plastic!

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