Can produce plastic from chicken feathers

Millions of tons of poultry feathers are discarded each year, which can be transformed into resin-resistant and water-repellent plastic resins.

Millions of tons of chicken feathers are discarded each year. Photo: inhabitat.com.

The BBC reported in a conference of the American Chemical Society today 31/3, chemists from the University of Nebraska in the United States say they have found a way to manufacture plastics are lighter and more environmentally friendly the kind of resin present.

Like human hair and fingers, the main ingredient in poultry feathers is keratin. The hardness of the horn can increase, and the mass decreases if it is mixed with some chemical compound.

Yiqi Yang, a chemical expert at the University of Nebraska in the US, and colleagues for chicken feathers and a variety of chemicals - including methyl acrylate - to turn them into plastic. Tests show that their products are stronger and water resistant than traditional plastics.

In addition, polyethylene and polypropylene - two organic compounds extracted from petroleum - also disappeared in the composition of ' chicken feathers' .

In traditional plastics, horn is used as an additive for polyethylene and polypropylene. Our research turns feathers into something like polyethylene and polypropylene. So the mixture does not need polyethylene or polypropylene anymore , "Yang said.

Millions of tons of poultry feathers are disposed annually in human slaughtering operations around the world. If left untreated, they will become hazardous to the environment because their decomposition takes a long time. The researchers say the use of chicken feathers to make plastics would bring benefits both economically and environmentally. Millions of dollars can be made from chicken feathers, while the amount of chicken feathers released into the environment is reduced.